Books like 'Muscle'
Readers who enjoyed Muscle by Alan Trotter also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi mystery crime law-enforcement noir literary-fiction historical-fiction
-
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, an utterly addictive new novel that will transport you from New York City’s most glamorous party to the labyrinth streets of Cairo and back. Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime literary-fiction fiction mystery historical fantasy action-adventure -
Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsMurder links past and present once again in this mind-boggling metafictional mystery from Anthony Horowitz—another tribute to the golden age of Agatha Christie featuring detective Atticus Pund and editor Susan Ryland, stars of the New York Times bestsellers Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement historical-fiction mystery fiction audiobook contemporary cozy -
Angel City Blues by Jeff Edwards
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLos Angeles: 2065 A wealthy young woman vanishes from her high-security apartment without leaving a single strand of DNA behind. No trace of the victim’s disappearance is recorded on any of the building’s many cameras or security sensors. Her apartment’s memory cores have been destroyed beyond any hope of recovery... -
I Am Sal by Abraham Falls
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhat if you were born as a fully formed adult? Completely aware of your surroundings, fully able to speak, walk, think, and recognize, by name, all of the items you could see? The only thing missing, the only nagging void in your memory: your identity... -
-
The Fallen Princess by Sarah Woodbury
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHallowmas 1144. With the harvest festival approaching, Gareth has returned from fighting in the south, hoping for a few months of peace with Gwen before the birth of their first child... -
The Phantom Patrol by James R. Benn
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn the nineteenth installment of James R. Benn’s acclaimed WWII mystery series, an investigation into a secret gang of Nazi-affiliated art thieves in post-Liberation Paris leads Billy Boyle and his comrades into the catastrophic Battle of the Bulge in winter 1944... -
Blood of the Faithful by Michael Wallace, Arielle DeLisle
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNow that their latest battle is over, the religious residents of Blister Creek are dealing with their losses and trying to heal—physically and spiritually. Their leader, Jacob Christianson, now feels the full burden of the responsibility and finds himself at a crossroads: keep the believers isolated, or see what lies beyond Blister Creek’s borders... -
Food for the Fishes by David Wishart
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen Licinius Murena, wealthy fish-farm owner, is found dead, not many tears are shed. Certainly not by Trebbio, who had just been booted out of his cottage by the landowner, nor by his widow, daugher, or farm manager. With friends like these, who needs enemies? Marcus Corvinus is the man to find out, with the help, of course, of his clever wife, Perilla...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement adult ancient-civilization book fiction historical -
Meat and Salt and Sparks by Rich Larson
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsA futuristic murder mystery about detective partners—a human and an enhanced chimpanzee—who are investigating why a woman murdered an apparently random stranger on the subway.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied... -
The Blonde Hurricane by Jenő Rejtő
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA combination of thriller and love story, The Blonde Hurricane centers around the race to find a priceless family jewel concealed in a statuette of Buddha that an international band of crooks are after -- and so is Miss Evelyn Weston, the Blonde Hurricane, and without her knowledge, Eddy Rancing, who is in love with her, plus a host of others...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement literary-fiction action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook classics -
The Dragons of Archenfield by Edward Marston
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDOMESDAY IS COMINGIn 1086, England's mighty king, William the Conqueror, sends out surveyors and census takers to record the resources of his land and its people. Some welcome these inquisitive royal agents and their day of judgment. Others hate them. But wherever the king's men go they bring excitement; *and sometimes murder. . . -
Bloodlines by Chris Wraight
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe first title in the new "Warhammer Crime" imprint. Try to unravel the secrets lurking in the sprawling city of Varangantua.In the immense city of Varangantua, life is cheap but mistakes are expensive. When Probator Agusto Zidarov of the city’s enforcers is charged with locating the missing scion of a wealthy family, he knows full well that the chances of finding him alive are slight... -
