Books like 'Paperback Jack'
Readers who enjoyed Paperback Jack by Loren D. Estleman also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery historical-fiction crime noir
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The Saltwater Murder by L.B. Hathaway
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMURDERED WITH A BOX OF TEARS… London, 1924Posie Parker has been called to her most baffling case yet.Amyas Lyle, London’s top young lawyer, has been found with his head in a box of poisoned saltwater.It’s the perfect murder... -
![Между строк by Boris Akunin]()
Между строк by Boris Akunin
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsВторой том переносит нас в Японию, 1878 года: ниндзя, гейши, самураи... Это история любви молодого дипломата Эраста Фандорина и роковой красавицы-ниндзя О-Юми, любви, изменившей всю его жизнь и напомнившей ему о себе через многие годы... -
![It Happened in Silence by Karla M. Jay]()
It Happened in Silence by Karla M. Jay
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHonorable Mention in the 2022 Eric Hoffer Book Award Historical Fiction Category2021 Benjamin Franklin Silver Award 2021 Finalist Wishing Shelf Book AwardRiveting Southern Fiction by the award-winning author of When We Were Brave. ~Set in a world where women of the KKK betray their neighbors, horrors of unscrupulous foundling homes come to light, and buried mysteries are not all that hidden... -
![The Serpent's Mark by S.W. Perry]()
The Serpent's Mark by S.W. Perry
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTreason sleeps for no man...London, 1591. Nicholas Shelby, physician and reluctant spy, returns to his old haunts on London's lawless Bankside... -
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![Destroying Angel by S.G. MacLean]()
Destroying Angel by S.G. MacLean
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWINNER OF THE 2019 CWA HISTORICAL DAGGER'A gripping tale of crime and sedition' Sunday Times on The Black Friar'The best historical crime novel of the year' Sunday Express on The SeekerCaptain Damian Seeker has gone north. Charged with preparing the way for the rule of the major-generals, he is now under the command of Colonel Robert Lilburne at York... -
![At The Heart Of It by Penny Vincenzi]()
At The Heart Of It by Penny Vincenzi
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAT THE HEART OF IT is vintage Penny Vincenzi: rich with characters, life-changing decisions, love, desire and conflict. 'There are few things better in life than ... the latest novel by Penny Vincenzi' Daily Express1950s London. Tom Knelston is charismatic, working class and driven by ambition, ideals and passion. He is a man to watch. His wife Alice shares his vision... -
![The Mobster's Lament by Ray Celestin]()
The Mobster's Lament by Ray Celestin
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLike every other mobster, the longer he stayed in the life, the closer he got to a shallow grave . . . New York, 1947. Mob fixer Gabriel Leveson needs to leave this city behind. But his plans to flee are upset when he’s given a job by the boss of all bosses, Frank Costello. A job he can’t turn down . . . Meanwhile, a killing spree in a Harlem flophouse has left an innocent black man on Death Row... -
![Murder Most Holy by Paul Doherty, P. Harding]()
Murder Most Holy by Paul Doherty, P. Harding
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the early summer of 1379 in London, Sir John Cranston, Coroner of the city, is trapped into a wager with Signior Gian Galeazzo, Lord of Cremona, who challenges him to resolve a certain murder mystery within two weeks. Men have been found dead in the scarlet chamber of one of Cremona's manors... -
![The Bookseller of Inverness by S.G. MacLean]()
The Bookseller of Inverness by S.G. MacLean
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter Culloden, Iain MacGillivray was left for dead on Drumossie Moor. Wounded, his face brutally slashed, he survived only by pretending to be dead as the Redcoats patrolled the corpses of his Jacobite comrades.Six years later, with the clan chiefs routed and the Highlands subsumed into the British state, Iain lives a quiet life, working as a bookseller in Inverness...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime mystery historical fiction audiobook law-enforcement thriller -
![The Piccadilly Pickpocket by Karen Charlton]()
The Piccadilly Pickpocket by Karen Charlton
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThis is an alternate cover edition for ASIN: B00Y3KKHGA There’s no honour among thieves. When a robbery in the crowded streets of Piccadilly takes an unusual twist, Constable Woods is blamed and a royal scandal threatens to erupt. Detective Stephen Lavender must act quickly to track down the rogues, clear his friend’s name and avert the crisis... -
