Books like 'Tricks'
Readers who enjoyed Tricks by Ed McBain also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
mystery thriller crime law-enforcement police-procedural pulp dark hard-boiled
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Dead Embers by Matt Brolly
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn explosive fire. A double murder. And that’s just the start…When DCI Michael Lambert is called out to an apparent house fire, he knows it can’t be routine. Instead he finds the remains of a burnt house, a traumatised child and two corpses - one of whom is a senior police officer.Lambert’s got other problems. Anti-corruption are onto his boss. His relationships is on the rocks... -
Dire by Jeff Carson
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a man careens off the road into the frigid waters of the Chautauqua River, Chief Detective David Wolf risks his own life to bring the man to shore. News of Wolf’s bravery travels fast through the burgeoning ski town of Rocky Points, Colorado, and before long he’s pulled into the political grinder, where candidates are eager to exploit Wolf’s character for their own gain...Categorized as:
crime dark hard-boiled law-enforcement police-procedural thriller action-adventure adult -
Shallow Ground by Andy Maslen, Steve West
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratings10 hours, 20 minutes Detective Ford has a cold-blooded killer to catch. But can he escape his own dark secrets?Barely a month since his promotion to Inspector, DI Ford is called in to investigate the murder of a young nurse and her son in a small flat in Salisbury. There are few clues, and no apparent motive, but Ford can sense that there’s a serial killer at work... -
The Girl in the Mist by A.J. Rivers
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThere’s something strange about the mist... After a night of a scary movie marathon, a cold thick fog rolls over Sherwood, bringing with it the promise of fall. And when FBI Agent Emma Griffin wakes up the next morning, she can't help but shake the feeling that something is off... -
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Proving Grounds by B.J. Bourg
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen the sniper-style murder of an alligator poacher puts two rival families on edge, Police Sniper London Carter and Detective Sergeant Dawn Luke join forces to solve the case. But they'll have their work cut out for them as the two families recruit small armies to fight each other... -
The Berwyn River Killings by Simon McCleave
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA double suicide. A dark investigation into historic abuse. Can DI Ruth Hunter link the present killings to secrets of the past before the killer strikes again?Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter has resolved to put her past life in London behind her... -
So We Lie by Willow Rose
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEva Rae Thomas is in over her head on her first assignment as an FBI profiler in multi-million-copy bestselling author Willow Rose’s nail-biting mystery.When the mother of two, Arlene Wood, crashes her car against a tree at four in the morning, the case seems pretty straightforward.But evidence found in the remains of the car soon raises the question of whether this was really an accident... -
Free to Prey by Julie Mellon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNow that her suspension has been lifted, Katie Freeman is determined to return to work, keep her head low, and – most importantly – stay off her boss’s radar. But someone has other plans. Waiting on her desk is a package with shocking contents, with no indication of who sent it - and the implied threat lands Katie in the one spot she was most determined to avoid... -
Free to Live by Julie Mellon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSpecial Agent Katie Freeman has a secret, one she has only shared with her partner, Michael Powell. While looking at the files of a cold case, Katie discovered a possible personal connection... -
Bury Them Deep: Inspector McLean Book 10 by James Oswald
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe tenth book in the Sunday Times-bestselling Inspector McLean series, from one of Scotland's most celebrated crime writers When a member of the Police Scotland team fails to clock-in for work, concern for her whereabouts is immediate... and the discovery of her burnt-out car in remote woodland to the south of Edinburgh sets off a desperate search for the missing woman... -
Three Small Bones by Jennifer Chase
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSmoke curls from what’s left of the beautiful family home on the edge of the woods. The heat is unbearable as she descends the stairs to the basement, past a set of bicycles––two big, one small... -
Dead and Buried: A Scottish Detective Mystery by John Carson
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSometimes, the past is better left behind...Detective Chief Inspector Harry McNeil had found himself back in CID after a leave of absence saw his team disbanded. Now he's been temporarily assigned to an existing Major Investigation team, working alongside his old friend, Detective Inspector Frank Miller, after Miller's DCI dies suddenly.A body is found in the city centre, torn to pieces... -
