Books like 'Charm City'
Readers who enjoyed Charm City by Laura Lippman also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery 20th century thriller north-america usa maryland urban crime law-enforcement
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L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsRobert Crais (Free Fall, Monkey's Raincoat) returns with his eighth Elvis Cole mystery, L.A. Requiem, a breakneck caper that leaves the wise-cracking detective second-guessing himself. Cole's partner, the tight-lipped, charm-free Joe Pike, gets a call from his friend Frank "Tortilla" Garcia. Not only is Garcia a wealthy businessman, he's a political heavyweight and father of Karen, Joe's ex... -
Trunk Music by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsBack on the job after an involuntary leave of absence, LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch is ready for a challenge. But his first case is a little more than he bargained for. It starts with the body of a Hollywood producer in the trunk of a Rolls-Royce, shot twice in the head at close range - what looks like "trunk music," a Mafia hit...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement suspense whodunit thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Blood Work by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly presents his most ambitious, most gripping achievement to date--a novel of masterly suspense and righteous obsession that will never let you go.When Graciella Rivers steps onto his boat, ex-FBI agent Terrell McCaleb has no idea he's about to come out of retirement. He's recuperating from a heart transplant and avoiding anything stressful...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense whodunit thriller 20th-century -
Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsNabbing Maxine Nowicki, thief and extortionist, would be the answer to Stephanie’s prayers and monetary woes. The only trouble is that Maxine is no where to be found, and her friends have been mysteriously turning up dead. To make matters worse, Stephanie’s arch nemesis since grade school is also looking for Nowicki, hoping to cash in first.Stephanie’s mentor and tormentor, Ranger, needs her...Categorized as:
cozy crime female-mc law-enforcement suspense whodunit 20th-century action-adventure -
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Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsAlso see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE] ACE #1 - ACE #2 - ACE #3 Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum debuted in Janet Evanovich's award-winning "One for the Money". Now she's back, packing a whole lot of attitude -- not to mention stun guns, defense sprays, killer flashlights and a...Categorized as:
cozy crime female-mc law-enforcement suspense whodunit 20th-century action-adventure -
Lullaby Town by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsHollywood's newest wunderkind is Peter Alan Nelson, the brilliant, erratic director known as the King of Adventure. His films make billions, but his manners make enemies. What the boy king wants, he gets, and what Nelson wants is for Elvis Cole to comb the country for the airhead wife and infant child the film-school flunkout dumped en route to becoming the third biggest filmmaker in America... -
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsDown-and-out drunk Terry Lennox has a problem: his millionaire wife is dead and he needs to get out of LA fast. So he turns to the only friend he can trust: private investigator Philip Marlowe. Marlowe is willing to help a man down on his luck, but later Lennox commits suicide in Mexico and things start to turn nasty...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense whodunit thriller -
Seven by Anthony Bruno
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMismatched partner cops Somerset and Mills are on the trail of a psychotic murderer who intends to avenge the seven deadly sins, starting with gluttony... -
The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsFor maverick LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal...because the murdered man was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who had fought side by side with him in a hellish underground war. Now Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement suspense whodunit thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNote: This is an alternate cover edition of ISBN 0449235637.While waiting for a view of her night-blooming cereus, the mild-seeming Mrs. Pollifax received urgent orders for a daring mission to aid an escape. Soon, the unlikely-looking international spy was sporting a beautiful new hat that hid eight forged passports...Categorized as:
cozy crime female-mc law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
The Black Ice by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsNarcotics office Cal Moore's orders were to look into the city's latest drug killing. Instead, he ends up in a motel room with a fatal bullet wound to the head and a suicide note stuffed in his back pocket.Working the case, LAPD detective Harry Bosch is reminded of the primal police rule he learned long ago: don't look for the facts, but the glue that holds them together...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense whodunit thriller 20th-century -
Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratings“Chilling, completely credible….[An] absolutely gripping story.” —Chicago TribuneNew York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Shutter Island) vividly captures the complex beauty and darkness of working-class Boston in this gripping, deeply evocative thriller...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense whodunit thriller 20th-century -
Three Witnesses by Rex Stout
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn three cases--a millionaire who writes his own death warrant, a dog who becomes a killer's worst enemy, and an answering service which refuses to talk about a murder--three witnesses hold the solution for detective Rex Stout...Categorized as:
crime investigator law-enforcement suspense 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook -
The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman comes another thrilling mystery featuring Leaphorn & Chee who must investigate a cold case that has far more personal consequences than expected.“Gripping.”—New York Times Book ReviewHuman bones lie on a ledge under the peak of Ship Rock mountain, the remains of a murder victim undisturbed for more than a decade... -
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Chance by Robert B. Parker, Burt Reynolds
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSearching for a big-time hoodlum's missing son-in-law, Spencer and Hawk probe organized crime...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Dreaming of the Bones by Deborah Crombie
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAfter twelve years, the last person Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid expects to hear from is his ex-wife Victoria. But this is no social call. In her biographical research on troubled poet Lydia Brooke, Vic’s uncovered reasons to believe Lydia’s death five years ago was not suicide... -
The Way Through The Woods by Colin Dexter
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsMorse is enjoying a rare if unsatisfying holiday in Dorset when the first letter appears in THE TIMES. A year before, a stunning Swedish student disappeared from Oxfordshire, leaving behind a rucksack with her identification. As the lady was dishy, young, and traveling alone, the Thames Valley Police suspected foul play... -
In The Presence Of The Enemy by Elizabeth George
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAs the editor of a popular left-wing tabloid, Dennis Luxford has made a career out of exposing scandal and destroying reputations. When he is offered the chance of breaking another government 'sleaze' story and boosting the circulation of his paper still further, his hesitation seems inexplicable... -
The Ghostway by Tony Hillerman
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNew York Times BestsellerThe New York Times bestselling novel by master writer Tony Hillerman—an electrifying thriller of revenge, secrets, and murder.“One of the best of the series.”—New York Times Book ReviewOld Joseph Joe sees it all. Two strangers spill blood at the Shiprock Wash-O-Mat. One dies... -
One False Move by Harlan Coben
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsShe's smart, beautiful, and she doesn't need a man to look after her. But sports agent Myron Bolitar has come into her life -- big time. Now Myron's next move may be his last.Brenda Slaughter is no damsel in distress. Myron Bolitar is no bodyguard. But Myron has agreed to protect the bright, strong, beautiful basketball star...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Well-Schooled in Murder by Elizabeth George
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsWhen thirteen-year-old Matthew Whateley goes missing from Bredgar Chambers, a prestigious public school in the heart of West Sussex, aristocratic Inspector Thomas Lynley receives a call for help from the lad's housemaster, who also happens to be an old school chum. Thus, the inspector, his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, and forensic scientist Simon Allcourt-St... -
A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsTo this day, the low, thin wail of an infant can be heard in Keldale's lush green valleys. Three hundred years ago, as legend goes, the frightened Yorkshire villagers smothered a crying babe in Keldale Abbey, where they'd hidden to escape the ravages of Cromwell's raiders... -
Long Upon the Land by Margaret Maron
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMargaret Maron, New York Times bestselling author and Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, returns to Colleton County with an exciting new Deborah Knott mystery . . . LONG UPON THE LANDOn a quiet August morning, Judge Deborah Knott's father Kezzie makes a shocking discovery on a remote corner of his farm: the body of a man bludgeoned to death... -
Written In Blood by Caroline Graham
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsInvestigating the brutal murder of a Midsomer Worthy Writers' Circle club member, Chief Inspector Barnaby and his colorful sidekick, Sergeant Troy, delve into the secret passions of the eccentric club to find a killer... -
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No Beast So Fierce by Edward Bunker
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter serving an eight-year term in Folsom State Prison, Max Dembo is determined not to return to his former way of life, in a realistic, suspenseful study of the pressures facing ex-convicts as they attempt to negotiate the straight world. Reissue... -
The Score by Richard Stark, John Banville
