Books like 'Poets and Murder'
Readers who enjoyed Poets and Murder by Robert van Gulik also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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Penance for the Dead by Cara Devlin
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOld scandals and destructive truths are exposed when a woman from Hugh Marsden’s past is murdered in cold blood.Principal Bow Street Officer Hugh Marsden is used to living in the shadow of disgrace. First, as the illegitimate son of the late Viscount Neatham, and second, as the man who permanently maimed his half-brother in a duel six years ago...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime paranormal law-enforcement romance mystery historical industrial-era -
Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsBeka Cooper is no longer a Puppy. She's a Dog now - a full-fledged member of the Provost's Guard, which keeps the peace in Corus's streets. Beka's natural skills of observation and tenacity are augmented by her unusual magical talents, which allow her to gather information both from pigeons are from the eddies of dirt and dust that swirl on street corners...Categorized as:
crime ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure alpha-mc animals -
Mastiff by Tamora Pierce
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsThe Hunt is on!Three years have passed since Beka Cooper almost died in the sewers of Port Caynn, and she is now a respected member of the Provost's Guard. But her life takes an unexpected turn when her fiancé is killed on a slave raid. Beka is faced with a mixture of emotions as, unbeknownst to many, she was about to call the engagement off...Categorized as:
crime ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure animals audiobook -
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsWhen the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career... -
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Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsMaster storyteller Julie Kagawa concludes the enthralling journey into the heart of the fantastical Empire of Iwagoto in the third book of the Shadow of the Fox trilogy. As darkness rises and chaos reigns, a fierce kitsune and her shadowy protector will face down the greatest evil of all. A captivating fantasy for fans of Sabaa Tahir, Sarah J. Maas and Marie Lu...Categorized as:
asian-mc ghosts historical-fiction paranormal poc-mc action-adventure alpha-mc audiobook -
The Gangster by C.S. Poe
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratings1881—Special Agent Gillian Hamilton, magic caster for the Federal Bureau of Magic and Steam, has recovered from injuries obtained while in Shallow Grave, Arizona. Now back in New York City, Gillian makes an arrest on New Year’s Eve that leads to information on a gangster, known only as Tick Tock, who’s perfected utilizing elemental magic ammunition... -
The Carnelian Crow by Colleen Gleason
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsEver since the debacle of the Chess Queen Enigma, Mina Holmes and Evaline Stoker have laid low, trying to settle back into their quiet lives as young ladies of London. But the Holmesian deductive abilities won't remain dormant for long, and when Mina receives a strange package from a winged, midnight visitor, she is catapulted into a new, dangerous adventure: the search for The Carnelian Crow... -
Callie by Bill Thompson
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDeep in the bayous of southern Louisiana, an ancient mansion called Beau Rivage sits empty and abandoned. Arceneaux family members built the house and lived there for two hundred years. The house is inherited by Callie Pilantro, a down-on-her-luck granddaughter of Juliet Arceneaux, its most recent owner who died there a few months ago... -
Aura of Night by Heather Graham
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTrue evil never dies. It only waits in the dark. All book editor Megan Law wants is to bury the memory of her brutal kidnapping and move on with her life. So when her publisher asks her to spin her hellish experience into the next bestseller, Megan agrees only because it might help keep other women safe...Categorized as:
crime ghosts law-enforcement paranormal police-procedural action-adventure adult audiobook -
Of Fates And Phantoms by C.J. Archer
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAs Charlie and Lincoln’s lives settle into a harmonious pattern, a new threat arises that could have far reaching effects for the royal family and Lincoln’s parents.When a seer warns the Prince of Wales that his life is in danger, only Charlie and Lincoln take her seriously... -
Love Songs From A Shallow Grave by Colin Cotterill
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe seventh Dr. Siri Paiboun mysteryWhen a Lao female security officer is discovered stabbed through the heart with a fencing sword, Dr. Siri, the reluctant national coroner for the People's Democratic Republic of Laos, is brought in to examine the body. Soon two other young women are found killed in the same unusual way...Categorized as:
crime ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal police-procedural action-adventure adult -
Terrier by Tamora Pierce
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsHundreds of years before Alanna first drew her sword in Tamora Pierce's memorable debut, Alanna: The First Adventure, Tortall had a heroine named Beka Cooper - a fierce young woman who fights crime in a world of magic. This is the beginning of her story, her legend, and her legacy...Categorized as:
crime ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure alpha-mc animals -
The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsA corrupt countessA spy in dangerAnd an assassin at largeThe fifth title in Genevieve Cogman's witty and wonderful Invisible Library series, The Mortal Word is a rollicking literary adventure.Peace talks are always tricky, especially when a key diplomat gets stabbed. This rudely interrupts a top-secret summit between the warring dragons and Fae... -
