Ed Lynskeys Favorite Crime Fiction
Discover Ed Lynskey's top picks in crime fiction with this curated list of his favorite books. Explore thrilling reads and must-have titles for any crime fiction enthusiast.
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Lisey's Story
by Stephen King
Two years after losing her husband of twenty-five years, Lisey looks back at the sometimes frightening intimacy that marked their marriage, her husband's successes as an award-winning novelist, and his secretive nature that established Lisey's supernatural belief systems, on which she eventually comes to depend for survival. 1,250,000 first printing.
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Kiss Her Goodbye
by Allan Guthrie
Joe Hope is a loan shark's enforcer. When his wife and young daughter die, he'll stop at nothing to bring down the man responsible.
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Two-Way Split
by Allan Guthrie
Edinburgh, dead of winter Robin Greaves is an armed robber whose professionalism is put to the test when he discovers his wife has been sleeping with a fellow gang member. Robin plans the ultimate revenge, but things go from bad to worse when the gang bungles a post office robbery, leaving carnage in their wake. Suddenly they are stalked by the police, sleazy private eyes, and a cold-blooded killer who may be the only one not looking for a cut of the money. This lean and muscular crime caper with a seriously twisted dark side was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger in the UK. TWO-WAY SPLIT is an explosive introduction to the raw talent of Allan Guthrie, one of crime fiction's hottest new writers. "In the tradition of Irvine Welsh and Ian Rankin, Allan Guthrie chronicles life in the underbelly of Edinburgh with dazzling grace. TWO-WAY SPLIT is a hard-edged, fast paced noir thriller with outstanding dialogue and plenty of unforgettable bad guys. It's Scottish crime fiction with a unique American hard-boiled twist." -Jason Starr, author of TWISTED CITY
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The Men from the Boys
by Ed Lacy
Marty Bond Was Rotten To The Core A few years back, he had been a famous cop in New York. Not a gentle or an honest cop. But he caught thieves and killers, and he was feared. Fired From The Force He became a house dick in a ratty hotel. He started sliding downhill fast, hitting the bottle pretty hard, procuring, protecting petty rackets. Then His Stepson Stumbled On A Killing and Was Almost Beaten To Death That put Marty back on the side of the cops in fact, if not legally.
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Rain Dogs
by Sean Doolittle
It was one hell of an inheritance for former Chicago reporter Tom Coleman: a broken-down pickup truck, ramshackle campground, a canoe livery—and one pot-smoking, barely working employee he doesn’t need, doesn’t want, and can’t afford. But the truth is, after losing a child and a marriage, Tom doesn’t really care. And life is nice and quiet in the middle of nowhere. Until a drug lab blows up near his property—putting Tom in contact with the woman he once loved, a small-town cop with a chip on his shoulder, and a powerful local who doesn’t want him poking his nose where it doesn’t belong. Tom doesn’t want to get involved in the first place. But in the hardscrabble Nebraska Sandhills, storms gather suddenly and bad blood runs deep. Now a quiet summer on the river is turning into a dangerous season of grudges, betrayal, and violent reckoning—and it’s already too late to find shelter...
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Calibre
by Ken Bruen
Somewhere in the teeming heart of London is a man on a lethal mission. His cause: a long-overdue lesson on the importance of manners. When a man gives a public tongue-lashing to a misbehaving child, or a parking lot attendant is rude to a series of customers, the "Manners Killer" makes sure that the next thing either sees is the beginning of his own grisly end. When he starts mailing letters to the Southeast London police squad, he'll soon find out just how bad a man's manners can get. The Southeast is dominated by the perpetual sneer of one Inspector Brant, and while he might or might not agree with the killer's cause and can even forgive his tactics to some degree, Brant is just ornery enough to employ his trademark brand of amoral, borderline-criminal policing to the hunt for the Manners Killer. For if there's one thing that drives the incomparable inspector, it's the unshakeable conviction that if anyone is going to be getting away with murder on his patch, it'll be Brant himself, thank you very much. Ken Bruen's Calibre is original and astonishing hard-boiled noir.
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The Crimes of Jordan Wise
by Bill Pronzini
Obsessed by the gorgeous Annalise Bonner, who cares only for adventure and the good life, accountant Jordan Wise uses his bookkeeping skills to embezzle half a million dollars from his company and plans an escape to the Virgin Islands.
