Books like 'The Way We Die Now'
Readers who enjoyed The Way We Die Now by Charles Willeford also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
mystery action / adventure crime noir hard-boiled pulp law-enforcement police-procedural suspense humor
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Bamburgh by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a cantankerous old woman dies at her home in the sleepy, picturesque village of Bamburgh, DCI Ryan doesn’t think much of it—except, that is, for the small matter of it having been his wife who happened to find her body... -
![The Dead Call by J.M. Dalgliesh]()
The Dead Call by J.M. Dalgliesh
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time..Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir police-procedural pulp suspense action-adventure -
![Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell]()
Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFor Detective Bunny McGarry, life is complicated, and it is about to get more so.It’s 1999 and his hard won reputation amongst Dublin’s criminal fraternity, for being a massive pain the backside, is unfortunately shared by his bosses. His partner has a career-threatening gambling problem and, oh yeah, Bunny's finally been given a crack at the big time...Categorized as:
crime humor law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The Depth of Darkness by L.T. Ryan, Sean Patrick Hopkins]()
The Depth of Darkness by L.T. Ryan, Sean Patrick Hopkins
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDetective Mitch Tanner's life hangs in the balance. He clings to the daughter in his care. He agonizes over the disappearance of his son and estranged wife. Twelve months has yet to turn up a solid lead.While investigating the apparent accidental death of Dusty Anne Miller, Mitch and his partner Sam Foster find themselves in the middle of a fiendish plan that strikes too close to home... -
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![The Blind Trust by Colin Conway]()
The Blind Trust by Colin Conway
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsA quiet death in a small town. A double homicide in the big city. Only a murderer knows they’re connected. Whitman County Sheriff Tom Jessup wants a nice, safe county. Unfortunately, things are about to get deadly. A seemingly normal death points Jessup north where he finds Detectives Quinn Delaney and Marci Burkett investigating a double murder...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement suspense hard-boiled mystery fiction audiobook action-adventure -
![Escape Clause by John Sandford]()
Escape Clause by John Sandford
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsWhenever you hear the sky rumble, that usually means a storm. In Virgil Flowers’ case, make that two of them. Welcome to another exceptional thriller from the writer whose books are “pure reading pleasure” (Booklist) The first storm comes from, of all places, the Minnesota Zoo... -
![Black Jack by Willow Rose]()
Black Jack by Willow Rose
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWelcome to the Blackwood House. Enter if you dare.In Savannah lies a house about which is said that all who have ever lived there have gone insane. When Kimberly and Joseph inherit the house from an unknown aunt, they don’t know the house’s murderous history. They move in and soon a series of strange events occurs. It’s like the house doesn’t want them there...Categorized as:
cozy crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense action-adventure -
![King City by Lee Goldberg]()
King City by Lee Goldberg
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMajor Crimes Unit detective Tom Wade secretly worked with the Feds to nail seven of his fellow cops for corruption…turning him into a pariah in the police department. So he’s exiled to patrol a beat in King City’s deadliest neighborhood… with no back-up, no resources, and no hope of survival...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Hear No Evil by J.M. Dalgliesh]()
Hear No Evil by J.M. Dalgliesh
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen the bonds of brotherhood are strained, who do you turn to?The celebration of the Viking Festival of Scira ensures that thousands descend annually on the small coastal town of Sheringham, but when one man dies amidst the grand finale, it falls to DI Tom Janssen and his team to identify who the victim was and how he met such a grisly end...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir police-procedural pulp suspense action-adventure -
![To the Bone by Jeff Carson]()
To the Bone by Jeff Carson
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsChief Detective David Wolf’s son has a new girlfriend, and when she discovers her father—a well known man in ancient fossils trade circles—has been murdered, she and the rest of her shattered family turn to Wolf to bring them justice...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The Chale Bay Murders by Pauline Rowson]()
The Chale Bay Murders by Pauline Rowson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMeet DI Andy Horton. He’s a risk-taking Harley-Davidson-riding detective who doesn’t always play by the rules . . . which often lands him in trouble with his bosses.Suspicious lights at sea, decomposing bodies and an old flame send Horton down a rabbit hole in this captivating crime thriller.An elderly man obsessively watches the coast from his Victorian house high on the hill above Ventnor... -
![Dead to Me by J.M. Dalgliesh]()
Dead to Me by J.M. Dalgliesh
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLet go of your past... or it will be the death of you...When a man's body is discovered crammed into the boot of an abandoned car in a remote location, DI Tom Janssen and his team must unpick his life to find out how he came to be there.The victim was a local man, popular with some although hated by others, and he had a habit of making enemies, enemies that any sane man would seek to avoid...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir police-procedural pulp suspense action-adventure -
