Books like 'Monsieur Malaussène'
Readers who enjoyed Monsieur Malaussène by Daniel Pennac also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery 20th century humor family crime classics law-enforcement noir suspense
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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... -
Point Of Impact by Stephen Hunter, Beau Bridges
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHe was one the best Marine snipers in Vietnam. Today, twenty years later, disgruntled hero of an unheroic war, all Bob Lee Swagger wants to be left alone and to leave the killing behind.But with consummate psychological skill, a shadowy military organization seduces Bob into leaving his beloved Arkansas hills for one last mission for his country, unaware until too late that the game is rigged...Categorized as:
crime espionage law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Absolute Power by David Baldacci
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsA grizzled professional cat burglar gets trapped inside the bedroom closet of one of the world's richest men, only to witness, through a one-way mirror, two Secret Service agents kill the billionaire's trampy young wife as she tries to fight off the drunken sexual advances of the nation's chief executive...Categorized as:
crime espionage law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Nancy Drew: #1-64 by Carolyn Keene
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNancy Drew has been solving mysteries, and delighting fans, for over 75 years... -
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Cianură pentru un surâs by Rodica Ojog-Braşoveanu
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsÎntr-un imobil oarecare din strada Crăiței, cu ocazia unei inundații, cinci locatari dau peste două tablouri de o valoare inestimabilă. Cei cinci fac planuri pentru a se îmbogăți, dar, unul câte unul, încep să moară otrăviți. De fiecare dată, cei rămași trebuie să ascundă cadavrele și să fenteze Miliția, ducând mai departe, în paralel, planul pentru a vinde tablourile peste hotare... -
The Firm by John Grisham
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsWhen Mitchell McDeere qualified third in his class at Harvard, offers poured in from every law firm in America. The firm he chose was small, but-well respected. They were prepared to match, and then exceed Mitch's wildest dreams: eighty thousand a year, a BMW and a low-interest mortgage. Now the house, the car and the job are his...Categorized as:
classics crime espionage law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure -
Pulp Fiction: A Quentin Tarantino Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino, Manohla Dargis
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsQuentin Tarantino - director of "Reservoir Dogs" and writer of "True Romance" - won the Palme d'Or for best film at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival for "Pulp Fiction, " his unique vision of the underworld, starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Samuel Jackson, and Harvey Keitel... -
Without Remorse by Tom Clancy
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsJohn Kelly, former Navy SEAL and Vietnam veteran, is still getting over the accidental death of his wife six months before, when he befriends a young woman with a decidedly checkered past. When that past reaches out for her in a particularly horrifying fashion, he vows revenge and, assembling all of his old skills, sets out to track down the men responsible, before it can happen again...Categorized as:
classics crime espionage law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense 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... -
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsIn Presumed Innocent, Rusty Sabich, family man and the number-two prosecutor of Kindle County, is handed an explosive casethe brutal murder of a woman who happens to be his former lover. A shocking turn of events suddenly transforms him from the accuser into the accused and plunges him into a nightmare world where nothing seems real and no one can be presumed innocent...Categorized as:
classics crime law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Valley of Adventure by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNothing could be more exciting than a night flight on Bill’s plane! But Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann, and Jack soon find themselves flying straight into a truly amazing 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:
classics crime espionage humor law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense 20th-century -
Crimson Rivers by Jean-Christophe Grangé
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA horrifically mutilated corpse is discovered wedged in an isolated crevice. The highly-regarded but unpredictable ex-commando Pierre NiTmans is sent from Paris to the French Alps to investigate. Meanwhile, Karim Abdouf, a young Arab policeman, is trying to find out why the tomb of a young child has been desecrated... -
Write to Kill by Daniel Pennac
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsBenjamin Malaussene is a downtrodden publisher at Vendetta Press. Treated as a scapegoat by Queen Zabo, the redoubtable doyenne of publishing, he has finally had enough. After one row too many with her, he resigns, only to have Zabo offer him a starring role. All he has to do is impersonate the world's best-loved but hitherto anonymous author, J.L.B... -
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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... -
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... -
One Step Behind by Henning Mankell
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIt is Midsummer's Eve. Three young friends meet in a wood to act out an elaborate masque. But unknown to them, they are being watched. With a bullet each, all three are murdered. Soon afterwards, one of Inspector Wallander's colleagues is found murdered. Is this the same killer, and what could the connection be? In this investigation, Wallander is always, tantalisingly, One Step Behind... -
The Mark Of The Assassin by Daniel Silva
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCIA Agent Michael Osbourne stars in this suspenseful series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gabriel Allon novels.When a commercial airliner is blown out of the sky off the east coast, the CIA scrambles to find the perpetrators. A body is discovered near the crash site with three bullets to the face: the calling card of a shadowy international assassin...Categorized as:
crime espionage law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThis is a story of intrigue and revenge. Tracy Whitney is young, beautiful and intelligent - and about to marry into wealth and glamour. Until, suddenly, she is betrayed, framed by a ruthless Mafia gang, abandoned by the man she loves. Only her ingenuity saves her and helps her fight back...Categorized as:
classics crime espionage law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure -
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... -
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... -
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... -
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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... -
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... -
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... -