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt was an impossible crime: knock off an entire North Dakota town called Copper Canyon—clean out the plant payroll, both banks, and all the stores in one night. Parker called it "science fiction," but with the right men (a score of them), he could figure it out to the last detail. It could work... -
Murder on a Girls' Night Out by Anne George
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA different kind of sister actPatricia Anne—“Mouse”—is respectful, respectable, and demure, a perfect example of genteel Southern womanhood. Mary Alice—“Sister”—is big, brassy, flamboyant, and bold. Together they have a knack for finding themselves in the center of some of Birmingham’s most unfortunate unpleasantness... -
Nerve by Dick Francis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRob Finn was a bit of a misfit: a struggling young jockey in a family of accomplished musicians, a man in love with a beautiful woman who wouldn't have him -- he suddenly looked like a rider who had lost his nerve. Could it be, though, that the horses were unusually sluggish, and that there was something more sinister attempting to sabotage him...?"The best thriller writer going... -
The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn unforgettable detective story starring C.W. Sughrue, a Montana investigator who kills time by working at a topless bar. Hired to track down a derelict author, he ends up on the trail of a girl missing in Haight-Ashbury for a decade. The tense hunt becomes obsessive as Sughrue takes a haunting journey through the underbelly of America's sleaziest nightmares... -
The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins, Mark Hammer
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEddie Coyle works for Jimmy Scalisi, supplying him with guns for a couple of bank jobs. But a cop named Foley is on to Eddie and he's leaning on him to finger Scalisi, a gang leader with a lot to hide. And then there's Dillon-a full-time bartender and part-time contract killer--pretending to be Eddie's friend. Wheeling, dealing, chasing, and stealing--that's Eddie, and he's got lots of friends...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Mourn Not Your Dead by Deborah Crombie
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a high-ranking police officer is brutally murdered, Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Sergeant Gemma James are drawn into a case that not only challenges their investigative skills but forces them to examine their ethics and their relationship with each other... -
Death Is Now My Neighbor by Colin Dexter
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe peaceful quadrangle of Lonsdale College seems remote from the shocks of the outside world—such as the shooting of a young woman in her North Oxford home. But things at Lonsdale are not as tranquil as they appear. The Master of the college is retiring, and two senior dons, Denis Cornford and Julian Storrs, are vying, discreetly but furiously, to succeed him... -
For Kicks by Dick Francis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDaniel Roke, Australian who established a stud farm to raise orphaned siblings, accepts undercover stable lad job from the Earl of October, investigating steeplechase doping in England. At least ten horses win adrenalin-high stimulated, but regular lab tests show nothing. Gorgeous October daughters distract, detract, and fatally endanger. Tension builds into an explosive fight to the death... -
Clockers by Richard Price
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAward-winning author Richard Price here offers a viscerally affecting and accomplished portrait of inner-city America.Veteran homicide detective Rocco Klein's passion for the job gave way long ago...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense urban thriller 20th-century -
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In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner by Elizabeth George
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA theatrical producer shoots himself on the night of his greatest triumph. A young woman camping on the Derbyshire moors is bludgeoned to death. A motorcyclist is found stabbed to death in the center of an ancient henge. Is there a connection? Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley is on the case, but recently demoted Constable Barbara Havers isn't about to let him go it alone...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense whodunit thriller 20th-century adult -
Let It Bleed by Ian Rankin
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the dark days and biting windstorms of an Edinburgh winter, two drop-out kids dive off the towering Forth Road Bridge. A civic office is spattered by a grisly gun-blast. Two suicides and a murder that just don't add up, unless John Rebus can crunch the numbers... -
Playing for the Ashes by Elizabeth George
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratings"The story begins with my father, actually, and the fact that I'm the one who's answerable for his death. It was not my first crime, as you will see, but it is the one my mother couldn't forgive." In her astonishing "New York Times" bestseller, acclaimed author Elizabeth George reveals the even darker truth behind this startling confession... -
The Hanging Garden by Ian Rankin
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe Hanging Gardens of Babylon... The hanging of four French villagers in World War II... The hanging of an old man in a Scottish cemetery... Seemingly random facts linked to one man.. -
Deception on His Mind by Elizabeth George
