Books like 'The Vanishing Box'
Readers who enjoyed The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery 20th century thriller crime historical-fiction magic law-enforcement police-procedural suspense
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Five Decembers by James Kestrel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn this novel of World War II, an American police detective trapped while trailing a killer overseas struggles to survive with only the help of a total stranger and his daughter, who risk their lives to protect him. December 1941. America teeters on the brink of war, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, police detective Joe McGrady is assigned to investigate a homicide that will change his life forever... -
Lord Peter by Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAll the Lord Peter Wimsey stories are here, in a single volume, including the one about Harriet, Peter and their three... -
Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBelfast 1988: A man is found dead, killed with a bolt from a crossbow in front of his house. This is no hunting accident. But uncovering who is responsible for the murder will take Detective Sean Duffy down his most dangerous road yet, a road that leads to a lonely clearing on a high bog where three masked gunmen will force Duffy to dig his own grave... -
A Picture of Murder by T.E. Kinsey
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsLate October 1909, and the season of ghouls and things that go bump in the night has descended on the village of Littleton Cotterell.Lady Hardcastle and her trusted lady’s maid, Florence, find themselves hosting a colourful cast of actors whose spooky moving picture, The Witch’s Downfall, is being shown to mark Halloween...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense 20th-century adult -
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The Nero Wolfe Mystery Series: The Zeck Trilogy: And Be a Villain, The Second Confession, In the Best Families by Rex Stout
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe perfect introduction to crime fiction’s greatest armchair detective: three mysteries featuring Nero Wolfe and his nemesis, gangland kingpin Arnold Zeck . . .AND BE A VILLAINTHE SECOND CONFESSIONIN THE BEST FAMILIES A guest on a radio talk show drops dead on-air after drinking a glass of a sponsor’s beverage... -
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNot all of Miss Marple's best can be found in Agatha Christie novels. There are short stories too.Jane Marple is from the village of St Mary Mead and applies her skills of observation and deduction to a wide variety of mysteries...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAs Germany strangles under the tight grip of the Nazi Party, the frozen winter of 1940 brings even more reasons to fear the dark in the crackling new WWII crime novel from #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Simon Scarrow – perfect for fans of Philip Kerr’s Berlin Trilogy, Robert Ludlum, Andrew Gross, and William Christie… One freezing night in 1940 Berlin, an SS doctor and his wife return from...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime law-enforcement thriller police-procedural suspense fiction mystery -
A Cold Treachery by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCalled out by Scotland Yard into the teeth of a violent blizzard in the Lake District of England, Inspector Ian Rutledge finds himself confronted with one of the most savage murders he has ever encountered. Rutledge might have expected such unspeakable carnage on the World War I battlefields, but not in an otherwise peaceful farm kitchen in remote Urskdale...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense 20th-century adult -
Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this delightful collection of Wimsey exploits, Dorothy L. Sayers reveals a gruesome, grotesque but absolutely bewitching side rarely shown in Lord Peter's full-length adventures.Lord Peter views the body in 12 tantalizing and bizarre ways in this outstanding collection...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
The Leper of Saint Giles by Ellis Peters
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOctober 1139. A savage murder interrupts an ill-fated marriage set to take place at Brother Cadfael's abbey, leaving the monk with a terrible mystery to solve. The key to the killing is hidden among the inhabitants of the Saint Giles leper colony, and Brother Cadfael must ferret out a sickness not of the body, but of a twisted mind...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
The Cursed Writer by Holly Hepburn
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPreorder the BRAND NEW instalment in Holly Hepburn's page-turning Baker Street Mystery series Join Harriet White in 1930's London for another glorious Sherlock Holmes-inspired mystery, for fans of Nita Prose and Janice...Categorized as:
cozy historical-fiction crime amateur-sleuth law-enforcement mystery fiction historical -
Winter Work: A novel by Dan Fesperman
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn exhilarating spy thriller inspired by a true story about the precious secrets up for grabs just after the fall of the Berlin Wall--from the acclaimed author of The Cover Wife On a chilly early morning walk on the wooded outskirts of Berlin, Emil Grimm finds the body of his neighbor, a fellow Stasi officer named Lothar, with a gunshot wound to the temple and a pistol in his right hand...Categorized as:
historical-fiction suspense crime thriller law-enforcement fiction espionage mystery -
And Four to Go by Rex Stout
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEmbark on a year of murder and mystery. It begins at Christmas with a party and a poisoning, then blossoms into spring with sudden death at the Easter Parade. With a killer in the crowd, the Fourth of July is no picnic, and the calendar is overbooked with corpses when death is in season. Here are four cunning cases that leave everyone guessing...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense 20th-century adult anthologies -
