Books like 'Black Betty'
Readers who enjoyed Black Betty by Walter Mosley also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery action / adventure thriller crime noir law-enforcement historical-fiction hard-boiled suspense
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Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Hound of the Baskervilles by Malvina G. Vogel, Arthur Conan Doyle
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFor generations, readers have enjoyed classic literature. They have delighted in the romance of Jane Austen, thrilled at the adventures of Jules Verne, and pondered the lessons of Aesop. Introduce young readers to these familiar volumes with Great Illustrated Classics. In this series, literary masterworks have been adapted for young scholars...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense thriller action-adventure book -
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 historical-fiction law-enforcement noir suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
The Diamond Chariot by Boris Akunin
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe first of the interlinked plotlines is set in Russia during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. Fandorin is charged with protecting the Trans-Siberian Railway from Japanese sabotage in a pacy adventure filled with double agents and ticking bombs. Then we travel back to the Japan of the late 1870s...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense 21st-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
Goodnight Lady by Martina Cole
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA tour-de-force thriller of corruption and violence.In the sixties, Briony Cavanagh ran a string of the most notorious brothels in London. Only Briony knew what went on behind those doors, and she never opened her mouth - unless she stood to benefit. Only Briony knew the painful road she'd travelled to get there...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
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The Complete Short Stories Of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Complete Sherlock Holmes Short Stories. This edition includes the five Sherlock Holmes Collections, bringing together the 56 short stories: The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes, The Return Of Sherlock Holmes, His Last Bow and The Case-Book Of Sherlock Holmes. This book is a must have for any Sherlock Holmes lover... -
The Last Oracle and The Doomsday Key: A Sigma Force Bundle by James Rollins
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Last Oracle and The Doomsday Key has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher...Categorized as:
thriller suspense historical-fiction action-adventure mystery fiction historical book -
Complete Novels: Red Harvest / The Dain Curse / The Maltese Falcon / The Glass Key / The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsComplete in one volume, the five books that created the modern American crime novelIn a few years of extraordinary creative energy, Dashiell Hammett invented the modern American crime novel...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense thriller 20th-century -
Fast Ice by Clive Cussler, Graham Brown
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsKurt Austin races to Antarctica to stop a chilling plot that imperils the entire planet in the latest novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling Grand Master of Adventure.After a former NUMA colleague disappears while researching the icebergs of Antarctica, Kurt Austin and his assistant Joe Zavala embark for the freezing edge of the world to investigate... -
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 historical-fiction law-enforcement noir suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Collected Stories by Raymond Chandler
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratings(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)The only complete edition of stories by the undisputed master of detective literature, collected here for the first time in one volume, including some stories that have been unavailable for decades...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement literary-fiction noir 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA propulsive crime drama featuring a legendary Hong Kong detective on a decades-long quest to expose the city’s dark underbelly...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction politics suspense thriller 21st-century -
Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratings"Cometh the Hour" opens with the reading of a suicide note, which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and Lady Virginia.Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue Karin, the woman he loves, from behind the Iron Curtain...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction politics suspense thriller 20th-century -
The Coronation by Boris Akunin
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsGrand Duke Georgii Alexandrovich arrives in Moscow for the coronation, with three of his children. During an afternoon stroll, daughter Xenia is dragged away by bandits, only to be rescued by an elegant gentleman and his oriental sidekick. The passing heroes introduce themselves as Fandorin and Masa, but panic ensues when they realise that four-year old Mikhail has been snatched in the confusion... -
The Saboteurs by Clive Cussler, Jack Du Brul
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIsaac Bell returns for another thrilling mission in a new book from the Grand Master of Adventure, Clive CusslerDetective Isaac Bell's wife has said that he is always in the wrong place at the right time. This is certainly the case when Bell thwarts the attempted assassination of a United States Senator shortly after meeting the man...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
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Sunset Express by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsProminent restaurateur Teddy Martin is facing charges in his wife’s brutal murder. But he’s not going down without spending a bundle of cash on his defense. So his hotshot attorney hires P.I. Elvis Cole to find proof that Detective Angela Rossi tampered with the evidence. Rossi needs a way back to the fast track after falling hard during an internal investigation five years ago...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis is James Lee Burke's latest mystery featuring Dave Robicheaux. It is also much more than that...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense thriller -
Eyes of the Predator: The Pickham County Murders by Glenn Trust
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings***For Mature Readers*** Eyes scanning, searching, the predator sits motionless in a parking lot. His next victim is only feet away. Within hours a backwater south Georgia county will be rocked by two seemingly unrelated murders that signal the arrival of a serial killer in the rural southland... -
Natchez Burning by Greg Iles
