Books like 'A Guilty Thing Surprised'
Readers who enjoyed A Guilty Thing Surprised by Ruth Rendell also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery 20th century thriller crime law-enforcement suspense police-procedural cozy
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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...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Lord Peter by Dorothy L. Sayers]()
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]()
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...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie]()
The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFor the first ime in one volume are Agatha Christie's first two mysteries that introduced the world to Hercule Poirot and to Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, all sleuths who have starred in the PBS Mystery! series: with a sudden death as the initiation of his career, Hercule Poirot calls upon the sprawling estate of the Styles Court to identify the murderer of a wealthy heiress from a crowd of... -
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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]()
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... -
![The Quartet Murders by J.R. Ellis]()
The Quartet Murders by J.R. Ellis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA priceless violin. And a dark secret someone is prepared to kill for. DCI Oldroyd has seen his fair share of victims, but he has never witnessed a murder—until now. When world-famous violinist Hans Muller is shot and killed during a concert, the detective is faced with a case beyond logic. The culprit is nowhere to be found—and the victim’s priceless violin has disappeared too...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural 20th-century 21st-century adult audiobook -
![Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow]()
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:
crime law-enforcement thriller police-procedural suspense historical-fiction fiction mystery -
![A Cold Treachery by Charles Todd]()
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... -
![Winter Work: A novel by Dan Fesperman]()
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:
suspense crime thriller law-enforcement fiction historical-fiction espionage mystery -
![And Four to Go by Rex Stout]()
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... -
![Trouble in Triplicate by Rex Stout]()
Trouble in Triplicate by Rex Stout
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThey all thought they were about to die . . . and they were right. Dazy Perrit was an underworld kingpin until a hail of bullets sent him into early retirement. Ben Jensen was a well-connected publisher until a determined gunman severed all his connections. Eugene R. Poor made novelties like exploding cigars until one of them blew him to kingdom come... -
![Racing the Devil by Charles Todd]()
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 law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
![To the Grave by Steve Robinson]()
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... -
![A Lonely Death by Charles Todd]()
A Lonely Death by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings“Todd’s Ian Rutledge mysteries are among the most intelligent and affecting being written these days.”—Washington PostCritics have called Charles Todd’s historical mystery series featuring shell-shocked World War One veteran Inspector Ian Rutledge “remarkable” (New York Times Book Review), “heart-breaking” (Chicago Tribune), “fresh and original” (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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![Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee]()
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 law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
![In a Dry Season by Peter Robinson]()
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... -
![Mort sur le Nil by Agatha Christie]()
Mort sur le Nil by Agatha Christie
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsCe n'est pas très joli de voler son fiancé à sa meilleure amie pour se marier avec lui. Et même si l'amie en question semble se résigner, la ravissante et riche Linnet Ridgeway a bien des raisons d'être inquiète... Surtout quand le hasard les rassemble, pour une croisière sur le Nil, avec d'inquiétants personnages, dans une atmosphère lourde de sensualité et de cupidité... -
![Isabella's Painting by Ellen Butler]()
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... -
![Madness in the Ruins by John A. Connell]()
Madness in the Ruins by John A. Connell
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA mutilated body. No witnesses. The only clue, a message, “Those who I have made suffer will become saints and they shall lift me up from hell.” Winter, 1945. Munich is in ruins, and a savage killer is stalking the city.U.S. Army investigator Mason Collins enforces the law in the American Zone of Occupation. This post is his last chance to do what he loves most—being a homicide detective...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Deadly Pleasure by Brenda Joyce]()
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]()
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:
cozy crime law-enforcement suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult amateur-sleuth -
![The Reckoning by Rennie Airth]()
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 .. -
![Three for the Chair by Rex Stout]()
Three for the Chair by Rex Stout
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn alternate cover of this ISBN can be found here.One thing is certain to distract Nero Wolfe from his culinary and horticultural pursuits: murder. This time Wolfe and his able assistant, Archie Goodwin, are put in the hot seat when they are called upon to investigate three different murders... -
![Lightning Men by Thomas Mullen]()
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 law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century adult audiobook -
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![Murder in Belgravia: A Mayfair 100 Mystery by Lynn Brittney]()