![Nor Will He Sleep: An Inspector McLevy Mystery 4 by David Ashton]()
Nor Will He Sleep: An Inspector McLevy Mystery 4 by David Ashton
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBASED ON THE LONG-RUNNING BBC RADIO 4 McLEVY DRAMA SERIES ...WHILE THE STREETS OF LONDON HAD SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE DARK ALLEYS OF EDINBURGH HAD INSPECTOR JAMES McLEVY ELEGANT AND CONVINCING' The Times | 'ASHTON IS THE DIRECT HEIR TO ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON' Brian Cox | 'EXCELLENT' The Sherlock Holmes Society | 'DRIPPING WITH MELODRAMA AND DERRING-DO' Herald 1887... -
![Todo lo peor by César Pérez Gellida]()
Todo lo peor by César Pérez Gellida
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSigue la Guerra fría, sigue en pie el muro que divide Alemania en dos partes. Todo lo peor sucederá en estas circunstancias.Un asesino comienza a matar. Sus víctimas son homosexuales y sus crímenes parecen tener un componente religioso... -
![Judgment of The Witch by Robert McCammon]()
Judgment of The Witch by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter a decade, New York Times bestselling author Robert McCammon returns with an epic novel of suspense that reinstates him as one of the great storytellers of our time.... The Carolinas, 1699: The citizens of Fount Royal believe their town is cursed by a witch... -
![Murder in Canton by Robert van Gulik]()
Murder in Canton by Robert van Gulik
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA.D. 681Murder In Canton takes place in 680 A.D. Judge Dee, recently promoted to Lord Chief Justice, is sent incognito to Canton to investigate the disappearance of a court censor... -
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![Evil Unveiled by Robert McCammon]()
Evil Unveiled by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"New York Times" bestselling author Robert McCammon continues his triumphant return with the conclusion of an epic tale of suspense that reinstates him as one of the great storytellers of our time....The Carolinas, 1699: After hearing damning testimony from the townspeople of Fount Royal, magistrate Isaac Woodward sentences the accused witch, Rachel Howarth, to death by burning... -
![Nineteen Eighty by David Peace]()
Nineteen Eighty by David Peace
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDecember 1980, the Yorkshire Ripper murders his thirteenth victim, while Assistant Chief Constable Peter Hunter struggles even deeper in the mire of a culture tainted with dark and sordid detail to solve one of the country's most hellish crimes... -
![La leyenda del ladrón by Juan Gómez-Jurado]()
La leyenda del ladrón by Juan Gómez-Jurado
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPrepárate a transportarte a la Sevilla del XVI, a un fascinante mundo de mendigos y prostitutas, nobles y comerciantes, espadachines y ladrones. El amor, la pasión y la venganza son los pilares de esta magistral novela de aventuras en torno a un niño salvado misteriosamente de la muerte, que crecerá para erigirse en la última esperanza de los desfavorecidos... -
![Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie by James Lee Burke]()
Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBestselling author James Lee Burke tells his most thrilling and insightful story yet through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Bessie HollandAt the beginning of the twentieth century, as America grapples with forces of human and natural violence more powerful than humanity has ever seen, Bessie Holland yearns for the love that she has never known... -
![The Temple Legacy by D.C. Macey]()
The Temple Legacy by D.C. Macey
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSeven hundred years ago, in a time of war and betrayal, Europe’s greatest treasure disappeared. The men who guarded it vanished into history.In Edinburgh today, former élite British Military Intelligence officer Sam Cameron has turned to the quieter world of archaeology. Together with young church minister Helen Johnson, he leads his students on a field trip... -
![The Slave Players by Megan Allen]()
The Slave Players by Megan Allen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt’s modern day in the Deep South. Racial unrest is rampant, and outbreaks of violence reach epidemic proportions. When a church bus makes a wrong turn in the Alabama countryside, a dozen teenage girls become victims of a heinous crime. The resulting outcry is explosive, as a new civil war erupts, but this time it will be whites who are cast into bondage... -