The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn the third book in Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series, the urbane and perceptive Sicilian detective exposes a viper's nest of government corruption and international intrigue in a compelling new case...Categorized as:
crime humor law-enforcement noir political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure -
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... -
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.. -
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... -
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... -
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... -
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The Fairy Gunmother by Daniel Pennac
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsMaybe the worst indignity for a Paris cop is to be shot dead by an old granny he is trying to help cross the street in Paris on a frosty morning. An old lady needs protection with so many druggies around these days. Dressed as an elderly Vietnamese woman, Inspector Van Thian goes to investigate... -
The Rainmaker by John Grisham
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsInThe Rainmaker, John Grisham tells the story of a young man barely out of law school who finds himself taking on one of the most powerful, corrupt, and ruthless companies in America -- and exposing a complex, multibillion-dollar insurance scam...Categorized as:
classics crime family law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure -
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA Civil War sword...A watermelon stabbing...Missing roller skates...A trapeze artist's inheritance...And an eyewitness who's legally blind!Theses are just some of the ten brain-twisting mysteries that Encyclopedia Brown must solve by using his famous computerlike brain...Categorized as:
classics crime family humor law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure anthologies -
Marathon Man by William Goldman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsTom "Babe" Levy is a runner in every sense: racing tirelessly toward his goals of athletic and academic excellence--and endlessly away from the specter of his famous father's scandal-driven suicide. But an unexpected visit from his beloved older brother will set in motion a chain of events that plunge Babe into a vortex of terror, treachery, and murder--and force him into a race for his life . .Categorized as:
classics crime espionage political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIn a world in which the police have telepathic powers, how do you get away with murder?Ben Reichs heads a huge 24th century business empire, spanning the solar system. He is also an obsessed, driven man determined to murder a rival. To avoid capture, in a society where murderers can be detected even before they commit their crime, is the greatest challenge of his life... -
Plum Island by Nelson DeMille
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsThe hair-raising suspense of The General's Daughter... the wry wit of The Gold Coast...this is vintage Nelson DeMille at the peak of his originality and the height of his powers.Wounded in the line of duty, NYPD homicide cop John Corey is convalescing in rural eastern Long Island when an attractive young couple he knows is found shot to death on the family patio... -
The Little Drummer Girl by John le Carré
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsJohn le Carre's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge, and have earned him unprecedented worldwide acclaim...Categorized as:
classics crime espionage noir political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure -
For the Sake of Elena by Elizabeth George
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsElena Weaver was a surprise to anyone meeting her for the first time. In her clingy dresses and dangling earrings she exuded a sexuality at odds with the innocence projected by the unicorn posters on her walls. While her embittered mother fretted about her welfare from her home in London, in Cambridge—where Elena was a student at St... -
A Taste for Death by P.D. James
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen the quiet Little Vestry of St... -
A Suitable Vengeance by Elizabeth George
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratings'Award-winning author Elizabeth George gives us an early glimpse into the lives of Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, forensic scientist Simon Allcourt-St. James, and Lady Helen Clyde in a superlative mystery that is also a fascinating inquiry into the crimes of the heart. Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton, has brought to Howenstow, his family home, the young woman he has asked to be his bride... -
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The Scapegoat by Daniel Pennac
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPathetic, contrite and hapless, Benjamin is nonetheless the scapegoat at The Store: there is nothing for which he cannot be blamed. While his blunders remain minor, most of his unwitting victims can find it in their hearts to forgive him, but when violent explosions begin to follow him around, he inevitably becomes the prime suspect... -
The Crow Road by Iain Banks
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsFrom its bravura opening onwards, THE CROW ROAD is justly regarded as an outstanding contemporary novel. 'It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach's Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach... -
First Blood by David Morrell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFirst came the man: a young wanderer in a fatigue coat and long hair. Then came the legend, as John Rambo sprang from the pages of First Blood to take his place in the American cultural landscape...Categorized as:
classics crime espionage law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure -
The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot by Robert Arthur
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHot on the trail of seven talking parrots that have seemingly vanished into thin air, the Three Investigators are in more trouble than ever. Danger lurks at every turn as they search for the birds, each of whom can quote part of a coded message from a mysterious dead man... -
The Dead of Jericho by Colin Dexter
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Dead of Jericho is Colin Dexter's fifth outing featuring the popular detective, Inspector Morse. Morse switched on the gramophone to 'play', and sought to switch his mind away from all the terrestrial troubles. Sometimes, this way, he almost managed to forget. But not tonight . . . Anne Scott's address was scribbled on a crumpled note in the pocket of Morse's smartest suit... -
Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish by Dorothy Gilman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAll Mrs. Pollifax has to do is to masquerade as the aunt of an inept CIA representative while he confirms the identities of seven undercover agents in Morocco—and keep him from making an unpleasant ass of himself. Immediately, things go horribly wrong. The first informant is murdered minutes after Mrs. Pollifax and her companion identify him in his brassware stall in Fez...Categorized as:
crime espionage humor law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure
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