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Spiral
by Jeremiah Healy
Still reeling from an unfathomable tragedy, Boston P.I. John Francis Cuddy agrees to help a former Vietnam-era comrade who is searching for his granddaughter's killer. The thirteen-year-old was found dead in Colonel Nicolas Helides' heavily guarded mansion on the Intracoastal Waterway. Used by her own father to revive his rock band, called Spiral, Veronica Helides had been molded into a sexually provacative rock starlet. By the time someone drowned her, murder was merely the last crime committed against her. Now Cuddy is picking apart a cast of players in the life of Colonel Heilides and the girl everyone called "Very." From Helides' depressive son to former groupies, from a mysterious spiritual adviser to the woman who married the colonel for his money, Cuddy is seeing the worst of human nature at a time when his own heart is broken in two. As if that were not enough, the killing of Veronica Helides may not have been the isolated act it first appeared.
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Bad Blood
by Linda A. Fairstein
In the middle of a trial involving a businessman charged with murdering his wife, Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper is summoned to investigate an explosion of unknown origin 600 feet below street level when it is traced back to her case.
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A Stolen Season
by Steve Hamilton
Alex McKnight has to deal with drug dealers after rescuing three men from a boating accident.
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Bronx Angel
by Ed Dee
A wall in the Bronx has suddenly started seeping holy water, and the faithful mob the place, lining up for their share. When a car containing a dead local mobster pulls up in front of the crowd, the case seems simple. But in New York, nothing is easy.
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Murder Among the OWLS
by Bill Crider
Sheriff Dan Rhodes investigates the death of Helen Harris, a neighbour who belonged to the Older Women's Literary Society.
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Shakedown
by Charlie Stella
Get married, have a kid-it's not much to ask. Unless you've got to first divorce the mob. For three months now, ex-bookmaker Bobby G has been heading down the straight and narrow. He's got the girl-pretty Lin Yao-and he's bought the ring. Then his old boss flips and rats on his Mafioso associates. And before you can say the Mott Street Shadows, the wiseguys' shakedown is escalating into warfare with a Chinese gang in the heart of Little Italy. Bobby G has got trouble.
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The Hunt Club
by John T. Lescroart
Filled with New York Timesbestselling author John Lescroart's trademarks'rich characters, masterful pacing, and nail-biting suspense?The Hunt Clubintroduces one of the most compelling new characters in modern fiction . . . Wyatt Hunt. When the rules of the hunt don't apply . . .A federal judge is murdered, found shot to death in his home'together with the body of his mistress. The crime grips San Francisco. To homicide inspector Devin Juhle, it looks at first like a simple case of a wife's jealousy and rage. But Juhle's investigation reveals that the judge had powerful enemies . . . some of whom may have been willing to kill to prevent him from meddling in their affairs. Meanwhile, private investigator Wyatt Hunt, Juhle's best friend, finds himself smitten with the beautiful and enigmatic Andrea Parisi. A lawyer who recently has become a celebrity as a commentator on Trial TV, Andrea has star power in spades, and seems bound for a national anchor job in New York City. Until Juhle discovers that Andrea, too, had a connection to the judge, along with a client that had everything to gain from the judge's death. And then she suddenly disappears. . . . Andrea becomes Juhle's prime suspect. Wyatt Hunt thinks she may be a kidnap victim, or worse . . . another murder victim. And far more than that, she's someone with whom he believes he may have a future. As the search for Andrea intensifies, Hunt gathers a loose band of friends and associates willing to bend and even break the rules, leading to a chilling confrontation from which none of them might escape. Praise for John Lescroart's The Motive ?Excellent. . . The Motive[is] a smashinglegal thriller that surpasses anything Grisham ever wroteand bears comparison with Turow. . . . Lescroart does many things well, but two factors above all distinguish his writing. The first is its realism. . . . Second, his books are notable for their characterizations. This is not a novel you'll put down willingly.' ?THE WASHINGTON POST?Lescroart's tangled scenario is astutely laid out, his stagecraft is enticing, his dodges are artful . . . making The Motivea captivating read.' ?LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW
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Cold Granite
by Stuart MacBride
DCI Logan McRae returns to his job in Aberdeen CID after recuperating from a stab wound and finds himself assigned to a brutal serial killer case. Martin's Press.