The Girl with No Face by M.H. Boroson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe adventures of Li-lin, a Daoist priestess with the unique ability to see the spirit world, continue in the thrilling follow-up to the critically-acclaimed historical urban fantasy The Girl with Ghost Eyes.It’s the end of the Nineteenth Century. San Francisco’s cobblestone streets are haunted, but Chinatown has an unlikely protector in a young Daoist priestess named Li-lin... -
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The Sun Rises Over Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe revelation that a significant, active curse rests on the Cottonwood family puts a damper on Carrie Jo’s excitement about her new baby. Worried about protecting the child and Ashland, she does all she can to help Ashland break the curse and keep their family safe from danger. When Hurricane Jasmine bears down on Mobile, everything goes wrong... -
Passage of Shadows by Chasity Bowlin
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDon’t miss the exciting conclusion to The Victorian Gothic Collection… The plots, schemes and machinations at Cysgod Lys, from both mortal and immortal sources, are coming to a head... -
Forgotten Men by Bill Thompson
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe once-famous Hotel Iberia was where society's finest gathered in the days before 1859 when Victory, Louisiana became a ghost town. A building where people had laughed, dined and passed the time among friends became something dark, sinister and evil. The town was dead, so no one complained when the Victory Institution for the Criminally Insane opened in the old hotel...Categorized as:
ghosts historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult archaeology book fiction -
Unquiet Spirits: Whisky, Ghosts, Murder by Bonnie MacBird
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe new novel from the author of Art in the Blood. December 1889. Fresh from debunking a "ghostly" hound in Dartmoor, Sherlock Holmes has returned to London, only to find himself the target of a deadly vendetta. A beautiful client arrives with a tale of ghosts, kidnapping and dynamite on a whisky estate in Scotland, but brother Mycroft trumps all with an urgent assignment in the South of France...Categorized as:
crime ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement police-procedural action-adventure adult animals -
From The Ashes by C.J. Archer, Shiromi Arserio
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsWhat will happen when Charlie returns to Lichfield?The killer is still on the loose, Lady Harcourt's secret past is out, and Lady Vickers is trying to find Seth a wife. Charlie is stepping back into chaos, but nothing compares to the chaos wreaked on her heart by seeing Lincoln every day... -
Time Windows by Kathryn Reiss
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Miranda moves with her family to a new house in a small Massachusetts town, she discovers a mysterious antique--a dollhouse. Through the windows, she is shocked to find what seem to be living people in the tiny rooms, and gradually she realizes that scenes from the lives of the big house’s past inhabitants are being replayed there...Categorized as:
ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal abuse action-adventure book children -
Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn Vientiane, a booby-trapped corpse, intended for Dr. Siri, the national coroner of Laos, has been delivered to the morgue. In his absence, only Nurse Dtui's intervention saves the lives of the morgue attendants, visiting doctors, and Madame Daeng, Dr. Siri's fiance. On his way back from a communist party meeting in the north, Dr...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal politics action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Journal of a Thousand Years by C.J. Archer
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn ancient family diary. A timely prophecy. An epic conclusion.As Sylvia prepares to meet Gabe’s parents for the first time, the last thing she needs is for her long-lost father to cause trouble. While his answers to her questions finally bring clarity, they also usher in danger.But that's not all her elusive father brings into Sylvia's life...Categorized as:
historical-fiction paranormal crime law-enforcement romance fantasy mystery audiobook -
Beekeeping for Beginners by Laurie R. King, Robert Ian MacKenzie
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this crackling short story, New York Times bestselling author Laurie R. King reveals an unforgettable new twist in the adventure that led supersleuth Sherlock Holmes to discover his first (and finest) apprentice, Mary Russell. Sherlock Holmes is fending off a particularly dark mood as he roams the Sussex Downs, in search of wild bees...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book -
Crucible by James Rollins
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsIn the race to save one of their own, Sigma Force must wrestle with the deepest spiritual mysteries of mankind in this mind-expanding adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling author, told with his trademark blend of cutting edge science, historical mystery, and pulse-pounding action... -
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The Drowned Woman by Terry Lynn Thomas
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDecember 1937.When Zeke’s sister-in-law Rachel Caen was found dead on Christmas Eve, her family assumed that she had taken her own life.Now five years later, one of the emeralds that Rachel was wearing at the time of her death is discovered at a stonecutter’s house in Portland, Oregon... -
Redemption by Rosa Lee Jude, Mary Lin Brewer