O Noviço do Diabo by Ellis Peters
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the autumn of 1140 the Benedictine monastery at Shrewsbury finds its new novice Meriet Aspley a bit disturbing. The younger son of a prominent family, Meriet is meek and biddable by day, but his sleep is rife with nightmares so violent that they earn him the name of "Devil's Novice". Shunned by the other monks, Aspley attracts the concern of Brother Cadfael...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
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Racing the Devil by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOn the eve of the bloody Battle of the Somme, a group of English officers having a last drink before returning to the Front make a promise to each other: if they survive the battle ahead—and make it through the war—they will meet in Paris a year after the fighting ends. They will celebrate their good fortune by racing motorcars they beg, borrow, or own from Paris to Nice...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century -
To the Grave by Steve Robinson
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA curiously dated child’s suitcase arrives, unannounced and unexplained, in a modern-day Washington suburb. A week later, American genealogist Jefferson Tayte is sitting in an English hotel room, staring at the wrong end of a loaded gun.In his latest journey into the past, Tayte lands in wartime Leicestershire, England...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIndia, 1921. Haunted by his memories of the Great War, Captain Sam Wyndham is battling a serious addiction to opium that he must keep secret from his superiors in the Calcutta police force.When Sam is summoned to investigate a grisly murder, he is stunned at the sight of the body: he’s seen this before...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century -
In a Dry Season by Peter Robinson
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWhen a drought drains the local Thornfield Reservoir, uncovering a long-drowned small village and the skeleton of a murder victim from the 1940s, Detective Alan Banks and Detective Sergeant Annie Cabot must investigate the decades-old crime and unmask an evil secret from the past...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century -
Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe wealthy Agatha Dawson is dead--a trifle sooner than expected--but there are no apparent signs of foul play. Lord Peter Wimsey, however, senses that something is amiss and refuses to let the case rest--even without any clues or leads. Suddenly, he is faced with another murder: Agatha's maid...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
Isabella's Painting by Ellen Butler
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn 1990 Boston's Gardner Museum was robbed of $500 million worth of artwork. Twenty-eight years later the art remains at large ... until now. Peeling back layers of lies could save a masterpiece or reveal a killer. After a long week lobbying on Capitol Hill, all Karina Cardinal wants to do is chill with Netflix and her boyfriend, Patrick Dunne...Categorized as:
suspense crime cozy amateur-sleuth law-enforcement police-procedural historical female-mc -
Deadly Pleasure by Brenda Joyce
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBrenda Joyce has enthralled millions of readers with her New York Times bestselling novels. Now, join us in the next chapter of her unforgettable storytelling: the Francesca Cahill novels. Step into the glittering world of New York City's high society at the turn of the last century, where murder and pleasure are one and the same, and love becomes the ultimate weapon.. -
The Tightrope Walker by Dorothy Gilman
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“They’re going to kill me soon…”When the quiet and shy Amelia Jones reads these words, her life changes irrevocably. She’s just become the new owner of the Ebbtide Shop, a musty antique store filled with merry-go-round horses and hurdy-gurdies, and it is while fixing one of these barrel organs that the scrawled and threatening note falls out...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime law-enforcement suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Reckoning by Rennie Airth
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Second World War has ended, leaving a bruised and fragile peace. But this tranquillity is threatened when a shocking murder takes place in the Sussex countryside. Before long, police experts discover a link to another, earlier, killing hundreds of miles away ..Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural thriller 20th-century adult audiobook -
Lightning Men by Thomas Mullen
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the acclaimed author of The Last Town on Earth comes the gripping follow-up to Darktown, a “combustible procedural that will knock the wind out of you” (The New York Times).Officer Denny Rakestraw, “Negro Officers” Lucius Boggs and Tommy Smith, and Sergeant McInnis have their hands full in an overcrowded and rapidly changing Atlanta...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century adult -
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Champagne for One by Rex Stout
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFaith Usher talked about taking her own life and even kept cyanide in her purse. So when she died from a lethal champagne cocktail in the middle of a high society dinner party, everyone called it suicide—including the police. But Nero Wolfe isn’t convinced—and neither is Archie. Especially when Wolfe is warned by four men against taking the case... -
Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA dangerous case with ties leading back to the battlefields of World War I dredges up dark memories for Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge in Hunting Shadows, a gripping and atmospheric historical mystery set in 1920s England, from acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd.A society wedding at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire becomes a crime scene when a man is murdered...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century -
The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout, Robert Goldsborough
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA summary from the back cover:Paul Chapin's college cronies never forgave themselves for the prank that crippled their friend. Yet with Harvard days long behind them, they thought they were forgiven -- until a class reunion ends in a fatal fall (for one of them). Now this league of frightened men is desperate for Nero Wolfe's help... -
The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMedieval monk Brother Cadfael races to save a young man he believes is falsely accused of robbery—in the Silver Dagger Award–winning mystery series.In the gentle Shrewsbury spring of 1140, the midnight matins at the Benedictine abbey suddenly reverberate with an unholy sound—a hunt in full cry. Pursued by a drunken mob, the quarry is running for its life...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
No Shred of Evidence by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOn the north coast of Cornwall, an apparent act of mercy is repaid by an arrest for murder. Four young women have been accused of the crime. A shocked father calls in a favor at the Home Office. Scotland Yard is asked to review the case. Inspector Ian Rutledge is not the first Inspector to reach the village, however. Following in the shoes of a dead man, he is told the case is all but closed...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century adult -
A False Mirror by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRutledge is called on to prove the innocence of a man he dislikes and distrusts. But the deadly triangle also stirs up memories of the woman he himself loved and lost when he went to France to fight.Hampton Regis, a small harbor town on the southern coast of England, is a most unlikely place for violence...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense 20th-century adult -
Saint Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWhen a merchant bound for St. Peter's Fair is found with a slender dagger piercing his heart, Brother Cadfael is on the case. Two murders later, he realizes that no oneleast of all the merchant's lovely nieceis safe. "Colorful, convincing details on the workings of a medieval fair".Kirkus Reviews...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratings"Richly textured with the sights and sounds of London and its countryside...Solidly absorbing and Perry's best to date."THE KIRKUS REVIEWSHis name, they tell him, is William Monk, and he is a London police detecive. But the accident that felled him has left him with only half a life; his memory and his entire past have vanished...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century -
Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA body in the back of a taxi begins an elegantly constructed mystery, perhaps the finest of Marsh's 1930s novels.The season had begun. Debutantes and chaperones were planning their luncheons, teas, dinners, balls. And the blackmailer was planning his strategies, stalking his next victim.But Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn knew that something was up...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural thriller 20th-century adult -
Wings of Fire by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsRich with atmosphere, luminous period detail, and human complexity, this second brilliant mystery from the author of A Test of Wills—a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a Publishers Weekly Best Mystery, and Edgar Award nominee—marks the return of Inspector Ian Rutledge, “a dogged and insightful character whose psychological landscape and continuing recovery are deftly explored” (The Miami...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century -
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Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsIt was an open and shut case. All the evidence said Caroline Crale poisoned her philandering husband, a brilliant painter. She was quickly and easily convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Now, sixteen years later, in a posthumous letter, Mrs. Crale has assured her grown daughter that she was innocent...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a young strikingly handsome photographer mysteriously disappears, it's up to Inspector Alan Grant to discover whether he accidentally drowned, committed suicide, or met his death at the hands of one of his many female admirers...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century -
Search the Dark by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe introspective hero of Wings of Fire and A Test of Wills (Edgar Award nominee) returns in Search the Dark, a provocative new mystery by Charles Todd. Inspector Ian Rutledge, haunted by memories of World War I and the harrowing presence of Hamish, a dead soldier, is "a superb characterization of a man whose wounds have made him a stranger in his own land...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense 20th-century adult -
A Fearsome Doubt by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBestselling author Charles Todd has earned a special place among mystery’s elite writers with his acclaimed series featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge, a former soldier seeking to lay to rest the demons of his past in the aftermath of World War I. But that past bleeds into the present in a complex murder case that calls into question his own honor..Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense 20th-century adult -
The Red Door by Charles Todd, Simon Prebble