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The Two Minute Rule
by Robert Crais
Devastated by the murder of his estranged police officer son on the day of his own release from prison, former bank robber Max Holman launches a renegade investigation and discovers that the chief suspect, a gang kingpin, is being deliberately and wrongfully targeted by the LAPD. By the author of The Forgotten Man. 200,000 first printing.
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Radio Activity
by Bill Fitzhugh
When a DJ stops showing up for work at WAOR-FM, Rick Shannon moves back to Mississippi to take the night shift. No sooner than he settles into the job, Rick finds a mysterious reel of tape that just might explain what happened to the missing DJ. His curiosity piqued, Rick starts poking around and soon finds himself going down a road littered with extortion, arson, murder, and an FCC violation that makes Howard Stern look like a Cub Scout.
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Butchers Hill
by Laura Lippman
Tess Monaghan has finally made the move and hung out her shingle as a p.i.-for-hire, complete with an office in Butchers Hill. Maybe it's not the best address in Baltimore, but you gotta start somewhere, and Tess's greyhound Esskay has no trouble taking marathon naps anywhere there's a roof. Then in walks Luther Beale, the notorious vigilante who five years ago shot a boy for vandalizing his car. Just out of prison, he says he wants to make reparations to the kids who witnessed his crime, so he needs Tess to find them. But once she starts snooping, the witnesses start dying. Is the "Butcher of Butchers Hill" at it again? Like it or not, Tess is embroiled in a case that encompasses the powers that-be, a heartless system that has destroyed the lives of children, and a nasty trail of money and lies leading all the way back to Butchers Hill.
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Every Secret Thing
by Laura Lippman
Two little girls banished from a neighborhood birthday party take a wrong turn down an unfamiliar Baltimore street—and encounter an abandoned stroller with an infant inside. What happens next is shocking and terrible, and three families are irreparably destroyed. Seven years later, Alice Manning and Ronnie Fuller, now eighteen, are released from "kid prison" to begin their lives over again. But the secrets swirling around the original crime continue to haunt the parents, the lawyers, the police—all the adults in Alice and Ronnie's lives. And now another child has disappeared, under freakishly similar circumstances ...
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New Orleans Beat
by Julie Smith
Detective Skip Langdon is sent to investigate the death of thirty-one-year-old Geoff Kavanagh, victim of an accidental fall from a ladder. But as Skip pursues the case, he discovers an on-line computer community whose secrets may mean the difference between accident and murder, and among whose anonymous members a killer may be waiting to strike again at anyone who comes too close . . .
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Tidewater Blood
by William Hoffman
The black sheep of a prosperous Virginia family, Charles LeBlanc must elude the law while he investigates a mass murder at his family's annual reunion, during which he turns up the unsavory secrets kept by his kin. 25,000 first printing.
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Sideswipe
by Charles Willeford
Hoke Moseley has had enough. Tired of struggling against alimony payments, two teenage daughters, a very pregnant, very single partner, and a low paying job as a Miami homicide detective, Hoke moves to Singer Island and vows never step foot on the mainland again. But on the street, career criminal Troy Louden is hatching plans of his own with a gang including a disfigured hooker, a talentless artist, and a clueless retiree. But when his simple robbery results in ruthless and indiscriminate bloodshed, Hoke quickly remembers why he is a cop and hurls himself back into the world he meant to leave behind forever. A masterly tale of both mid-life crisis and murder, Sideswipe is a page-turning thriller packed with laughs, loaded with suspense, and featuring one of the truly original detectives of all time.
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Dirty White Boys
by Stephen Hunter
They busted out of McAlester State Penitentiary--three escaped convicts going to ground in a world unprepared for anything like them.... Lamar Pye is prince of the Dirty White Boys. With a lion in his soul, he roars--for he is the meanest, deadliest animal on the loose.... Odell is Lamar's cousin, a hulking manchild with unfeeling eyes. He lives for daddy Lamar. Surely he will die for him.... Richard's survival hangs on a sketch: a crude drawing of a lion and a half-naked woman. For this Lamar has let Richard live... Armed to the teeth, Lamar and his boys have cut a path of terror across the Southwest, and pushed one good cop into a crisis of honor and conscience. Trooper Bud Pewtie should have died once at Lamar's hands. Now they're about to meet again. And this time, only one of them will walk away....