![Mountainside Murder by Nicole Helm]()
Mountainside Murder by Nicole Helm
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShe’s hunting a hit man…Now she and his next victim are targets…North Star undercover operative Sabrina Killian is on a hit man's trail. She doesn't need help from Wyoming search and rescue ranger Connor Lindstrom. But the persistent ex-SEAL is the killer’s target—and soon they are both being hunted. Now they’ve joined forces to uncover a treasonous conspiracy... -
![Sunset Express by Robert Crais]()
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... -
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![Eyes of the Predator: The Pickham County Murders by Glenn Trust]()
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...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult book -
![Murder in an Irish Bog by David Pearson]()
Murder in an Irish Bog by David Pearson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsToo late to find a missing man, are Irish detectives in time to catch his killer?It is only a passing comment in the post office in a remote part of Western Ireland that alerts police to the disappearance of Davin Faherty.But foul play is established when his unceremoniously wrapped corpse turns up in a bog... -
![Truth Kills by Nanci Rathbun]()
Truth Kills by Nanci Rathbun
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCan you really reinvent yourself? After a bad divorce, Angelina Bonaparte trades the life of a suburban housewife for a toned body, designer duds, a cherry-red Miata convertible, and a new career as a private investigator. When Anthony Belloni is arrested for the murder of his mistress. his pregnant wife begs Angie to clear her man... -
![Free Fall in Crimson by John D. MacDonald, Carl Hiaasen]()
Free Fall in Crimson by John D. MacDonald, Carl Hiaasen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMcGee tracks killers who brutally murder an ailing millionaire. He renews unfinished adventure with Hollywood actress who leads him into a nasty nest of murderers involving a motorcycle gang, porn movies, and mad balloonists. And Mcgee relearns old lesson. Only close to the edge of death does he feel completely alive... -
![Jolie Blon's Bounce by James Lee Burke]()
Jolie Blon's Bounce by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Barnes & Noble ReviewJames Lee Burke's fiction is haunted, sometimes quite literally, by the ghosts of history, and by a bone-deep apprehension of the human capacity for violence and cruelty. A case in point is the author's latest Dave Robicheaux novel, Jolie Blon's Bounce, a contemporary account of murder and madness whose plot reflects the lingering aftereffects of the antebellum South...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
![Flamingo by James Lee Burke]()
Flamingo by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA routine assignment transporting two death-row prisoners to their executions goes fatally wrong, leaving Dave Robicheaux brutally wounded and his partner dead. Obsessed with revenge, Dave is persuaded by the DEA to go undercover into the torrid sleepy depths of New Orleans, a volatile world of Mafia drug-running and Cajun voodoo magic...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
![What Lies Beneath by Bill Kitson]()
What Lies Beneath by Bill Kitson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDetective Mike Nash thought that moving back to Yorkshire from London would give him a quieter life. Little did he know . . .Two skeletons are discovered in Lamentation Tarn, a mountain lake.Talented detective Mike Nash and his team have little evidence with which to work, until a surprising discovery prompts them to contact law enforcement agencies in Eastern Europe...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
![Broken by Don Winslow]()
Broken by Don Winslow
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn six intense short novels connected by the themes of crime, corruption, vengeance, justice, loss, betrayal, guilt and redemption, Broken is #1 international bestseller Don Winslow at his nerve-shattering, heart-stopping, heartbreaking best...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
![Free Fall by Robert Crais]()
Free Fall by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsJennifer Sheridan's fiance, Mark Thurman, is a decorated LA cop with an elite plainclothes unit, but Jennifer is sure he's in trouble - the kind of serious trouble that only Elvis Cole can get him out of...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled humor law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense action-adventure -
![Dare Game by Melinda Colt]()
Dare Game by Melinda Colt
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOne dead body, one ace of spades… Is the playing card an oversight—or a trademark?Detective John O’Sullivan needs to find out if the murder was a one-off, or if the killer plans to work his way through a whole deck of cards. The plot thickens as his team discovers more unsolved murders with the same modus operandi—worldwide...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense romance mystery fiction action-adventure -
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![Just Deserts by Jinx Schwartz]()
Just Deserts by Jinx Schwartz
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHetta Coffey is a woman with a yacht, and she's not afraid to use it. As a self employed engineering consultant with a penchant of oddball-read: shady- projects, she has a way of attracting trouble. With her floating home drydocked for repairs in Mexico, Hetta needs a place to live and a job to pay the boatyard... -
![Oranges and Lemons by Christopher Fowler]()
Oranges and Lemons by Christopher Fowler
