Books like 'The Abominable Man'
Readers who enjoyed The Abominable Man by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery 20th century europe crime scandinavia sweden law-enforcement classics thriller
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Five Decembers by James Kestrel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn this novel of World War II, an American police detective trapped while trailing a killer overseas struggles to survive with only the help of a total stranger and his daughter, who risk their lives to protect him. December 1941. America teeters on the brink of war, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, police detective Joe McGrady is assigned to investigate a homicide that will change his life forever...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Stories and Early Novels: Pulp Stories / The Big Sleep / Farewell, My Lovely / The High Window by Raymond Chandler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn Raymond Chandler’s hands, the pulp crime story became a haunting mystery of power and corruption, set against a modern cityscape both lyrical and violent. Now Chandler joins the authoritative Library of America series in a comprehensive two-volume set displaying all the facets of his brilliant talent... -
Complete Novels: Red Harvest / The Dain Curse / The Maltese Falcon / The Glass Key / The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsComplete in one volume, the five books that created the modern American crime novelIn a few years of extraordinary creative energy, Dashiell Hammett invented the modern American crime novel... -
Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBelfast 1988: A man is found dead, killed with a bolt from a crossbow in front of his house. This is no hunting accident. But uncovering who is responsible for the murder will take Detective Sean Duffy down his most dangerous road yet, a road that leads to a lonely clearing on a high bog where three masked gunmen will force Duffy to dig his own grave...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
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The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man, Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratings(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)The three classic novels published here in one volume are rich with the crisp prose, subtle characters, and intricate plots that made Dashiell Hammett one of the most admired writers of the twentieth century. A one-time detective and a master of deft understatement, Hammett virtually invented the hard-boiled crime novel... -
The Nero Wolfe Mystery Series: The Zeck Trilogy: And Be a Villain, The Second Confession, In the Best Families by Rex Stout
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe perfect introduction to crime fiction’s greatest armchair detective: three mysteries featuring Nero Wolfe and his nemesis, gangland kingpin Arnold Zeck . . .AND BE A VILLAINTHE SECOND CONFESSIONIN THE BEST FAMILIES A guest on a radio talk show drops dead on-air after drinking a glass of a sponsor’s beverage... -
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... -
The Big Knockover: Selected Stories and Short Novels by Dashiell Hammett
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHammett's continental op - tough, tired, intelligent, a snap-brimmed Sir Galahad with a Browning - was the prototype for a whole new tradition of private eye thrillers.Here are ten of his classic suspense stories from the twenties and thirties - selected and introduced by Lillian Hellman... -
The Simple Art of Murder by Raymond Chandler
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsContains Chandler's essay on the art of detective stories and a collection of 8 classic Chandler mysteries... -
The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammett
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDashiell Hammett is the true inventor of modern detective fiction and the creator of the private eye, the isolated hero in a world where treachery is the norm... -
The Chinese Lake Murders by Robert van Gulik
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA.D. 666The Chinese Lake Murders describes how Judge Dee solves three difficult cases in A.D. 666, shortly after he has been appointed magistrate of Han-yuan."[Robert van Gulik] deftly interweaves three criminal cases involving exotic yet universally recognizable characters, then has his Judge Dee provide a surprising yet most plausible solution... -
A Family Affair by Rex Stout
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen a bomb kills his favorite waiter from his favorite restaurant, sedentary sleuth and gourmand Nero Wolfe is determined to go to any length to find the killer... -
Goldstein by Volker Kutscher
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsVolker Kutscher, author of the international bestseller Babylon Berlin, continues his Gereon Rath Mystery series with Goldstein as a police inspector investigates the crime and corruption of a decadent 1930s Berlin in the shadows the growing Nazi movement.Berlin, 1931. A power struggle is taking place in Berlin's underworld... -
The Outfit by Richard Stark
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen the Outfit tries to kill him, Parker declares war. Ripping off the syndicate is easy, but going one-on-one with Bronson, the Outfit's big boss, is the hard part. Hard for anyone but Parker, because the entire underworld understands that whatever Parker does -- he does for keep... -
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The Reckoning by Rennie Airth
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Second World War has ended, leaving a bruised and fragile peace. But this tranquillity is threatened when a shocking murder takes place in the Sussex countryside. Before long, police experts discover a link to another, earlier, killing hundreds of miles away .. -
Three at Wolfe's Door by Rex Stout, Michael Prichard
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDeath comes a-calling not once but three times in this murderous collection of cases from the files of the world's greatest detective. First there is the exclusive dinner party where the guests are gourmets, arsenic is the appetizer, and the suspects are five of the most gorgeous gals in New York. Next, a wandering cab pulls up to Wolfe's door, containing a lady driver who doesn't belong.. -
Lightning Men by Thomas Mullen
