Books like 'Breakdown'
Readers who enjoyed Breakdown by Sara Paretsky also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
mystery action / adventure thriller crime law-enforcement suspense female-mc investigator hard-boiled political-intrigue
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The Investigator by John Sandford
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLetty Davenport, the brilliant and tenacious adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport, takes the investigative reins in the newest thriller from #1 bestselling author John Sandford.By age twenty-four, Letty Davenport has seen more action and uncovered more secrets than many law enforcement professionals...Categorized as:
crime investigator law-enforcement political-intrigue politics suspense thriller action-adventure -
Cross Down by James Patterson, Brendan DuBois
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOnly John Sampson can save his partner, Alex Cross . . . and America. The brilliant crime-solving duo of Washington DC’s Metro PD and the FBI has a proven operating procedure: Detective Alex Cross makes his own rules. Detective John Sampson enforces them. Then a series of military-style attacks erupts. No sooner do Cross and Sampson join the investigation than Alex is brutally sidelined... -
Damned by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen young priest Nicolas Chatry took his vows, he thought the hardest thing he’d have to deal with was accomplishing his duties from a wheelchair. Until a murderer steps into the confessional. Unable to recognize the voice or maneuver quickly enough to get a look at the killer, Nicolas has no way of identifying who admitted to such a horrific deed... -
Without Measure by Scott Blade
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAfter a long night trying to sleep in the cab of a truck—hauling bullets, of all things—Jack Widow gives up trying to catch some sleep. He gets out at the next stop, a small town in the northeast corner of California with two industries: a small arms manufacturer and a Marine base on the verge of being forgotten... -
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Bodily Harm by Robert Dugoni
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR ROBERT DUGONI RETURNS WITH HIS MOST EXHILARATING THRILLER TO DATE, A PULSE-POUNDING STORY OF CORPORATE GREED, ESPIONAGE, AND THE LENGTHS ONE MAN IS WILLING TO GO FOR JUSTICE.Bodily Harm opens with a big win for David Sloane and his new partner, Tom Pendergrass, in a malpractice case centered on the death of a young child...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement political-intrigue politics suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Dark Highway by Lisa Gray, Amy Landon
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn isolated highway in the middle of the desert - the perfect place to hide a secret.LA-based artist Laurie Simmonds disappeared two months ago, her camper-van abandoned on the isolated Twentynine Palms Highway, miles from anything - or anyone. With the police investigation stalled, her parents put all their faith in private investigator Jessica Shaw to find out the truth of what happened...Categorized as:
crime female-mc investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Missing Persons by James Patterson, Adam Hamdy
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn Afghanistan, a US Special Forces pilot is shot down during a covert mission.In New York, a mother is forced to flee with her two young children.A wealthy businessman approaches Jack Morgan, head of Private - the world's largest investigation agency - with a desperate plea to track down his daughter and grandchildren, who have disappeared without a trace... -
ARCADIA: A Case For Willows And Lane by Peter Grainger
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSir Roger Parkes is a man of some influence in the West Country. When he loses touch with his youngest daughter, he has a word with the Assistant Chief Constable of the local force. It’s not a police matter, he is told, but if Sir Roger wants to pursue it privately, there is a lady who might be able to help – two of them, actually... -
The Supremacy License by Alan Lee
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMeet Manny, also known as Agent Sinatra. A US Marshal renowned for his bravura in collaring fugitives. The only thing he loves more than America is a well-tailored sports jacket. An international terrorist slips through the East Coast and takes up residence inside an impregnable mountain chateau—within American borders but beyond legal reach...Categorized as:
suspense law-enforcement crime thriller political-intrigue fiction espionage mystery -
No Way Back by Rick Mofina, Christian Rummel
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSan Francisco crime reporter Tom Reed is burned out. On the day he decides to finally quit the news business, a sensational story breaks. A heart-stopping robbery-homicide at a jewelry store. The suspects have shot and killed a police officer before fleeing with a female hostage. Reed rushes to the scene, his passion resurrected for one last big story...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
The Blind Trust by Colin Conway
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsA quiet death in a small town. A double homicide in the big city. Only a murderer knows they’re connected. Whitman County Sheriff Tom Jessup wants a nice, safe county. Unfortunately, things are about to get deadly. A seemingly normal death points Jessup north where he finds Detectives Quinn Delaney and Marci Burkett investigating a double murder... -
Enduring Charity by Wayne Stinnett
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen her position with the government is eliminated, Charity Styles is faced with an uncertain future. The only part of her previous life that she truly enjoyed was sailing her classic sloop. The cruising lifestyle is wonderful and helps keep her mind centered, as she sails from one anchorage to another, looking for her true calling... -
Little Girl Lost by Cheryl Bradshaw