![Surgeons’ Hall by E.S. Thomson]()
Surgeons’ Hall by E.S. Thomson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat secret grips Corvus Hall?Visiting the Great Exhibition to view the wax anatomical models of the famous but reclusive Dr Silas Strangeway, Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain find a severed hand, perfectly dissected and laid out amongst the exhibits... -
![The House at Helygen by Victoria Hawthorne]()
The House at Helygen by Victoria Hawthorne
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings'DARK, DISTURBING AND UTTERLY COMPELLING' LIZ FENWICKAn atmospheric historical suspense novel rich with familial secrets. The House at Helygen is a twisted tale of dark pasts, murderous presents and uncertain futures.2019 When Henry Fox is found dead in his ancestral home in Cornwall, the police rule it a suicide, but his pregnant wife, Josie, believes it was murder... -
![Chains of Folly by Roberta Gellis]()
Chains of Folly by Roberta Gellis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThat Nelda Roundheels had been murdered would have been of little interest to anyone - except that her body turned up in the bishop of Winchester's bedchamber with a letter to the bishop, from the king's most important enemy, rolled up in her breastband... -
![Peeler by Kevin McCarthy]()
Peeler by Kevin McCarthy
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWest Cork. November 1920. The Irish War of Independence rages. The body of a young woman is found brutally murdered on a windswept hillside. A scrap board sign covering her mutilated body reads 'TRATOR'. Traitor...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime mystery audiobook law-enforcement police-procedural historical fiction -
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![Kissyman & the Gentleman by Scott Sigler]()
Kissyman & the Gentleman by Scott Sigler
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNew York City, 1946. No one knows his real name, but when the job is too dirty, too dangerous, they call Kissyman. Once an elite Nazi SS commando, an honorable soldier, a taker of lives. When he was assigned to Dachau and saw what he was actually fighting for, he went AWOL and ran as far away as he could — to America. He still makes his living with a gun, but he no longer kills for his country... -
![The Mad Monk of Gidleigh by Michael Jecks]()
The Mad Monk of Gidleigh by Michael Jecks
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAlone in his isolated, windswept chapel on the edge of Dartmoor, his only companions moor men and poverty–stricken serfs, who could blame the young priest, Mark for seeking affection from Jane, the local miller’s daughter? But when Jane’s body is found brutally stabbed, Mark is the obvious suspect—and the discovery that Jane was pregnant seems to confirm his guilt... -
![The Errant Flock by Jana Petken, Elisa Pardini]()
The Errant Flock by Jana Petken, Elisa Pardini
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsValencia, Spain, 1491 The ambitions of four men merge and collide in a deadly game of intrigue. David Sanz, a young militiaman, is forced to carry out a heinous crime, and he becomes an unwitting pawn in a tense battle for power. Luis Peráto, the duke of Sagrat, sacrifices his own people to cover up dark secrets that could see him burnt at the stake for treason... -
![Sons of the Pope by Daniel O'Connor, Peter Randazzo]()
Sons of the Pope by Daniel O'Connor, Peter Randazzo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings"This is a very visual novel and the attention to detail is so rich that I could smell the dirty water dogs from the NYC street vendors. Bravo!" ~Romeo Tirone, Director of True Blood, Dexter, and Red Widow “Daniel O'Connor's Sons of the Pope reveals an interesting new talent with a snappy style. This is someone's career to watch.” ~Andrew Neiderman, Author of The Devil's Advocate and several V.C... -
![Neon Mirage by Max Allan Collins, Dan John Miller]()
Neon Mirage by Max Allan Collins, Dan John Miller
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn 1946 Chicago, Nathan Heller—president of the flourishing A-1 Detective Agency—is hired to protect racing-wire gambling chief James Ragen, who is nonetheless shot down on the streets of Chicago. Not one to take such an affront sitting down, Nate goes after the killer, but he’s in for the biggest surprise of his career... -
![The Million Dollar Wound by Max Allan Collins]()
The Million Dollar Wound by Max Allan Collins