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"The most delightfully, wickedly entertaining duo in crime fiction." The Plain Dealer When a prominent politician is crushed by a fruit van making a delivery, the singular team of Arthur Bryant and John May overcome insurmountable odds to reunite the PCU and solve the case in the brainy new mystery from acclaimed author Christopher Fowler... -
![The Secret Fear by Solomon Carter]()
The Secret Fear by Solomon Carter
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDETECTIVE JOE HOGARTH IS CALLED TO A BRUTAL MURDER AT A TURKISH TAKEAWAY. THE TELL-TALE MARK OF A ONCE NOTORIOUS LONDON CRIME FAMILY IS FOUND ON THE VICTIM’S BODY. HOGARTH FEARS THE NEW CASE COULD OPEN A PANDORA'S BOX. BUT HE HAS NO CHOICE.HOGARTH MUST FIND THE KILLER AND TAKE ON THE DEADLIEST RISKSMurdered kebab shop owner Baba Sen was beloved by his clientele... -
![Night Frost by R.D. Wingfield]()
Night Frost by R.D. Wingfield
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA serial killer is terrorizing the senior citizens of Denton, and the local police are succumbing to a flu epidemic. Tired and demoralized, the force has to contend with a seemingly perfect young couple suffering arson attacks and death threats, a suspicious suicide, burglaries, pornographic videos, poison-pen letters..Categorized as:
crime humor law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The Green Ripper by John D. MacDonald]()
The Green Ripper by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeautiful girls always grace the Florida beaches, strolling, sailing, relaxing at the many parties on Travis McGee's houseboat, The Busted Flush. McGee was too smart--and had been around too long--for many of them to touch his heart. Now, however, there was Gretel. She had discovered the key to McGee--to all of him--and now he had something to hope for. Then, terribly, unexpectedly, she was dead... -
![Pale Gray for Guilt by John D. MacDonald]()
Pale Gray for Guilt by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTush Bannon was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. His measly plot of land just so happened to sit right in the middle of a rich parcel of five hundred riverfront acres that big-money real estate interests decided they simply must have.It didn’t matter that Tush was a nice guy with a family, or that he never knew he was dealing with a criminal element... -
![Purple Cane Road by James Lee Burke]()
Purple Cane Road by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDave Robicheaux has spent his life confronting the age-old adage that the sins of the father pass onto the son. But what has his mother's legacy left him? Dead to him since youth, Mae Guillory has been shuttered away in the deep recesses of Dave's mind. He's lived with the fact that he would never really know what happened to the woman who left him to the devices of his whiskey-driven father...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
![Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker]()
Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"[Robert B.] Parker's brilliance is in his simple dialogue, and in Spenser."--The Philadelphia InquirerA bitter divorce is only the beginning. First the father hires thugs to kidnap his son. Then the mother hires Spenser to get the boy back. But as soon as Spenser senses the lay of the land, he decides to do some kidnapping of his own... -
![Blind Eye by Stuart MacBride]()
Blind Eye by Stuart MacBride
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe first thriller in the No.1 bestselling DS Logan McRae series. Nothing keeps a crime hidden like fear… ‘Stuart MacBride’s thrillers just keep getting better’ Express ‘You can’t be an eyewitness if I cut out your eyes…’ Someone’s preying on Aberdeen’s growing Polish population...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled humor law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense action-adventure -
![The Empty Copper Sea by John D. MacDonald]()
The Empty Copper Sea by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"The professional's professional of suspense writers."THE NEW YORK TIMESVan Harder, once a hard drinker, has found religion. But that doesn't keep folks from saying he murdered his employer, Hub Lawless, whose body hasn't been found. To clear his name, and cear up the mystery, Van asks friend-in-need Travis McGee to find out what really happened... -
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![Sudden Prey by John Sandford]()
Sudden Prey by John Sandford
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 25 ratings"Sudden Prey" opens with a death and ends with one.For months, Lucas Davenport's men have been tracking a vicious woman bank robber named Candy, and when they finally catch up with her, she doesn't go quietly. In the ensuing shoot-out, she dies – and Davenport's nightmare starts...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Pretty Places by Lena Bourne, L.J. Bourne]()
Pretty Places by Lena Bourne, L.J. Bourne
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA serial killer has gone undetected for almost two decades, but now the hunt is on in this gripping and suspenseful mystery novel by LJ Bourne.The prettiest places hide the darkest secrets.True crime writer Eva Lah has uncovered the trail of a ruthless serial killer. The problem is, she is the only one who knows he exists... -
![Darc Murders Collection by Carolyn McCray, Ben Hopkin]()
Darc Murders Collection by Carolyn McCray, Ben Hopkin
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIf you are a fan of characters such as Alex Cross and Hannibal or movies like 7 and Saw, The Darc Murders Collection is sure to shock and satisfy...Categorized as:
hard-boiled law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult book fiction -
![Last Ditch by G.M. Ford]()
Last Ditch by G.M. Ford
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSeattle p.i. Leo Waterman knows the city like no one else. And he knows how to stretch the limits of the law, when necessary, to accomplish what needs to be done--a very useful talent Leo acquired from his late, larger-than-life father, once one of the region's most powerful and colorful political characters... -