Paloma by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs a Retrieval Artist, Miles Flint helps the Disappeared, saving the lives of those oppressed under the Earth Alliance regime. He owes his livelihood, and his very sense of honor, to a woman known as Paloma. It was she who was responsible for setting him on this path—and now she has been murdered.Summoned by Paloma’s desperate call, Miles reaches her apartment too late... -
Recovery Man by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOn Jupiter’s moon Callisto, a mysterious Recovery Man kidnaps Rhonda Shindo after he terrorizes and then abandons her brilliant thirteen-year-old daughter, Talia. While authorities on Callisto search for Rhonda, her employers at the Aleyd Corporation try to gain custody of Talia. Somehow, Callisto authorities realize, she’s part of the crime—even though she was left behind... -
-
Encounters of Sherlock Holmes by George Mann, Mark Hodder
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA brand-new collection of Sherlock Holmes stories from a variety of exciting voices in modern horror and steampunk, including James Lovegrove, Justin Richards, Paul Magrs, Guy Adams and Mark Hodder. Edited by respected anthologist George Mann, and including a story by Mann himself...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement adult amateur-sleuth anthologies fiction historical -
The Uninvited Guest by Sarah Woodbury
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt is the winter of 1143 and all is not well in the court of Owain, King of north Wales. His future in-laws are untrustworthy, the Norman lords on his eastern border are restless, and among his wedding guests lurks a cold-blooded killer... -
A Root Awakening by Kate Collins
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAbby Knight's marriage may be in full bloom, but house hunting is no bed of roses in latest novel in the New York Times bestselling Flower Shop Mystery series... Now that they’ve tied the knot, flower shop owner Abby Knight and her husband, Marco, want to put down roots. When it comes to picking a house, Marco can’t wait to get his hands dirty, while Abby isn’t ready for a fixer-upper... -
The Reeve's Tale by Margaret Frazer
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAs illness and murder cast a cloud over Prior Byfield, fear and suspicion reign -- and Frevisse's keen deductions lead her closer to the disturbing truth... -
Blood Ties by Jo Nesbø, Robert Ferguson
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn many ways, the brothers Carl and Roy Opgard have succeeded in life. Or at least they’ve had as much success as is possible in a small town like Os where they've had to kill their way to the top. Carl manages the area’s swanky spa hotel, while Roy has made ambitious plans for an amusement park complete with a roller coaster. The only way is up for the two brothers... -
Duplicate Effort by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRetrieval Artist Miles Flint is on a personal mission—to bring down the corrupt law firm of Wagner, Stuart, and Xendor. Then a journalist working with him is found dead—murdered, along with the bodyguard she had hired to protect her. And Miles may be next.But before he can begin to investigate the death, he has a more personal crisis to deal with—his daughter Talia is missing... -
Casebook of the Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEvery month, the Black Widowers convene for sumptuous food, fine wine, and a cosmically baffling mystery. Attended by Henry, the all-knowing waiter, these gentle rogues ponder such imponderables as: * the one-syllable middle name that represents what every schoolboy knows, yet doesn't... * a murder by solar eclipse very far out in space.. -
Banquets of the Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis book is the fourth of six that describe mysteries solved by the Black Widowers, based on a literary dining club he belonged to known as the Trap Door Spiders. It collects twelve stories by Asimov, together with a general introduction and an afterword following each story by the author... -
Effendi by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMasterfully blending speculative fiction and hard-boiled mystery, Jon Courtenay Grimwood's acclaimed Arabesk series plunges readers into a world eerily familiar and shockingly unpredictable. Here a troubled detective follows a trail of clues through a city where innocence itself may be a thing of the past. . . -
Little Boy Blue by Edward Bunker
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRaised within the confines of a system that has done nothing but provide him with pain, Alex Hamilton's frustration and anger are completely natural--and inherently dangerous.Since his parents split up, Alex has been constantly running from foster homes and institutions, yearning to be with his father, a broken man who cannot give his son the home he desperately needs... -
-
Lost Bullet by Malcolm Rose
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn the rotting slums of London, Luke and Malc are called to investigate the shocking murder of an attractive young doctor. The investigation eventually leads Luke to a bizarre cult called the World Church of Eternal Vision whose members believe that the entire medical profession is interfering with creation... -