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the acclaimed author of The Last Town on Earth comes the gripping follow-up to Darktown, a “combustible procedural that will knock the wind out of you” (The New York Times).Officer Denny Rakestraw, “Negro Officers” Lucius Boggs and Tommy Smith, and Sergeant McInnis have their hands full in an overcrowded and rapidly changing Atlanta...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century adult audiobook -
The Best American Noir Of The Century by Otto Penzler, James Ellroy
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn his introduction, James Ellroy writes, "Noir is the most scrutinized offshoot of the hard-boiled school of fiction…It's the nightmare of flawed souls with big dreams and the precise how and why of the all-time sure thing that goes bad."Ellroy & Penzler mined the past century to find this treasure trove of thirty-nine stories... -
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 Galton Case by Ross Macdonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAlmost twenty years have passed since Anthony Galton disappeared, along with a suspiciously streetwise bride and several thousand dollars of his family's fortune. Now Anthony's mother wants him back and has hired Lew Archer to find him. What turns up is a headless skeleton, a boy who claims to be Galton's son, and a con game whose stakes are so high that someone is still willing to kill for them... -
The Chill by Ross Macdonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn The Chill a distraught young man hires Archer to track down his runaway bride. But no sooner has he found Dolly Kincaid than Archer finds himself entangled in two murders, one twenty years old, the other so recent that the blood is still wet... -
A Tan and Sandy Silence by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeing accused at gunpoint of hiding another man's wife is a rude shock. But it's an even bigger shock when Travis McGee discovers that the woman in question is Mary Broll, a dear old friend. Now she's disappeared, vanished without a word to anyone... -
The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“It was surprising what old experiences remembered could do to a presumably educated, civilized man.” And Hugh Denismore, a young doctor driving his mother’s Cadillac from Los Angeles to Phoenix, is eminently educated and civilized. He is privileged, would seem to have the world at his feet, even... -
The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith an introduction by CARL HIAASENJOHN D. MacDONALD."..the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." --STEPHEN KING."..a master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer."--MARY HIGGINS CLARK."..a dominant influence on writers crafting the continuing series character."--SUE GRAFTON."..my favorite novelist of all time."--DEAN KOONTZ.". -
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No Shred of Evidence by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOn the north coast of Cornwall, an apparent act of mercy is repaid by an arrest for murder. Four young women have been accused of the crime. A shocked father calls in a favor at the Home Office. Scotland Yard is asked to review the case. Inspector Ian Rutledge is not the first Inspector to reach the village, however. Following in the shoes of a dead man, he is told the case is all but closed...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century adult audiobook -
O toaletă à la Liz Taylor by Rodica Ojog-Braşoveanu
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAvem un tânăr superb, fermecător, bogat; canalie. Șase oameni care nu se cunosc între ei, șase oameni cu motivații cu totul diferite, iau hotărârea de a-l ucide. În aceeași zi, la aceeași oră.Deși avertizată, victima nu reușește să se sustragă propriului destin. Există, de fapt, un singur asasin... -
To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a young strikingly handsome photographer mysteriously disappears, it's up to Inspector Alan Grant to discover whether he accidentally drowned, committed suicide, or met his death at the hands of one of his many female admirers...Categorized as:
classics crime law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century -
The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOn sick leave from Scotland Yard, Inspector Alan Grant is planning a quiet holiday with an old school chum to recover from overwork and mental fatigue... -
Cop Killer by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe shocking ninth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö finds Beck investigating parallel cases that have shocked a small rural community. In a country town, a woman is brutally murdered and left buried in a swamp. There are two main suspects: her closest neighbor and her ex-husband... -
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... -
Shoot the Piano Player by David Goodis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOnce upon a time Eddie played concert piano to reverent audiences at Carnegie Hall. Now he bangs out honky-tonk for drunks in a dive in Philadelphia. But then two people walk into Eddie's life--the first promising Eddie a future, the other dragging him back into a treacherous past... -
Hard Evidence by John Lescroart
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe first evidence is found in the belly of a shark: a hand sporting a jade ring. The hand belongs to a Silicon Valley billionaire. When the rest of his bullet-ridden body washes up on shore, Dismas Hardy, assistant D.A., is suddenly plunged into San Francisco's murder trial of the century. A Japanese call girl with a long list of bigshot johns is the defendant...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century adult audiobook -
Laura by Vera Caspary, A.B. Emrys
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLaura Hunt was the ideal modern woman: beautiful, elegant, highly ambitious, and utterly mysterious. No man could resist her charms—not even the hardboiled NYPD detective sent to find out who turned her into a faceless corpse. As this tough cop probes the mystery of Laura's death, he becomes obsessed with her strange power...Categorized as:
classics crime law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense thriller 20th-century -
The Way Some People Die by Ross Macdonald