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom a foxhole on Guadalcanal (shared with Barney Ross) to the glitzy underworld of Hollywood in the '40s, Nate Heller fights his memories and the Mob.Something happened at the Canal, something Heller's blocking out. What he can't block, though, is the wound he received--the "million-dollar wound," the one that got him home... -
![True Crime by Max Allan Collins]()
True Crime by Max Allan Collins
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBy the author of The Road To Perdition, this title sees Private Eye Nate Heller trying discover who the gunshot victim was, found next to the Biograph Theatre, the man the FBI confidently identified as John Dillinger. His search for the answer leads him into a confrontation with J. Edgar Hoover... -
![The Willow Pattern by Robert van Gulik]()
The Willow Pattern by Robert van Gulik
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJudge Dee has been appointed emergency governor of the plague- and drought-ridden Imperial City. As his guards help the city fend off a popular uprising, an aristocrat from one of the oldest families in China suffers an "accident" in a deserted mansion... -
![The Phantom of the Temple by Robert van Gulik]()
The Phantom of the Temple by Robert van Gulik
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJudge Dee presided over his imperial Chinese court with a unique brand of Confucian justice. A near mythic figure in China, he distinguished himself as a tribunal magistrate, inquisitor, and public avenger. Long after his death, accounts of his exploits were celebrated in Chinese folklore, and later immortalized by Robert van Gulik in his electrifying mysteries... -
![Necklace and Calabash: A Chinese Detective Story by Robert van Gulik]()
Necklace and Calabash: A Chinese Detective Story by Robert van Gulik
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJudge Dee is a magistrate in the fictional Poo-yang district, its a wealthy area through which the Grand Canal of China runs (part of modern-day Jiangsu province). The Emperor's daughter lives in the district at the Water Palace but it falls under a special administration run by the military commander... -
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![The Journey by Annelie Wendeberg]()
The Journey by Annelie Wendeberg
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBook 4 in the award-winning Anna Kronberg series. New and revised edition. "Kronberg is a wonderful character, prickly, independent, analytical, intelligent..." A Bibliophile's Reverie What would you do if your darkest nightmare came true? For Anna Kronberg, time is running out... -
![The Leper's Return by Michael Jecks]()
The Leper's Return by Michael Jecks
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen a local goldsmith, Godfrey of Harwood, is found brutally murdered in his home, Furnshill and Puttock are called on to investigate. But when rumors begin spreading that patients from a local leper hospital might have been involved in Godfrey's murder, a series of vicious attacks on the unfortunate victims ensues, culminating in a disastrous fire at the hospital... -
![Todo lo mejor by César Pérez Gellida]()
Todo lo mejor by César Pérez Gellida
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsUna ciudad separada por un muro y unida por un sanguinario asesino. Dos investigadores que descubrirán que la crueldad no tiene límites.Una historia negra para iniciarse en el género Gellida.Viktor Lavrov es un joven talento perteneciente al KGB destinado en Berlín durante el periodo más crudo de la Guerra Fría... -
![The Chinese Nail Murders by Robert van Gulik]()
The Chinese Nail Murders by Robert van Gulik
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA.D. 676In the fifth installment of Robert Van Gulik's ancient Chinese mystery series based on historical court records, detective Judge Dee is appointed to the magistrate of Pei-chow - a distant frontier district in the barren north of the ancient Chinese Empire... -
![The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven]()
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA CULT MASTERPIECE—THE ADVENTURE NOVEL THAT INSPIRED JOHN HUSTON'S CLASSIC FILM, BY THE ELUSIVE AUTHOR WHO WAS A MODEL FOR THE HERO OF ROBERTO BOLAÑO'S 2666 Little is known for certain about B. Traven. Evidence suggests that he was born Otto Feige in Schlewsig-Holstein and that he escaped a death sentence for his involvement with the anarchist underground in Bavaria... -
![The Flock by Ahmet Ümit]()
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![Traitor by Rory Clements]()
Traitor by Rory Clements