-
Intruders at Rivermead Manor: A Kit Mystery by Kathryn Reiss
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTo help her family make ends meet, Kit takes a job helping an elderly lady at a rundown mansion called Rivermead Manor. When she discovers a hidden room in the old house, she is sure its secrets will make a great newspaper article. But then Jessamine, Kit's long-lost friend, appears and seems to be in trouble, yet she won't confide in Kit...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement book children children-books female-author female-mc -
Shadow of a Broken Man by George C. Chesbro
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMeet Dr. Robert Frederickson, or "Mongo" to his friends. He's a former circus tumbler, black belt in karate, doctor of Criminology, and professor at a New York City university. And he's quite an unusual fellow as well, not only because he's a private investigator but also because he's a dwarf.. -
Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsENTER THE FUNGALVERSE. Blade Runner, True Detective and District 9 meld with the weird worlds of Jeff VanderMeer, Philip K. Dick and China Miéville in Adrian M. Gibson’s award-winning fungalpunk noir debut. Two years after a devastating defeat in the decade-long Spore War, the island nation of Hōppon and its capital city of Neo Kinoko are occupied by invading Coprinian forces... -
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD“Wondering if there’s a novel out there that gives Cormac McCarthy’s The Road a run for its money? Here you go. [A Guardian and a Thief is] an indelible piece of writing, in equal parts dazzling and devastating...Categorized as:
literary-fiction historical-fiction fiction sci-fi dystopia contemporary mystery book -
Proximity by Jem Tugwell
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsiMe NOTICE - TO ALL NEW ADULTSYour compulsory iMe implant will be performed by your fourteenth birthday when you become an adult.Your iMe will track and save your location to keep you safe and remove crime.It's integrated health monitoring diagnoses issues early to provide you with the best possible care.Combined with iMe's tailored diet and fitness programs - you are always at your best... -
Absence of Mercy by S.M. Goodwin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA string of grisly murders in Pre-Civil War New York propels an unlikely pair of detectives into a deadly tinderbox in S. M. Goodwin's debut novel, a sure hit for fans of Will Thomas and C. S. Harris.Jasper Lightner is a decorated Crimean War hero and the most admired Inspector in London's Metropolitan Police...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime law-enforcement mystery historical audiobook suspense gothic -
The Name is Archer by Ross Macdonald
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMYSTERYIncludes the following Find the womanGone girlThe bearded ladyThe suicideGuilt-edged blondeThe sinister habitWild goose chaseMidnight blueSleeping... -
Puzzles of the Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe fifth of the six books featuring the Black Widowers. It collects twelve stories by Asimov, most reprinted from mystery magazines and a few previously unpublished, together with a general introduction and an afterword following each story by the author. Each story involves the club members' knowledge of trivia... -
-
Murder at the Ashmolean by Jim Eldridge
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratings1895. A senior executive at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is found in his office with a bullet hole between his eyes, a pistol discarded close by. The death has officially been ruled as suicide by local police, but with an apparent lack of motive for such action, the museum’s administrator, Gladstone Marriott, suspects foul play...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime law-enforcement romance mystery audiobook fiction historical -
"Diane..." - The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper by Scott Frost, Kyle MacLachlan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBased on the television series Twin Peaks. Here are the actual dictation tapes of FBI Agent Cooper, Chief Investigator of the Laura Palmer murder, plus never-before-heard tapes... -
2113 : Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush by Kevin J. Anderson, John McFetridge
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratings18 exhilarating journeys into Rush-inspired worlds The music of Rush, one of the most successful bands in history, is filled with fantastic stories, evocative images, and thought-provoking futures and pasts... -
Hokkaido Popsicle by Isaac Adamson
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter an altercation with the director of Wildman for Geisha! -- a movie based on ace reporter Billy Chaka's life -- Chaka finds himself in Hokkaido on mandatory vacation. Trouble starts when the elderly porter of the Hotel Kitty stumbles into Billy's room and dies. That same night, the lead singer of Japan's most popular rock band turns up dead in a sleazy love hotel in Tokyo...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement literary-fiction action-adventure adult book contemporary fiction -