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn a rundown house in Santa Monica, Mrs. Samuel Lawrence presses fifty crumpled bills into Lew Archer's hand and asks him to find her wandering daughter, Galatea. Described as ‘crazy for men’ and without discrimination, she was last seen driving off with small-time gangster Joe Tarantine, a hophead hood with a rep for violence... -
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The Terrorists by Maj Sjöwall, 麥伊·荷瓦兒
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFinished just a few weeks before Per Wahloo's death, The Terrorists is the last Martin Beck mystery, a marvelous summing up of the series. The series finale finds Beck attempting to save an American diplomat from the bloody hands of a terrorist group.The book is, in effect, a marvelous summing up of the series. The story centers on the visit of an American senator to Stockholm... -
Miss Silver Comes to Stay by Patricia Wentworth
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOn vacation in a tiny village, Miss Silver investigates a murder with a decades-old motive.The citizens of Melling are perfectly ordinary―exactly the sort one finds in just about every cozy English village―and to a certain person they might even appear boring. But to Miss Silver, people are always interesting... -
El Martillo Azul by Ross Macdonald
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe desert air is hot with sex and betrayal, death and madness and only Archer can make sense of a killer who makes murder a work of art. Finding a purloined portrait of a leggy blonde was supposed to be an easy paycheck for Detective Lew Archer, but that was before the bodies began piling up... -
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... -
Safe House by Andrew Vachss
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn Burke, Vachss gave readers of crime fiction a hero they could believe in, an avenger whose sense of justice was forged behind bars and tempered on New York's meanest streets. In this blistering new thriller, Burke is drawn into his ugliest case yet, one that involves an underground network of abused women and the sleekly ingenious stalkers who've marked them as their personal victims... -
Poirot a Styles Court by Agatha Christie
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsAgatha Christie's debut novel was the first to feature Hercule Poirot, her famously eccentric Belgian detective. A refugee of the Great War, Poirot is settling in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactor, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work...Categorized as:
europe classics crime suspense law-enforcement thriller police-procedural british-isles -
Born Bad: Collected Stories by Andrew Vachss
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom a writer whose novels have been acclaimed for their unflinching exploration of evil comes a brilliant collection of short stories—some never before published—that distill dread back down to its essence—and inject it straight into the reader's back brain... -
No Doors, No Windows by Harlan Ellison
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsYOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF! The only trouble is, fear comes in so many different shapes and sizes these days. It comes as rejection by a beautiful woman. It comes in the brutalization of your love by an amoral man... -
Hard Rain by Janwillem van de Wetering
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn a stormy night in Amsterdam, banker Martin Ijsbreker is killed by a sniper as he sits by an open window at his home along the Binnenkant Canal. Three junkies then enter Ijsbreker's house, arrange his death to look like suicide and steal valuables for which they will be paid in heroin... -
Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940s: Laura / The Horizontal Man / In a Lonely Place / The Blank Wall by Vera Caspary, Helen Eustis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWomen writers have always had a central place in American crime writing, although one wouldn’t know it for all the attention focused on the men of the hardboiled school. This collection, the first of a two-volume omnibus, presents four classics of the 1940s overdue for fresh attention... -
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The Drowning Pool by Ross Macdonald
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a millionaire matriarch is found floating face-down in the family pool, the prime suspects are her good-for-nothing son and his seductive teenage daughter. In The Drowning Pool, Lew Archer takes this case in the L.A. suburbs and encounters a moral wasteland of corporate greed and family hatred--and sufficient motive for a dozen murders... -
The Quick Red Fox by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt was the standard blackmail scheme. For years, sultry Lysa Dean's name on a movie had meant a bonanza at the box office. Now a set of pictures could mean the end of her career. When first approached for help by lovely Dana Holtzer, Lysa's personal secretary, Travis McGee is thoroughly turned off by the tacky details... -
Service of All the Dead by Colin Dexter
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis time Inspector Morse brings the imposition on himself. He could have been vacationing in Greece instead of investigating a murder that the police have long since written off. But he finds the crime--the brutal killing of a suburban churchwarden--fascinating. In fact, he uncovers not one murder but two, for the fatal fall of St... -
The Locked Room by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe stunning eighth installment in the Martin Beck mystery series by the renowned Swedish crime writing duo is a masterful take on a classic locked room mystery. With an introduction by Michael Connelly: "One of the most authentic, gripping, and profound collections of police procedurals ever accomplished."A young blonde in sunglasses robs a bank and kills a hapless citizen... -
The Fire Engine That Disappeared by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe lightning-paced fifth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Beck investigating one of the strangest, most violent, and unforgettable crimes of his career... -
The Hot Spot by Charles Williams
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA dark, brooding masterpiece of guilt, greed, and lust in a town ripe for felony. Madox wasn't all bad. He was just half-bad...
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