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When Last Seen Alive
by Gar Anthony Haywood
A man disappears at the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., but Aaron Gunner soon discovers that isn't just another missing persons case. The web of deception that surrounds both the missing man and those who knew him will lead him to more danger than he realizes. The fifth book of the series.
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Back-Door Man
by Rob Kantner
Detroit private detective Ben Perkins takes on the case of a wealthy widow swindled out of a fortune, but his investigation is complicated by the death of the embezzler, lethal competitors, and murder
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Chinatown Beat
by Henry Chang
This debut mystery powerfully conveys the sights, sounds, and smells of Chinatown, as well as the attitudes of its inhabitants. Detective Jack Yu is assigned to his old neighborhood where he must confront a serial rapist and solve the murder of a respected community leader.
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Earthquake Weather
by Terrill Lee Lankford
Frustrated in his job working for a despised producer, would-be filmmaker Mark Hayes finds his ambitions further compromised when a major earthquake rocks the movie industry and he discovers a dead body in his employer's pool, a situation that causes him to be falsely accused of murder. Reprint.
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The Blade Itself
by Marcus Sakey
On the South Side of Chicago, you're only as strong as your reputation. Danny Carter and his best friend Evan earned theirs knocking over pawnshops and liquor stores, living from score to score, never thinking of tomorrow...until, in the roar of a gun blast, everything changed. Years later, Danny has built a new life: a legitimate career, a long-term girlfriend, and a clean conscience. He's just like anyone else. Normal. Successful. Happy. Until then he spots his old partner staring him down in a smoky barroom mirror... Now, with all he loves on the line and nowhere to turn, Danny realizes his new life hinges on a terrible choice: How far will he go to protect his future from his past?
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Clockers
by Richard Price
Rocco Klein, veteran homicide detective, has had enough of life on the edge. When a warm summer night brings yet another drug-related murder, he has no sense that the case is anything special. A young black man steps forward to confess but a little digging reveals that he's never been in any kind of trouble, whereas his half-brother, Strike, runs a crew of street-corner coke dealers 'clockers' in a nearby housing project. Soon Rocco is sure that Strike is the real killer and suddenly Rocco's appetite for the job is back. With a vengeance.
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Iron Lake
by William Kent Krueger
A hated judge is found dead in suspicious circumstances in a town in Minnesota with an Indian casino and a young Ojibwe Indian leaves home in a hurry. Former sheriff Cork O'Connor investigates if there is a connection.
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Cold Steel Rain
by Kenneth Abel
Violence, betrayal and institutionalised corruption pervade this scorching new thriller set in New Orleans.
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Captains Outrageous
by Joe R. Lansdale
Hapless chicken-plant guard Hap Collins gets into trouble when he takes his best friend Leonard on a Caribbean cruise. The two find themselves abandoned in Mexico, saved from armed attackers by a geriatric fisherman and his lovely daughter, who's currently having to fend off a Mexican mobster who is also a practising nudist... Trying for once to stay out of other people's business, Hap returns to East Texas but is overwhelmed when he learns of the senorita's murder. He then persuades Leonard to return with him to Mexico to even the score.
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Gorky Park
by Martin Cruz Smith
"Brilliant...One of the best books of the season." ASSOCIATED PRESS A triple murder in a Moscow amusement center: three corpses found frozen in the snow, faces and fingers missing. Chief homicide investigator Arkady Renko is brilliant, sensitive, honest, and cynical about everything except his profession. To identify the victims and uncover the truth, he must battle the KGB, FBI, and New York police as he performs the impossible--and tries to stay alive doing it.
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Matala
by Craig Holden
National bestselling author Holdens latest work is a stylish yet harrowing tale of sex, deception, and international smuggling.
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Dirty Money
by Richard Stark
A follow-up to Nobody Runs Forever finds master criminal Parker and his cohorts returning to an abandoned country church where they had been forced to abandon the spoils of a bank heist, an endeavor during which he drives an old choir van and works to outmaneuver foes on both sides of the law.