The Harry Bosch Novels, Volume 1: The Black Echo / The Black Ice / The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Black Echo:For Harry Bosch - hero, loner, nighthawk - the body stuffed in a drainpipe off Mulholland Drive isn't just another statistic. This one is personal. Billy Meadows was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat," fighting the VC and the fear they used to call the Black Echo. Harry let Meadows down once. He won't do it again...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural thriller adult anthologies audiobook fiction -
The Blood Road by Stuart MacBride
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSome things just won’t stay buried…Logan McRae’s personal history is hardly squeaky clean, but now that he works for Professional Standards it’s his job to police his fellow officers.When Detective Inspector Bell turns up dead in the driver’s seat of a crashed car it’s a shock to everyone. Because Bell died two years ago, they buried him. Or they thought they did... -
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Dead Man's Stone by T.G. Reid
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSome secrets are worth killling for...When DCI Duncan Bone is contacted by a terminally-ill psychiatric patient and given clues linking a thirty-year-old unsolved murder to high-profile public figures, he finds himself locked into a conspiracy at the very heart of the Scottish criminal and political establishment...Categorized as:
hard-boiled law-enforcement police-procedural british-isles europe mystery scotland united-kingdom -
Never Too Late by Sally Rigby
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA vicious attack. A dirty secret. And a chance for justiceEx-police officer Sebastian Clifford is quickly finding that life as a private investigator is never quiet. His doors have only been open a few weeks when DCI Whitney Walker approaches him to investigate the brutal attack that left her older brother, Rob, with irreversible brain damage... -
Grimm Up North by David J. Gatward
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWelcome to Wensleydale, where the cheese is famous, the scenery beautiful, and the locals have murder on their minds …Detective Chief Inspector Harry Grimm is forced to take leave from Bristol’s Major Investigations Team when his boss, tired of Harry chasing the ghost of his murderous father, sends him north on secondment... -
Silent Witness by Tom Watts
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA thrilling debut novel from a real life forensic scientist. SILENT WITNESS. A shocking crime sends the Seattle Police Department searching for answers. Jack Peterson, a decorated Detective, has been shot and is clinging to life. His wife has been murdered. There seems to be more questions than answers as the department struggles to deal with the loss of one of their own... -
Twisted Pursuit by Paige Black
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFor fans of Michael Connelly and Karin Slaughter comes a heart-stopping thriller that explores the depths of redemption and impossible choices.When K-9 Officer Eden Mercer enrolls in an elite search and rescue training course in remote Juniper Wells, Arizona, she has a hidden agenda... -
James 516: A London Carter Novel by B.J. Bourg
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe 2016 EPIC eBook Awards Winner for Best Mystery! The Magnolia Parish Sheriff’s Office is on high alert after a deadly sniper begins executing high-ranking cops. Sheriff Burke puts his best sniper, London Carter, and his internal affairs officer, Bethany Riggs, on the case. Pressure mounts and panic sets in as the body count rises and the killer becomes more embolden... -
Hey You, Pretty Face by Linda Coles
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAn abandoned baby. Three girls stolen in the night. Two connected cases?London, Winter, 1999. When an abandoned newborn baby is discovered, DC Jack Rutherford becomes involved.Covering the holiday period almost singlehandedly, resources are at breaking point and he’s pushed to his limit...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural hard-boiled thriller mystery fiction psychological -
The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt started out as nothing much. A minor payroll fraud at a furniture store in South Wales. No homicide involved, no corpses. Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths fights to get free of the case, but loses. She's tasked with the investigation. She begins her enquiries, only to discover the corpse of a woman who's starved to death... -
The Love Killings by Robert Ellis
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFor the past six weeks, LAPD detective Matt Jones has been recovering from the wrong end of a hit man’s bullet. Before he can look for payback, Jones finds himself enlisted in the manhunt for an old foe. Dr. George Baylor, the serial killer who escaped after murdering three coeds in LA, resurfaces on the East Coast... -
Body Breaker by M.W. Craven
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratings'This is high quality crime writing' A A DhandThe second dark and twisted thriller in the Avison Fluke series by M. W. Craven, the acclaimed author of The Puppet Show.Investigating how a severed hand ends up on the third green of a Cumbrian golf course is not how Detective Inspector Avison Fluke has planned to spend his Saturday...Categorized as:
crime thriller law-enforcement police-procedural hard-boiled mystery fiction suspense -
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Beyond Good & Evil by L.T. Vargus, Tim McBain
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHe slips through the unlocked window. Creeps down the hall. A shadow standing in the bedroom doorway. Will you wake when death comes ripping? A string of brutal home invasion murders terrifies Dade County Florida. The killer strikes in the dead of the night, savages innocent people in their beds, wipes out entire families. Skewering them with his blade. Butchering them beyond recognition. Raw... -