Murder in Belgravia: A Mayfair 100 Mystery by Lynn Brittney
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA high-profile murder propels a unique crime-fighting team into the dark environs of London’s underworld—and on a terrifying quest to track a ruthless killer.London, 1915. As World War I engulfs Europe, a special task force is formed in the affluent Mayfair district to tackle the city’s thorniest crimes against women...Categorized as:
crime cozy law-enforcement suspense thriller police-procedural mystery historical-fiction -
![Champagne for One by Rex Stout]()
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... -
![A Right to Die by Rex Stout]()
A Right to Die by Rex Stout
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen a bright young heiress with a flair for romance and one too many enemies is found brutally murdered, Nero Wolfe and his sidekick, Archie, find themselves embroiled in a case that is not as black and white as it first appears.Susan Brooke has everything going for her. Men would have killed themselves to marry her, and, in fact, one did... -
![The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper by John D. MacDonald]()
The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith an introduction by CARL HIAASENJOHN D. MacDONALD."..the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." --STEPHEN KING."..a master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer."--MARY HIGGINS CLARK."..a dominant influence on writers crafting the continuing series character."--SUE GRAFTON."..my favorite novelist of all time."--DEAN KOONTZ.".Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The First Eagle by Tony Hillerman]()
The First Eagle by Tony Hillerman
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen Acting Lt. Jim Chee catches a Hopi poacher huddled over a butchered Navajo Tribal police officer, he has an open-and-shut case--until his former boss, Joe Leaphorn, blows it wide open. Now retired from the Navajo Tribal Police, Leaphorn has been hired to find a hot-headed female biologist hunting for the key to a virulent plague lurking in the Southwest... -
![Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd]()
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... -
![The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout, Robert Goldsborough]()
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]()
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... -
![No Shred of Evidence by Charles Todd]()
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 law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century adult audiobook -
![A False Mirror by Charles Todd]()
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... -
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![Saint Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters]()
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... -
![The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry]()
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... -
![Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh]()
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... -
![Wings of Fire by Charles Todd]()
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... -
![The Mousetrap and Other Plays by Agatha Christie]()
The Mousetrap and Other Plays by Agatha Christie
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis special collection of Agatha Christie's greatest suspense plays includes The Mousetrap (the longest running play in history), Ten Little Indians, Witness for the Prosecution, Appointment with Death, The Hollow, Towards Zero, Go Back to Murder, and The Verdict... -
![To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey]()
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... -
![Search the Dark by Charles Todd]()
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... -
![A Fearsome Doubt by Charles Todd]()
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.. -
![The Red Door by Charles Todd, Simon Prebble]()
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... -
![The Confession by Charles Todd]()
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... -
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![The Abominable Man by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö]()
The Abominable Man by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe striking seventh novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Beck facing one of the greatest challenges in his professional career.The gruesome murder of a police captain in his hospital room reveals the unsavory history of a man who spent forty years practicing a horrible blend of strong-arm police work and shear brutality... -
![Cop Killer by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö]()
Cop Killer by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe shocking ninth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö finds Beck investigating parallel cases that have shocked a small rural community. In a country town, a woman is brutally murdered and left buried in a swamp. There are two main suspects: her closest neighbor and her ex-husband... -
![The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths]()
The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn a nail-biting hunt for a missing loved one, DI Edgar Stephens and the magician Max Mephisto discover once again that the line between art, life, and death is all too easily blurred... -
![The Big Blowdown by George P. Pelecanos]()
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]()
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 -
![The Man From Berlin by Luke McCallin]()
The Man From Berlin by Luke McCallin
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsYugoslavia, a German officer has been shot and killed. Along with him a young, beautiful filmmaker and photographer—a veritable hero to her people—has been brutally murdered.Assigned to the case is military intelligence officer Captain Gregor Reinhardt...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century adult audiobook
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