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratings#1 New York Times bestselling novelist Greg Iles returns with his most eagerly anticipated book yet, and his first in five years – Natchez Burning, the first installment in an epic trilogy that weaves crimes, lies, and secret past and present into a mesmerizing thriller featuring Southern mayor and former prosecutor Penn Cage...Categorized as:
black-mc crime historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction poc-mc politics suspense -
Mightier Than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA bomb goes off, but how many passengers on the MV Buckingham have lost their lives? You will find out only if you read the opening chapter of Mightier than the Sword...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction politics suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
A Gambling Man by David Baldacci
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsAloysius Archer, the straight-talking World War II veteran fresh out of prison, returns in this riveting new thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci.The 1950s are on the horizon, and Archer is in dire need of a fresh start after a nearly fatal detour in Poca City...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement noir politics suspense thriller action-adventure -
The Magdalene deception by Gary McAvoy, Will Damron
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA forbidden secret . . .The Church’s fate in the balance . . .Will a pair of amateur sleuths expose a truth that could upend the Christian world? Jesus’ resurrection is a cornerstone of Christian faith. But when a clue surfaces that hints at an alternate account, the ramifications stand to change Christianity forever...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction literary-fiction politics suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhilip Kerr returns with his best-loved character, Bernie Gunther, in the fifth novel in what is now a series: a tight, twisting, compelling thriller that is firmly rooted in history.A Quiet Flame opens in 1950...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense thriller -
Prague Fatale by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSeptember 1941: Reinhard Heydrich is hosting a gathering to celebrate his appointment as Reichsprotector of Czechoslovakia. He has chosen his guests with care. All are high-ranking Party members and each is a suspect in a crime as yet to be committed: the murder of Heydrich himself...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir politics suspense -
In the Morning I'll Be Gone by Adrian McKinty
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDetective Sean Duffy works to crack a locked room mystery while tracking an escaped IRA master bomber.The early 1980s. Belfast. Sean Duffy, a conflicted Catholic cop in the Protestant RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary), is recruited by MI5 to hunt down Dermot McCann, an IRA master bomber who has made a daring escape from the notorious Maze Prison...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement noir politics suspense thriller 21st-century -
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Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRain Dogs, a stunning installment in the Sean Duffy thriller series, following the Edgar Award-nominated Gun Street Girl, is "another standout in a superior series" (Booklist).It's just the same things over and again for Sean Duffy: riot duty, heartbreak, cases he can solve but never get to court...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement noir suspense thriller 21st-century action-adventure -
Riiginõunik by Boris Akunin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSince the publication of The Winter Queen, a New York Times Notable Book and the first mystery featuring Erast Fandorin, Boris Akunin’s historical mystery series has become a worldwide sensation, selling millions of copies and propelling Akunin into the ranks of Russia’s most widely read contemporary novelists... -
Hang on St. Christopher by Adrian McKinty
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRain slicked streets, riots, murder, chaos. It's July 1992 and the Troubles in Northern Ireland are still grinding on after twenty-five apocalyptic years. Detective Inspector Sean Duffy got his family safely over the water to Scotland, to "Shortbread Land". Duffy's a part-timer now, only returning to Belfast six days a month to get his pension. It's an easy gig, if he can keep his head down...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction suspense noir law-enforcement thriller politics literary-fiction -
The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis is James Lee Burke's latest mystery featuring Dave Robicheaux. It is also much more than that...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement noir suspense thriller 21st-century -
Todo lo peor by César Pérez Gellida
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSigue la Guerra fría, sigue en pie el muro que divide Alemania en dos partes. Todo lo peor sucederá en estas circunstancias.Un asesino comienza a matar. Sus víctimas son homosexuales y sus crímenes parecen tener un componente religioso... -
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 historical-fiction law-enforcement politics suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Gangland by Chuck Hogan
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the acclaimed author of The Town, an epic thriller about the secret right‑hand man of one of the most infamous unprosecuted mob bosses in American history, and the hidden crime that will bring down an empire.In the late 1970s, The Outfit has the entire city of Chicago in its hands. Tony Accardo is its fearless leader... -
The Final Problem by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe entire series of Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle is now available in large print, using the best practices for senior readers and those who are visually impaired. Each story includes the original Sherlock Holmes mystery as well as a note from the series editor, Craig Stephen Copland, the author of the New Sherlock Holmes Mysteries books...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
The Outfit by Richard Stark
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen the Outfit tries to kill him, Parker declares war. Ripping off the syndicate is easy, but going one-on-one with Bronson, the Outfit's big boss, is the hard part. Hard for anyone but Parker, because the entire underworld understands that whatever Parker does -- he does for keep...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
The One from the Other by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhilip Kerr’s Berlin Noir trilogy—featuring the tough, fast-talking, noirish detective Bernie Gunther—is a publishing phenomenon that continues to win new fans more than fifteen years after its initial publication. Kerr has brought Bernie back in a highly anticipated thriller that will delight fans of the original books and attract new attention to the backlist...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir politics suspense -