![Backflash by Richard Stark]()
Backflash by Richard Stark
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsParker's got a couple of rules that have helped keep him alive throughout his long career. One of those is never to work on a boat. But with a gambling boat cruising down the Hudson, stuffed to the gunwales with cash, Parker’s got a plan, a team, and a new rule: a shot at a big enough score makes any rule worth breaking... -
![No Way to Die by M.D. Grayson]()
No Way to Die by M.D. Grayson
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSeattle mathematician Thomas Rasmussen had everything to live for. He had a beautiful, loving wife and two great kids. He was well known and respected in his field . His startup company – Applied Cryptographic Solutions recently finished building a revolutionary decryption device called The Starfire Protocol that was already attracting offers in the millions...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult book -
![November's Past by A.E. Howe]()
November's Past by A.E. Howe
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe job of criminal investigator in a rural Florida county is never easy, but it’s even harder when your father is the sheriff. When Larry Macklin investigates the murder of a mutilated stranger, the search for the victim’s identity intersects with an arson investigation. The common thread is a small group of people who were in high school together in the ’70s, including Larry’s own father...Categorized as:
cozy crime hard-boiled law-enforcement police-procedural action-adventure adult book -
![Stiff Arm Steal by A.J. Stewart]()
Stiff Arm Steal by A.J. Stewart
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWho stole the Heisman trophy?The prize Heisman of former NFL football hero, part-time media personality and full-time blowhard BJ Baker has been stolen. Miami Jones, minor league pitcher turned private eye is the man to find it. If he and his client don’t kill each other first... -
![Anglesey Blue by Dylan H. Jones]()
Anglesey Blue by Dylan H. Jones
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt’s not the homecoming Detective Inspector Tudor Manx was expecting, but solving the case is just the start of his problems.Recently transferred from the London Met to the North Wales Constabulary, Detective Inspector Tudor Manx has come to Island of Anglesey hoping for a quiet life...Categorized as:
crime suspense law-enforcement police-procedural hard-boiled mystery fiction audiobook -
![His First His Second by A.D. Davies]()
His First His Second by A.D. Davies
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsMeet Detective Sergeant Alicia Friend. She’s nice. Too nice to be a police officer, if she’s honest.She is also one of the most respected criminal analysts in the country, and finds herself in a cold northern town assigned to Donald Murphy’s team, investigating the kidnap-murders of two young women—both strikingly similar in appearance...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement police-procedural pulp suspense action-adventure adult -
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![The Long Cold Winter by Colin Conway]()
The Long Cold Winter by Colin Conway
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsA thirty-year old case. A body discovered in the snow. For one grieving detective, it's going to be a long, cold winter.After the passing of his wife, Major Crimes Detective Dallas Nash is handed a cold case to ease him back into the job.Three decades prior, a teenaged girl was strangled to death... -
![The Turquoise Lament by John D. MacDonald]()
The Turquoise Lament by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOne of the most enduring and unusual heroes in detective fiction." THE BALTIMORE SUN Now that Linda "Pidge" Lewellen is grown up, she tells Travis McGee, once her girlhood idol, that either she's going crazy or Howie, her affable ex-jock of a husband is trying to kill her. McGee checks things out, and gives Pidge the all clear... -
![Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D. MacDonald]()
Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTravis McGee is looking forward to a "slob summer," spending his days as far away from danger as possible. But trouble has a way of finding him, no matter where he hides. An old friend, conned out of his life savings by his ex-wife, has tracked him down and is desperate for help... -
![The Dreadful Lemon Sky by John D. MacDonald]()
The Dreadful Lemon Sky by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTravis McGee has been offered easy money by a longtime lady friend. But when she gets killed, McGee's got a boatload of mystery. Navigating his boat into troubled waters, he heads for the seamier side of Florida--where drug dealing, twisted sex, and corruption are easy to find--but murderous riddles are hard to solve... -
![The Scarlet Ruse by John D. MacDonald]()
The Scarlet Ruse by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTravis McGee is too busy with his houseboat to pay attention to the little old man with the missing postage stamps. Except these are no ordinary stamps. They are rare stamps. Four hundred thousand dollars worth of rare. And if McGee doesn't recognize their value, perhaps Mary Alice McDermit does, a six-foot knockout who knows all the ways to a boat bum's heart... -
![FOOL ME TWICE by Paul Levine]()
FOOL ME TWICE by Paul Levine
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA grisly murder case takes Jake Lassiter from the beaches of Miami to the slopes of Aspen in the greatest challenge yet for the linebacker-turned-lawyer. Lassiter helps Blinky Baroso beat a fraud rap, then gets stiffed for his fee. Not only that, when an associate ends up dead, Lassiter is the prime suspect. If he doesn’t find the killer, he’ll face a murder charge...
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