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBalford-le-Nez is a dying seatown on the coast of Essex. But when a member of the town's small but growing Asian community, a Pakistani named Haytham Querashi, is found dead near its beach, his neck broken, sleepy Balford-le-Nez ignites...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense whodunit thriller 20th-century -
Hotel by Arthur Hailey
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDuring five days in the midst of a hot, steamy Louisiana summer, the lives of a colorful cast of characters intertwine in a series of public, private, and personal dramas at the famed St. Gregory luxury hotel... -
Stalking the Angel by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe second blistering Elvis Cole novel from the bestselling author of THE FIRST RULE.Bradley Warren had lost something very valuable, something that belonged to someone else: a rare thirteenth-century Japanese manuscript called the Hagakure...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
The High Window by Raymond Chandler
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA wealthy Pasadena widow with a mean streak, a missing daughter-in-law with a past, and a gold coin worth a small fortune—the elements don't quite add up until Marlowe discovers evidence of murder, rape, blackmail, and the worst kind of human exploitation...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense whodunit thriller -
Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe career of playwright Joy Sinclair comes to an abrupt end on an isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands when someone drives an eighteen-inch dirk through her neck. Called upon to investigate the case in a country where they have virtually no authority, aristocratic Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, grapple for both a motive and a murderer... -
Fade Away by Harlan Coben
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe past is catching up with Myron Bolitar... A gripping novel from the SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author of SIX YEARS. Myron Bolitar once had a promising career as a sportsman, until an accident forced him to quit. After a spell in the FBI he now runs his own business.Then Myron is approached to find Greg Downing...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
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Shroud for a Nightingale by P.D. James
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsHailed as “mystery at its best” by The New York Times, Shroud for a Nightingale is the fourth book in bestselling author P.D. James’s Adam Dalgliesh mystery series.The young women of Nightingale House are there to learn to nurse and comfort the suffering. But when one of the students plays patient in a demonstration of nursing skills, she is horribly, brutally killed... -
The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsTaking the mystery community by storm, this Elvis Cole novel was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Shamus, and Macavity awards and won both the Anthony and Macavity for Best Novel of the Year.When Ellen Lang's husband disappears with their son, she hires Elvis Cole to track him down. A quiet and seemingly submissive wife, Ellen can't even write a check without him...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
The Burden of Proof by Scott Turow
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsTurow's acclaimed second novel, which topped international bestseller lists, is now available in trade paperback. Sandy Stern, the brilliant defense attorney from Presumed Innocent, faces an event so emotionally shattering that no part of his life is left untouched. It reveals a family caught in a maelstrom of hidden crimes, shocking secrets, and warring passions...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense thriller 20th-century adult audiobook -
Pop Goes the Weasel by James Patterson
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsDetective Alex Cross is back-and he's in love. But his happiness is threatened by a series of chilling murders in Washington, D.C., murders with a pattern so twisted they leave investigators reeling. Cross's pursuit of the killer produces a suspect, a British diplomat named Geoffrey Shafer. But proving he's the murderer becomes a potentially deadly task...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement suspense whodunit thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Cat & Mouse by James Patterson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsIn this New York Times bestseller, two killers-one operating in America, one in Europe-believe Alex Cross is the only worthy opponent in the deadly game each has planned. Gary Soneji, a dying prison escapee, is looking for revenge on Cross, while another insane killer is pursued by Thomas Augustine Pierce-a brilliant and relentless detective who may even be better than Cross...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement suspense urban whodunit thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsThree lives come together in unexpected and thrilling ways in Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News?On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason's family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna's life is changed forever...On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late...Categorized as:
crime female-mc investigator law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense thriller 20th-century
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