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLancashire, England-June, 1920Who was the woman who lived and died behind the red door? What did she see before she died? And who was the man who never came home from the Great War, for the simple reason that he had never gone to war? How is the woman′s death linked to his disappearance? And why is Scotland Yard blind to the connection, even when Inspector Ian Rutledge points it...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense 20th-century adult -
The Confession by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDeclaring he needs to clear his conscience, a dying man walks into Scotland Yard and confesses that he killed his cousin five years earlier during the Great War. When Inspector Ian Rutledge presses for details, the man evades his questions, revealing only that he hails from a village east of London...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century -
The Big Blowdown by George P. Pelecanos
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWashington DC, 1946. For two local young men, Pete Karras and Joey Recevo, the easiest way to find work after the war is by providing a little muscle for a local boss who runs a protection racket with the Mafia. The trouble with Pete Karras is that he is just too soft on his fellow immigrants, and the last thing the boss wants is for his mob to get soft... -
Hard Evidence by John Lescroart
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe first evidence is found in the belly of a shark: a hand sporting a jade ring. The hand belongs to a Silicon Valley billionaire. When the rest of his bullet-ridden body washes up on shore, Dismas Hardy, assistant D.A., is suddenly plunged into San Francisco's murder trial of the century. A Japanese call girl with a long list of bigshot johns is the defendant...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century adult audiobook -
Singapore Sapphire by A.M. Stuart
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHarriet Gordon stumbles into a murderous web of stolen gems and cutthroat thieves as she runs from her tragic past in an enthralling new historical mystery series set in early twentieth century Singapore. Singapore 1910--Desperate for a fresh start and to distance herself from her tragic past, Harriet Gordon finds herself in Singapore at the height of colonial rule...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
Miss Silver Comes to Stay by Patricia Wentworth
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOn vacation in a tiny village, Miss Silver investigates a murder with a decades-old motive.The citizens of Melling are perfectly ordinary―exactly the sort one finds in just about every cozy English village―and to a certain person they might even appear boring. But to Miss Silver, people are always interesting...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
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The Lacquer Screen by Robert van Gulik
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsEarly in his career, Judge Dee visits a senior magistrate who shows him a beautiful lacquer screen on which a scene of lovers has been mysteriously altered to show the man stabbing his lover. The magistrate fears he is losing his mind and will murder his own wife...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural 20th-century adult book fiction -
Ladies' Bane by Patricia Wentworth
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMiss Silver travels to the country to investigate a young man who may be deceiving his wifeNo one has seen Allegra Trent since she got married. Her husband swept her off her feet and out of London, to a faraway town called Bleake. She has stopped writing letters, and her family has begun to worry...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
A Night of Long Knives by Rebecca Cantrell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJournalist Hannah Vogel has vowed to never again set foot in her homeland of Germany while the Nazis are still in power. She has good three years ago in 1931, she kidnapped her “son,” Anton, from the man claiming to be his father--Ernst Rohm, head of the Nazis' SA. A powerful man not to be trifled with, Hannah knows that Rohm will never stop searching for them...Categorized as:
historical-fiction suspense crime law-enforcement thriller mystery fiction historical -
Murder in the Bookshop by Anita Davison
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSomeone’s been read their last rites… 1915, London : Working in the dusty bookshop that her Aunt Violet mysteriously inherited, Hannah Merrill is accustomed to finding twists in every tale. But discovering her beloved best friend Lily-Anne – with a paperknife through her heart – in the middle of the bookshop, is not a plotline she saw coming. The case is anything but textbook...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime cozy amateur-sleuth law-enforcement mystery fiction historical -
A Quiet Place to Kill by N.R. Daws
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn this tense thriller set on a WW2 airbase, a female pilot faces danger in the sky—and a murderer on the ground.July 1940. As the Battle of Britain begins, the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary carry out the dangerous task of ferrying warplanes to RAF airbases...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction thriller law-enforcement police-procedural amateur-sleuth cozy mystery -
Poirot a Styles Court by Agatha Christie
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsAgatha Christie's debut novel was the first to feature Hercule Poirot, her famously eccentric Belgian detective. A refugee of the Great War, Poirot is settling in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactor, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction cozy suspense law-enforcement thriller police-procedural europe
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