The Third Claw of God by Adam-Troy Castro
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAndrea Cort became a "war criminal" at the age of eight when an unexplained darkness invaded her soul.Now, decades later, the Devil is calling her.Employed by the Diplomatic Corps but secretly aiding the AI masters of the universe, Counselor Andrea Cort despises the powerful Bettelhines—unrepentant death merchants who have prospered from the annihilation of civilizations... -
Murder in Greenwich Village by Liz Freeland
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor fans of HBO’s The Gilded Age, explore the dark side of the alluring world of America’s 19th century elite in this gripping series of riveting mysteries…A year before World War I breaks out, the sidewalks of Manhattan are crowded with restless newcomers chasing the fabled American Dream, including a sharp-witted young woman who discovers a talent for investigating murder . .Categorized as:
historical-fiction law-enforcement crime mystery fiction historical cozy investigator -
Prime Suspects: A Clone Detective Mystery by Jim Bernheimer
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsUpon waking up in a new city on a different planet, homicide detective David Bagini discovers that he is in fact the forty-second clone of David Bagini. He's been created to solve a murder ... specifically the murder of his prime. Standing in the way is the clues point directly at the other Bagini clones and they already know all his tricks... -
Sleeper Beach by Nick Harkaway
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of Karla's Choice, comes a thrilling new detective novel.On the shore of a rundown holiday town, a young woman washes up dead. Martha Erskine, the matriarch of a local dynasty, suspects a member of her own family might be involved in the murder, and calls in Cal to investigate... -
Un pour marquer la cadence by James Crumley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCrumley's disturbing Vietnam novel. In '62, Sergeant Krummel assumes command of a crew of rebellious, drunken enlistees... -
Pagans by James Alistair Henry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBritain, 2023… only in this Britain, the Norman Conquest of 1066 never happened. An uneasy alliance of ancient tribes – the Celtic West, Saxon East and an independent Nordic Scotland – has formed, but the fragile peace is threatened by a series of brutal murders. Members of a mysterious ‘Fisher’ cult are being killed one by one... -
-
Mallets Aforethought by Sarah Graves
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJacobia “Jake” Tiptree left her high-powered career for a dilapidated fixer-upper and the dream of a quiet existence in the quaint town of Eastport, Maine. But she found that no matter how carefully you remodel your life, murder can take up residence anywhere.It’s Eastport’s most notorious landmark: the old Harlequin House... -
Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPart mystery, part speculative fiction, and wholly unforgettable, Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s celebrated Arabesk series portrays the dark, hard-boiled story of a man out to prove his innocence in an alternate world where the facts aren’t always the same as the truth . . . and murder isn’t the worst that can happen...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement noir 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
A Man Lies Dreaming by Lavie Tidhar
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe novel that stunned—and scandalized—Europe comes to AmericaWolf, a low-rent private detective, roams London’s gloomy, grimy streets, haunted by dark visions of a future that could have been—and a dangerous present populated by British Fascists and Nazis escaping Germany. Shomer, a pulp fiction writer, lies in a concentration camp, imagining another world...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir 20th-century 21st-century adult -
A Murderous Marriage by Alyssa Maxwell
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, are preparing for a wedding, but it may not be the happy occasion everyone hopes for . . . Since the Great War, the Renshaw family fortune has suffered. Now Julia Renshaw is under pressure to marry for money—and has settled for Gilbert Townsend, a viscount and wealthy industrialist... -
A Matter of Malice by Thomas King
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen a TV producer asks Thumps to assist with an episode about a local woman from a wealthy family whose death was ruled “misadventure,” he is reluctant to get involved. Then the producer dies in the exact same manner, and Thumps finds himself solving two cases... -
Liquid Cool: The Cyberpunk Detective Series by Austin Dragon
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLiquid Cool is the debut cyberpunk detective series!It’s cyberpunk re-imagined—science fiction meets the detective thriller in an ever-rainy world of colossal skyscrapers. Hover-cars fly above in the dark, bustling skies and gray people walk below on the grimy, flashy streets of this “neon jungle.” Metropolis isn’t a bad place, but it isn’t a good one either...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.