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFor the past two years, former detective Georgiana "Gigi" Germaine has been living off the grid, until today, when she hears some disturbing news that shakes her. Georgiana's brother-in-law has been murdered, her seven-year-old niece kidnapped. As the hours waste away, Georgiana races back to a town she left behind, and a former life she's still not ready to face...Categorized as:
crime female-mc hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure -
Only the Brave by Mel Sherratt, Anne Flosnik
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen one of the notorious Johnson brothers is murdered and a bag of money goes missing, a deadly game of cat and mouse is set in motion.DS Allie Shenton and her team are called in to catch the killer, but the suspects are double-crossing each other and Allie has little time to untangle the web of lies... -
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Tell No One / Gone For Good by Harlan Coben
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben comes an unforgettable duet of classic novels—two top-notch thrillers filled with the author’s signature storytelling genius.TELL NO ONEFor Dr. David Beck, the loss was shattering. And every day for the past eight years, he has relived the horror of what happened. The gleaming lake. The pale moonlight. The piercing screams... -
The Advocate's Felony by Teresa Burrell
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSabre Brown’s phone rings at 2 a.m. It’s her brother Ron. After seven years in the Witness Protection Program, someone has discovered his whereabouts, and has tried to kill him. He’s called to warn Sabre that she is in imminent danger. Sabre and her private investigator, J.P., leave sunny San Diego to search for her brother in the cold, wintry Northwest...Categorized as:
crime female-mc political-intrigue suspense thriller action-adventure book espionage -
Cold Kill by Stephen Leather
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 17 ratings"While investigating a crew of people-traffickers…Dan Shepherd discovers a cross-Channel currency-smuggling operation. Posing as a low-level criminal, Shepherd infiltrates the gang, befriending its London soldiers and establishing contact with the Albanian gangster who masterminds the business from his swank Paris flat...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Debris Line by Matthew FitzSimmons
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe stakes are higher than ever as the Wall Street Journal bestselling series continues.Lying low on the sun-kissed coast of Portugal is a far cry from twenty-four-hour lockdown in a CIA black-site prison. But even in paradise, Gibson Vaughn is a long way from being home free. With the feds hot on his heels, he and his crew of fellow fugitives know they can’t hide in a sunny beach town forever...Categorized as:
crime political-intrigue politics suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Blood of Others by Rick Mofina
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe disappearance and murder of a lonely San Francisco insurance clerk puts a relentless crime reporter and legendary homicide cop on separate tracks in their pursuit of a killer.The suspect lures solitary women out of their quiet worlds and into his nightmare as he races the clock and travels the globe searching for the one woman who will forgive the unforgivable...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Dead Tomorrow by Peter James
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratings*Lynn gripped the sides of the armchair, trying to put aside her own inner terror. 'I can't believe I'm thinking this, Ross. I'm not a violent person, even before Caitlin's influence, I never even liked killing flies in my kitchen. Now I'm sitting here actually willing some stranger to die... -
Next Exit, Three Miles by C.W. Browning
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAlina Maschik was one of the best. She never missed. Yet, two years ago in Cairo, she missed her shot at one of the world’s most wanted terrorists. Now, he’s back. This time, he’s on US soil.Given the opportunity to redeem herself, Alina’s objective is simple: find the terrorist and complete her mission... -
Hard Knocks by Zoë Sharp
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings‘Perhaps if the army had known what was inside me, what I would eventually turn into, they might not have been so keen to let me go.’Charlie really didn’t care who shot dead her traitorous ex-army comrade Kirk Salter during a bodyguard training course in Germany... -
The Namatjira Connection by Estelle Ryan
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLooted artworks. Italian Mafia. Deepfakes.The weekend in Italy is supposed to be a family event—a celebration as well as a break for the whole team to enjoy everything Naples has to offer. As it is, Doctor Genevieve Lenard is hard-pushed to keep an autistic shutdown at bay while surrounded by boisterous relatives and friends...Categorized as:
suspense investigator law-enforcement thriller political-intrigue crime fiction mystery -
Sins of the Father by Jen Blood
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAlternate Cover Edition for ASIN B008OKBNOK. Sins of the Father finds Erin Solomon continuing her quest to find her father by investigating a convicted murderer's claim of innocence. Her investigation leads her down a path of dark secrets, painful truths, and deadly obsessions, as she struggles to reconcile her memories of her father with the cold, ruthless portrait others paint... -
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Once a Thief by Christopher Reich
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFacing enemies at every turn, private spy Simon Riske dashes across Europe to find the truth behind a mysterious investor in this high-stakes international espionage series: "comparison to the Bond novels is apt in many ways." (Booklist)Simon Riske sits in sun-dappled Napa Valley, toasting the record hundred-million-dollar sale of a rare 1963 Ferrari which he restored himself... -
The Dead Tracks by Tim Weaver
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"The Dead Tracks" is the second in the David Raker series from Tim Weaver. A serial killer more terrifying than you could ever imagine...Seventeen-year-old Megan Carver was an unlikely runaway. A straight - a student from a happy home, she studied hard and rarely got into trouble. Six months on, she's never been found. Missing persons investigator David Raker knows what it's like to grieve...Categorized as:
crime investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt's a beautiful place to die... The latest superb novel from EDGAR AWARD-winning author of THE LOCK ARTIST. In the dead of winter a young man is found hanging from a tree on a remote shore of Lake Superior known as Misery Bay. There's no evidence of foul play. Nothing to suggest it's anything other than a tragic teenage suicide...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Executive Order by Max Allan Collins
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA riveting novel by MWA Grand Master Award winner Max Allan Collins. In Eastern Europe four CIA agents are dead—geopolitical pawns caught in border dispute cross fire. Why were they there? Who sent them? Not even the President knows.Back in Washington, the Secretary of the Interior dies from an apparent allergic shock. As details emerge, so do suspicions that she was murdered...Categorized as:
crime investigator law-enforcement political-intrigue politics suspense thriller action-adventure -
Free Fall in Crimson by John D. MacDonald, Carl Hiaasen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMcGee tracks killers who brutally murder an ailing millionaire. He renews unfinished adventure with Hollywood actress who leads him into a nasty nest of murderers involving a motorcycle gang, porn movies, and mad balloonists. And Mcgee relearns old lesson. Only close to the edge of death does he feel completely alive...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement politics suspense thriller action-adventure -
When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDowning a bourbon or two with a couple of cronies, Scudder witnesses a heist. The Morrisey brothers who run the joint are strangely submissive during the raid, but eager to see Scudder track down the thieves without involving the regular forces of law and order...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement political-intrigue politics suspense thriller -
Murder Board by Brian Christopher Shea
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA Boston homicide detective sets out to find a young girl’s killer—and confronts the dark world of city politics and organized crime. THE FIRST NOVEL OF THE NEW BOSTON CRIME THRILLER SERIES BY FORMER DETECTIVE BRIAN SHEA. The young girl was from a good family in an affluent suburb...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement politics suspense thriller action-adventure -
Wicked Prey by John Sandford, Richard Ferrone
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIt's September 2008, and the Republicans have come to St. Paul, Minnesota, for their convention. For most of the delegates, guests, reporters, and locals, it's a festive event, an occasion for having a good time and experiencing a unique moment in history. For law enforcement officials, however, it offers a grab-bag of embarrassing dangers, from small-fry con men to major stickup artists...Categorized as:
crime investigator law-enforcement political-intrigue politics suspense thriller action-adventure -
Silent as the Grave by Cheryl Bradshaw
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings38-year-old Rebecca Barlow drops her four-year-old son off at parents' house, promising to return by five.Five comes and goes.Then six.Then seven.Worried, Rebecca's parents try calling. She doesn't answer, and her friends haven't heard from her either. It seems no one has.As concern mounts, Rebecca's father drives to the lake house where she's been staying...Categorized as:
crime female-mc hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement political-intrigue politics thriller -
The First Lady's Second Man by David Bishop
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLinda Darby Mystery - Book 3 An assassination is planned in Syria. An extramarital affair occurs in Washington, D.C. The U.S. President decides to run for re-election. A mother and her daughter in Oregon are threatened. Relentlessly, Linda Darby and Ryan Testler are pulled toward these seemingly disparate events until their only way out is to confront what is quickly becoming unavoidable...Categorized as:
politics female-mc law-enforcement thriller political-intrigue mystery action-adventure fiction -
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Whitewashed Lies by G.K. Parks
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFederal agent Alexis Parker is on a quest to find the truth... When a bomb goes off in the middle of the night, no one hears the blast except an anonymous tipster. The office building is empty, but the rooms are locked up tight. Even the police and fire department are unable to bypass the advanced security systems... -
Burning Embers by G.K. Parks
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter recent setbacks, private investigator Alexis Parker is ready for a break. She and Martin have plans. Big plans. But when a colleague ropes her into helping on his investigation, everything else might fall to the wayside. The papers know him as Chef Easton, a rising star in the culinary world. But to Alex, he’s just another client whose life may be in jeopardy...Categorized as:
investigator suspense female-mc hard-boiled mystery action-adventure alpha-mc fiction -
Salvation Lake by G.M. Ford
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAt the end of an especially raucous day at his neighborhood bar, private eye Leo Waterman is surprised to see his old flame, Rebecca Duval, walk in the door. But King County’s medical examiner is here on business, not pleasure. Two dead bodies, covered by an old coat that once belonged to Leo’s father, have turned up in the trunk of a car...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense action-adventure adult amateur-sleuth -
Vigilant Charity by Wayne Stinnett, Kimberli A. Bindschatel
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsCharity Styles has been wandering the Pacific aimlessly aboard her beloved sloop, Wind Dancer, and only recently returned to the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. Entering a secluded cove in the Sea of Abaco, in the Bahamas, she runs into an old acquaintance and the woman’s young daughter... -