Born in a Burial Gown by M.W. Craven
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDetective Inspector Avison Fluke is a man on the edge. He has committed a crime to get back to work, concealed a debilitating illness and is about to be made homeless. Just as he thinks things can’t get any worse, the body of a young woman is found buried on a wet, Cumbrian building site. Shot once in the back of the head, execution style, it is a cold, calculated murder...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural thriller hard-boiled mystery fiction audiobook -
The St. Paul Conspiracy by Roger Stelljes
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe morning after Halloween the city of St. Paul awakens to find that a serial killer terrorizing the blue-collar working women of University Avenue has struck for the fifth time. The citizens of St. Paul are on edge.For thirty-two-year-old fourth-generation St. Paul Homicide Detective Michael McKenzie "Mac" McRyan, his day was going to be less stressful... -
The Harlech Beach Killings by Simon McCleave
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA murdered millionaire. A violent drug operation. Can a detective with a haunted past stop the next assassination?Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter is still struggling to deal with her stress. So when the body of a businessman washes up on a secluded North Wales shore, the former London cop is anxious to prove she can lead the local investigative team and nail the killer... -
Free to Steal by Julie Mellon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsGreed can be deadly. When called to the scene of a bank robbery that leaves a young mother dead, Katie Freeman and Michael Powell are confronted with their most perplexing case yet. The trail connects a series of unsolved bank robberies from across the country dating back more than a decade – yet the investigation suggests that money was never the motive... -
Ice Into Ashes by John Carson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTime is a healer….unless you’re the one doing the killing…DCI James Craig is heading home to Fife for a family funeral after the discovery of his wife's uncle's lifeless body at home, having fallen down the stairs. The incident was classified as a Sudden Death, attributing it to the man's advanced age and fragility. Case officially closed... -
The Last Coyote / Trunk Music (Harry Bosch, #4, #5) by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA two-in-one, this volume includes The Last Coyote in which suspended LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch investigates the unsolved murder of his mother, and Trunk Music which finds Harry returning to the force to investigate the murder of a movie producer with Mafia ties...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural thriller adult anthologies audiobook fiction -
Ten Little Girls by Willow Rose
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEvery Mother's Worst Fear! Imagine waiting for the school bus, waiting for your daughter to come home, looking forward to spending the afternoon with her, but as the bus stops and the children start to come out, your daughter isn't there. Ten little girls go missing on the same day in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Ten little girls all from the same school... -
Bad to the Bone by Tony J. Forder
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLooking for an unmissable crime thriller? A skeletal body is unearthed in a wooded area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. DI James Bliss, together with DC Penny Chandler, investigate the case and discover that the young, female victim had been relocated from its original burial site... -
Brick by Conrad Jones
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA hard-boiled and utterly gripping crime thriller from a best-selling author When a teenager is the victim of an unprovoked attack while walking his dog, a murder investigation begins. A cruel twist of fate makes his innocent family the targets of a vicious campaign of terror... -
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Inmate 1577 by Alan Jacobson, Christina Traister
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNational Bestselling Author Alan Jacobson brings back renowned FBI Profiler Karen Vail in an intelligent thriller that bridges time and space. When an elderly woman is found raped and brutally murdered in San Francisco, Vail heads west to team up with SFPD Inspector Lance Burden and her former task force colleague, Detective Roxxann Dixon... -
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#taken by Tony Parsons
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThey thought they were kidnapping the mistress of one of London’s most powerful gangsters. But they’ve taken the wrong woman. And crossed the wrong detective... -
Crisis of Conscience by G.K. Parks
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt’s open season on federal agents, and Alexis Parker is the primary target.What happens when allies can't be trusted? Federal agent Alexis Parker is about to find out. After taking some personal time, Alex is back at work and embroiled in an investigation to uncover a traitor inside the Office of International Operations...Categorized as:
law-enforcement police-procedural hard-boiled suspense mystery female-mc alpha-mc fiction -