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Elizabethan navy has a secret weapon: an optical instrument so powerful it gives England unassailable superiority at sea. Spain will stop at nothing to steal it and seize the two men who understand its secrets - its operative William Ivory, known as the 'Queen's Eye', and its inventor, the maverick magician Dr Dee...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime mystery historical fiction law-enforcement thriller early-modern -
![City of Ink by Elsa Hart]()
City of Ink by Elsa Hart
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFollowing the enthralling 18th century Chinese mysteries Jade Dragon Mountain and White Mirror, comes the next Li Du adventure in City of Ink.Li Du was prepared to travel anywhere in the world except for one place: home. But to unravel the mystery that surrounds his mentor’s execution, that’s exactly where he must go... -
![The Big Blowdown by George P. Pelecanos]()
The Big Blowdown by George P. Pelecanos
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWashington DC, 1946. For two local young men, Pete Karras and Joey Recevo, the easiest way to find work after the war is by providing a little muscle for a local boss who runs a protection racket with the Mafia. The trouble with Pete Karras is that he is just too soft on his fellow immigrants, and the last thing the boss wants is for his mob to get soft... -
![Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley]()
Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEasy Rawlins, L.A.'s most reluctant detective, comes home one day to find Easter, the daughter of his friend Chrismas Black, left on his doorstep. Easy knows that this could only mean that the ex-marine Black is probably dead, or will be soon. Easter's appearance is only the beginning, as Easy is immersed in a sea of problems... -
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![The Mongolian Conspiracy by Rafael Bernal]()
The Mongolian Conspiracy by Rafael Bernal
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOnly a couple of days before the state visit of the President of the United States, Filiberto Garcia -- an impeccably groomed "gun for hire," ex-Mexican revolutionary, and classic anti-hero -- is recruited by the Mexican police to discover how much truth there might be to KGB and FBI reports of a Chinese-Mongolian plot to assassinate the Soviet and American presidents during the unveiling of a... -
![Romanzo Criminale by Giancarlo De Cataldo]()
Romanzo Criminale by Giancarlo De Cataldo
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt is 1977. A new force is terrorising Rome - a mob of reckless, ultraviolent youths known as La Banda della Magliana. As the gang ruthlessly take control of Rome's heroin trade, they begin an inexorable rise to power. Banda della Magliana intend to own the streets of Rome - unless their internal struggles tear them apart... -
![A Million Drops by Víctor del Árbol]()
A Million Drops by Víctor del Árbol
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn intense literary thriller that tears through the interlocked histories of fascism and communism in Europe without pausing for breath. Gonzalo Gil is a disaffected lawyer stuck in a failed career and a strained marriage, dodging the never-ending manipulation of his powerful father-in-law... -
![A Famine of Horses by P.F. Chisholm, Patricia Finney]()
A Famine of Horses by P.F. Chisholm, Patricia Finney
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn the year 1592, Sir Robert Carey comes north to Carlisle to take up his new post. He has wangled his appointment to be nearer his true love. And of course, he can use the money....Rich in atmosphere and packed with vivid real and fictional characters, few novels are as well imagined or as much fun as this romp through roguish courtiers, rival gangs, rustling, treason, and high ambition... -
![Murder in Grub Street by Bruce Alexander]()
Murder in Grub Street by Bruce Alexander
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe crime appeared as easily solved as it was wicked. A Grub Street printer, his family, and two apprentices brutally murdered in their sleep. A locked building. And at the scene, a raving mad poet brandishing a bloody axe. Surely the culprit had been found, and justice would be swift and severe. But to Sir John Fielding, justice was more than finding a culprit-it was finding the truth... -
![The Lacquer Screen by Robert van Gulik]()
The Lacquer Screen by Robert van Gulik
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsEarly in his career, Judge Dee visits a senior magistrate who shows him a beautiful lacquer screen on which a scene of lovers has been mysteriously altered to show the man stabbing his lover. The magistrate fears he is losing his mind and will murder his own wife...
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