Twelve Mile Limit by Randy Wayne White
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt starts out as a fun excursion for four divers off the Florida coast. Two days later only one is found alive-naked atop a light tower in the Gulf of Mexico. What happened during those 48 hours? Doc Ford thinks he's prepared for the truth. He isn't...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
The King’s Evil by Andrew Taylor
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWinner of The HWA Gold Crown 2020From the No.1 bestselling author of The Ashes of Londonand The Fire Court comes the next book in the phenomenally successful series following James Marwood at the time of King Charles II.A royal scandal that could change the face of England forever… London 1667...Categorized as:
crime investigator law-enforcement political-intrigue politics suspense thriller action-adventure -
Burned by Melissa F. Miller
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsStrike the match. Light the fuse. Watch Olivia burn.CIA operative Olivia Santos lives on a razor's edge. As a NOC--an agent with non-official cover--she's well aware of the risks: if her cover's blown, there's no diplomatic immunity, and a life sentence in a foreign prison is the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is too gruesome to mention...Categorized as:
crime suspense law-enforcement female-mc political-intrigue mystery fiction contemporary -
A Deeper Sleep by Dana Stabenow
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsKATE SHUGAK is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5 foot 1 inch tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat and owns half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine – and she needs to be to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her...Categorized as:
crime female-mc investigator law-enforcement politics suspense thriller action-adventure -
The Green Ripper by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeautiful girls always grace the Florida beaches, strolling, sailing, relaxing at the many parties on Travis McGee's houseboat, The Busted Flush. McGee was too smart--and had been around too long--for many of them to touch his heart. Now, however, there was Gretel. She had discovered the key to McGee--to all of him--and now he had something to hope for. Then, terribly, unexpectedly, she was dead...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Blood is the Sky by Steve Hamilton
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBefore Blood is the Sky, the Alex McKnight series had already hit bestseller lists and won awards, but this novel took it to a whole new level. Set in the forests of northern Ontario, a land of savage beauty and sudden danger, Blood is the Sky shows why Steve Hamilton is one of the most acclaimed crime novelists writing today...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
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Her Last Wish by Blake Pierce
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFBI Agent Rachel Gift, 33, unparalleled for her ability to enter the minds of serial killers, is a rising star in the Behavioral Crimes Unit—until a routine doctor visit reveals she has but a few months left to live.Not wishing to burden others with her pain, Rachel decides, agonizing as it is, not to tell anyone—not even her boss, her partner, her husband, or her seven-year-old daughter... -
The President's Henchman by Joseph Flynn
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsAccording to the polls, it's only a matter of time - and not that long a time - before the United States elects its first female president. Which will make her husband - what? Well, if he's the ex-cop who solved the murder of the president's first husband and brought the killers to justice ... and if he's not the kind of guy to stand on formality ..Categorized as:
crime investigator political-intrigue politics suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Abandoned by Allison Brennan
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 17 ratings13 hours, 45 minutes New York Times best-selling author Allison Brennan weaves the intimate, unpausable story of an investigator confronting the most important - and most dangerous - mystery of her career, in Abandoned Investigative reporter Max Revere has cracked many cases, but the one investigation she's never attempted is the mystery from her own past...Categorized as:
crime female-mc investigator law-enforcement suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
Pale Gray for Guilt by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTush Bannon was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. His measly plot of land just so happened to sit right in the middle of a rich parcel of five hundred riverfront acres that big-money real estate interests decided they simply must have.It didn’t matter that Tush was a nice guy with a family, or that he never knew he was dealing with a criminal element...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement politics suspense action-adventure adult -
Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"[Robert B.] Parker's brilliance is in his simple dialogue, and in Spenser."--The Philadelphia InquirerA bitter divorce is only the beginning. First the father hires thugs to kidnap his son. Then the mother hires Spenser to get the boy back. But as soon as Spenser senses the lay of the land, he decides to do some kidnapping of his own...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement politics suspense thriller action-adventure -
Stranger in Town by Cheryl Bradshaw
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHe only needed her to look away for a few seconds... Six-year-old Olivia Hathaway tiptoes down the center aisle of Maybelle's Market, stopping once to glance over her shoulder and make sure her mother isn't watching. But Mrs. Hathaway is too preoccupied to notice her daughter has slipped away. Moments later, a frantic Mrs...Categorized as:
crime female-mc hard-boiled political-intrigue politics suspense thriller action-adventure
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