Misplaced Trust by G.K. Parks
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWith the shake-up at the OIO, Alexis Parker is assigned to assist the DEA on a long-term undercover operation across the country. Being away from home might be just what Alex needs to regain some perspective, especially when Martin's been so distant lately. But this assignment might be more than either of them bargained for since the death toll continues to rise while hard evidence remains zilch...Categorized as:
law-enforcement police-procedural hard-boiled suspense female-mc alpha-mc fiction mystery -
The Missing and the Dead by Stuart MacBride
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOne mistake can cost you everything…A little girl’s body washes up just outside the sleepy coastal town of Macduff, kicking off a major manhunt. Officially, the investigation is out of Sergeant Logan McRae’s hands, but DCI Steel’s Major Investigation Team, drafted in from Aberdeen, is getting nowhere fast.Steel is running out of ideas and time... -
Keeping Secrets by L.A. Dobbs
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen long-time White Rock resident Mike Donnelly is found dead at his hunting camp, it appears as if the tragic death was by his own hand. But a gut feeling tells Chief of Police Sam Mason otherwise... -
The Silent Conversation by Caro Ramsay
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen DNA evidence links a present-day murder to the disappearance of a young boy four years earlier, detectives Anderson & Costello are plunged into a baffling mystery. It's been four years since four-year-old Johnny Clearwater disappeared without trace one hot summer afternoon. Now, a new TV documentary series is revisiting the case, dredging up memories perhaps best left forgotten... -
Blood Moon by Michael Lister
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA daring escape. A race against time. Locked in with a vicious, relentless killer. Can John save the life of the woman he loves? The stakes have never been higher. Success seems impossible. Failure unimaginable. Behold what happens beneath the Blood Moon! A Suspenseful Mystery Adventures with one of crime fiction's most fascinating and unique detectives... -
A Killing Moon by Steven Dunne
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA young student is kidnapped on her way home from the pub, but her nightmare is just beginning...DI Damen Brook is assigned the case but starts to realise that this might not be an isolated incident. With very little to go on, Brook trawls through the murky world of cheap labour and prostitution but comes up against a brick wall. But then bodies start turning up and the case is blown wide open... -
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Blake Pierce Mystery Bundle: Once Gone / Before he Kills by Blake Pierce
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA free two-book mystery bundle by #1 bestselling author Blake Pierce, author of ONCE GONE, a #1 bestseller on Amazon with over 350 five star reviews! Here is a bundle of the first books in two Blake Pierce series—the Riley Paige and Mackenzie White series—all here in one convenient place. This bundle offers a great introduction to Blake Pierce’s series with over 140,000 words of reading...Categorized as:
crime thriller law-enforcement police-procedural suspense fiction young-adult psychological -
The Silence at Mystery Bay by D.D. Black
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA thousand people watched. No one saw a thing.Private investigator Thomas Austin is enjoying a relaxing holiday vacation in picturesque Port Townsend, Washington, accompanied by an intriguing new friend. But his tranquility is shattered when the nearby community of Mystery Bay is rocked by the death of a revered musician at an infamous counterculture The Rabbit Hole... -
Trouble Brewing by G.K. Parks
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhile Alex and Martin prepare to return home, a storm is brewing that threatens to derail everything they’ve built.Private investigator Alexis Parker is ready to say goodbye to the sun, surf, and sand. The West Coast branch of Cross Security is finally getting off the ground, and Martin’s business in Los Angeles is coming to an end... -
Intended Target by G.K. Parks
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsInside the federal courthouse, a single gunshot punches a hole through the window, leaving two bodies in its wake. One of the victims is an Assistant United States Attorney. The other is juror number five. Due to the nature of the crime, the OIO is assigned to evaluate the security measures implemented by the U.S. Marshal Service... -
Dying for a Fix by G.K. Parks
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWelcome back, former federal agent Alexis Parker.Alex always said it'd be a cold day in hell before she'd step foot inside the OIO again, and the blizzard conditions outside prove her declaration true. But clipping on the badge doesn't mean taking a seat behind a desk or investigating a crime scene. It means infiltrating a local drug ring led by the city's most ruthless gang, the KXDs... -
The Devil You Know by Neil Lancaster
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA CASE GONE COLDSix years ago, Beata Dabrowski arranged to meet her lover in Glasgow and was never seen again. There were no leads. . . until now.AN UNRELIABLE WITNESSImprisoned gang boss Davie Hardie wants to talk in exchange for his freedom. He knows exactly where Beata is buried, and he’s prepared to take the police to her grave...
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