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBe careful what you wish for. When the breakup of her family forces Grae White’s mother to move her two children from their privileged city life to her hometown in the mountains of Virginia, all Grae wants is to be invisible in her new life...Categorized as:
ghosts historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure book fiction historical mystery -
Weeping in the Wings by Terry Lynn Thomas
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSan Francisco, March 1943Sarah Bennett harbors two secrets: She sees ghosts, and she’s in love with a spy.When Sarah takes a job with occult expert Dr. Matthew Geisler, he promises to help her understand the sorrowful spirit that seems to have attached itself to her—a spirit whose incessant weeping only she can hear...Categorized as:
crime ghosts historical-fiction paranormal politics 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Sands of Time by Monique Martin
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Crosses--high-spirited Elizabeth and her brilliant Professor of the Occult husband, Simon--find themselves, along with Jack Wells, in 1920 Cairo on a special assignment for the Council for Temporal Studies. It seems like a simple enough mission---find a missing pocket watch and bring it back to the present. The only problem is, they're not the only ones looking...Categorized as:
historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure adult book fiction gods -
Point of Dreams by Melissa Scott, Lisa A. Barnett
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe city of Astreiant has gone crazy with enthusiasm for a new play, The Drowned Island, a lurid farrago of melodrama and innuendo. Pointsman Nicolas Rathe is not amused, however, at a real dead body on stage and must investigate. A string of murders follow, perhaps related to the politically important masque that is to play on that same stage...Categorized as:
crime ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Nomination: A Novel of Suspense by William G. Tapply
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Nomination is a fast-paced action and suspense thriller that brings events from the final days of the Vietnam War into direct conflict with contemporary American politics. Vietnam War hero and Massachusetts Judge Thomas Larrigan is hand-picked by his friend the president to fill the upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court... -
The Stars We Walked Upon by M.L. Bullock
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCarrie Jo Stuart's dream catching has gotten out of control and threatens to wreck her happy home. She decides to tell her husband a secret that changes everything, but Ashland has ghosts of his own. Ashland's childhood friend Detra Ann Dowd battles a frightening supernatural being but travels across time to receive help from an unexpected ally... -
The Stars That Fell by M.L. Bullock, Emily Lawrence
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSecrets Never Stay Hidden Just Ask Any Ghost When Carrie Jo and Ashland Stuart uncovered the truth about the ghosts of Seven Sisters, they were sure that the supernatural activity would end. When they return home to Mobile after their honeymoon, they soon realize they were wrong”"not everyone is at rest. Something or someone is reaching out to the dream catcher... -
Rook by William Ritter
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis standalone adventure set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Jackaby series brims with humor, heart, and—of course—a hefty dose of supernatural mayhem. Abigail Rook never intended to be the mortal bridge between the human and supernatural world...Categorized as:
historical-fiction paranormal ghosts law-enforcement fantasy mystery young-adult historical -
The Breath of God by Guy Adams
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe nineteenth century is about to draw to a close. In its place will come the twentieth, a century of change, a century of science, a century that will see the superstitions of the past swept away.There are some who are determined to see that never happens.A body is found crushed to death in the London snow. There are no footprints anywhere near it...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement noir paranormal action-adventure adult book -
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The Ghosts of Tullybrae House by Veronica Bale
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTHE PATH TO HER DESTINY LIES IN SOLVING A CENTURIES-OLD MYSTERY Emmie Tunstall is in over her head. Not yet thirty, and she’s been hired as curator at Tullybrae House. A three-hundred year old manor in the Scottish Highlands, Tullybrae has more antique and historically significant artefacts than a museum. It will fall to Emmie to inspect, research and catalogue every last one... -
Time for Andrew: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAunt Blythe's house gives Andrew the creeps -- full of dark rooms, creaky noises, and the sound of a woman sobbing somewhere in the shadows. Then, in the middle of the night, Andrew awakens to find a boy standing in his room...a boy who is Andrew's double, except he looks as if he's come from the grave. He wants to follow him -- to a place where he will meet the spirits of long-dead ancestors..Categorized as:
ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure book children children-books -
Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe past never forgets...Before an ambush by enemy soldiers, Lord Cassia was an engineer's apprentice on a mission entrusted by the king. But when plague sweeps over the land, leaving countless dead and devastating the kingdom, even Cas’ title cannot save him from a rotting prison cell and a merciless sickness...Categorized as:
ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure audiobook book epic -
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Holmes by Loren D. Estleman