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Dark Star by Alan Furst
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe acclaimed author of Night Soldiers offers a dramatic and exciting spy thriller of Eastern Europe on the brink of World War II. In the back alleys and glittering salons of Europe, there is a thin line between survival and betrayal, as Soviet NKVD agents and the Nazi Gestapo confront each other in a brilliant duel of espionage. Like watching Casablanca for the first time.--Time...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir politics suspense thriller -
The Titanic Secret by Clive Cussler, Jack Du Brul
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings*PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW*The Titanic's greatest secret is finally revealed . . .When Dirk Pitt raised the Titanic in search of a rare and valuable element he never learned the disturbing true story of its origins. But upon receiving secret testimony from private detective Isaac Bell he's taken back to the year 1911 and a tragedy at Colorado's Little Angel Mine...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsMarlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense university -
The Adventure of the Empty House by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsIn “The Adventure of the Empty House”, Sherlock Holmes reappears in London after a 3-year absence, shocking Dr. Watson who believed his good friend had been killed in a confrontation with Professor Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls. Holmes is compelled to outwit the “second most dangerous man in London” who has a good reason to hope for Holmes’ demise... -
Death Magic by C.S. Quinn
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings'Quinn is a brilliant new talent!’ —Peter JamesFrom author of the bestselling Thief Taker seriesLondon 1663. A murdered girl. An attic full of charms …Charlie Tuesday has a new case. A maid-servant has been brutally murdered, leaving an array of strange protectorates in her attic room. Stolen from her body was a silver thimble which no-one can explain how she came to have...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense action-adventure book early-modern fiction -
The Rule of Knowledge by Scott Baker
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFaith, history, science and love collide in this fast-paced action adventure.High school teacher Shaun Strickland is shocked when he receives a last-minute invitation from Cambridge University to deliver a paper on the relationship between space and time, something he has been studying for years. This could be the break he s been longing for... -
The Million Dollar Wound by Max Allan Collins
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom a foxhole on Guadalcanal (shared with Barney Ross) to the glitzy underworld of Hollywood in the '40s, Nate Heller fights his memories and the Mob.Something happened at the Canal, something Heller's blocking out. What he can't block, though, is the wound he received--the "million-dollar wound," the one that got him home...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement noir suspense 20th-century action-adventure -
West on 66 by James H. Cobb
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsA classic noir mystery in the tradition of Elmore Leonard. The location is Route 66 in 1958, where a young L.A. deputy sheriff becomes involved with a mysterious woman, mobsters, and a lost fortune...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction thriller mystery historical action-adventure military -
Poets and Murder by Robert van Gulik
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA.D. 668Master detective Judge Dee sets out to solve a puzzling double murder and discovers that complicated passions lurk beneath the seemingly tranquil landscape of academic life. A student has been murdered; a beautiful poetess is accused of whipping her maidservant to death; and further mysteries lie in the shadows of the Shrine of the Black Fox...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement noir poc-mc politics action-adventure adult -
The River of Souls by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe year is 1703. The place: the Carolina settlement of Charles Town. . Matthew Corbett, professional “problem solver,” has accepted a lucrative, if unusual, commission: escorting a beautiful woman to a fancy dress ball.What should be a pleasant assignment takes a darker turn when Matthew becomes involved in a murder investigation...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
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Time to Depart by Lindsey Davis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBalbinus Pius, the dirtiest underworld organizer in Emperor Vespasian's Rome, has been convicted of a capital crime at last, thanks to public servant Petronius Longus, better known to Marcus Didius Falco as his old army buddy Petro. A quirk of Roman law, however, allows every citizen condemned to death time to depart. In other words, he has a chance to skip town...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement noir politics suspense thriller 20th-century -
A Tan and Sandy Silence by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeing accused at gunpoint of hiding another man's wife is a rude shock. But it's an even bigger shock when Travis McGee discovers that the woman in question is Mary Broll, a dear old friend. Now she's disappeared, vanished without a word to anyone...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Men in Blue by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsW.E.B. Griffin's bestselling series, THE CORPS and BROTHERHOOD OF WAR, have captured the pride and glory of the military community. Now he reveals a city police force with the same unique blend of realism, drama, and action...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
G-Man by Stephen Hunter
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Hunter, the latest episode in his Swagger familiy saga replete with Hunter's wicked suspense, vivid gun fights, and historical truths...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
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 hard-boiled law-enforcement noir suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
If The Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn instant classic in the Bernie Gunther series, with storytelling that is fresher and more vivid than ever. Berlin, 1934: The Nazis have secured the 1936 Olympiad for the city but are facing foreign resistance. Hitler and Avery Brundage, the head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, have connived to soft-pedal Nazi anti- Semitism and convince America to participate...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense thriller
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