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSherlock Holmes has already encountered the evil young hedonist Edward Hyde, and knew he was strangely connected with Henry Jekyll, the respectable young doctor. It was not until the Queen herself requested it, however, that Holmes was officially on the case of the savage murder of Sir Danvers Crew. Here, then is the account of that devilish crime as recorded by Dr Watson..Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure adult animals book -
Speaks the Nightbird by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe first new novel in a decade from New York Times bestselling horror novelist Robert R. McCammon. The people of Fount Royal, a small Carolina settlement, think there's a witch among them. The citizens are convinced that Rachel Howarth--a beautiful, independent widow of Portuguese descent--has cursed the town...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal 21st-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe Haunting of Tram Car 015 returns to the alternate Cairo of Clark's short fiction, where humans live and work alongside otherworldly beings; the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities handles the issues that can arise between the magical and the mundane...Categorized as:
crime ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal poc-mc 21st-century action-adventure -
The Lost Girls of Rome by Donato Carrisi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA grieving young widow, seeking answers to her husband's death, becomes entangled in an investigation steeped in the darkest mysteries of Rome.Sandra Vega, a forensic analyst with the Roman police department, mourns deeply for a marriage that ended too soon...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement noir police-procedural action-adventure adult audiobook -
Midnight is a Lonely Place by Barbara Erskine
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAfter a broken love affair, biographer Kate Kennedy retires to a remote cottage on the wild Essex coast to work on her new book until her landlord's daughter uncovers a Roman site nearby and long-buried passions are unleashed! In her lonely cottage, Kate is terrorized by mysterious forces... -
The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"More death! More, if you do not stop it. Others lost, like me in the black water. Save them!"When Alexander first sees the eerie glow in the dormer window of the barn, it sets his heart pounding. And when he ventures into the barn in the dark of night, his breath catches in his throat. Suddenly Blossom Culp's words come back to him: "You can make contact with the Unseen...Categorized as:
ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal 20th-century action-adventure book children -
Downtime by James Allen, Tamara Allen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFBI Agent Morgan Nash is on assignment in London when his case goes awry and he finds himself moments away from a bullet through the heart. But fate has other plans: Morgan gets knocked out pursuing a suspect... and wakes up in 1888...Categorized as:
crime ghosts historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure adult book -
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Moonlight Falls on Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen a young, wealthy heiress, Calpurnia Cottonwood, disappears from Seven Sisters in 1850, rumors swirl. But no trace of the girl had ever been found--until now. Historian Carrie Jo Jardine and her handsome employer, Ashland Stuart, find clues to the heiress' whereabouts and even more mysteries are revealed. With Carrie Jo's ability to dream about the past, she watches a sinister plot unfold... -
Excavation by James Rollins
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 36 ratings“A real page-turner….Rollins keeps the story in overdrive, with plenty of twists and turns before the final shocker...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction paranormal politics action-adventure adult archaeology audiobook -
Grave Expectations by C.J. Archer
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsCharlie’s life is perfect. She has everything her heart desires. Until it all goes horribly wrong. Charlie and Lincoln return to London to find two supernaturals have been murdered, and Charlie might be next. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the man who adopted her has escaped from prison, and the committee members have just learned some news that infuriates them...Categorized as:
crime ghosts historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure audiobook book female-mc -
Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes by Charles Prepolec, Kim Newman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe fabled tin dispatch box of Dr. John H. Watson opens to reveal eleven all new tales of mystery and dark fantasy. Sherlock Holmes, master of deductive reasoning, confronts the irrational, the unexpected and the fantastic in the weird worlds of the Gaslight Grimoire...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure adult anthologies fiction -
Ballgowns & Butterflies by Kelley Armstrong
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe North Yorkshire moors are always a magical place, but they’re particularly enchanting at the holidays…especially if one gets to travel back in time to a Victorian Christmas. For Bronwyn Dale, it is the stuff of dreams. Fancy-dress balls, quirky small-town traditions, even that classic one-horse open sleigh, complete with jingle bells. There’s just the tiny problem of the Butterfly Effect... -
A Golden Grave by Erin Lindsey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe follow-up to Murder on Millionaires' Row, Erin Lindsey's second historical mystery follows Rose Gallagher as she tracks a killer with shocking abilities through Gilded Age Manhattan. Rose Gallagher always dreamed of finding adventure, so her new life as a freshly-minted Pinkerton agent ought to be everything she ever wanted...Categorized as:
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