If you’ve been following my blog for a while you will know that my first love when it came to ‘adult’ fiction was crime. I lived for the mystery aspect, never quite knowing who had committed the crime. I loved the books that made me feel like I was a part of the murder investigation, the ones with characters that you instantly bonded with and had you sat on the edge of your seat, white fingered clutching the book in your hands in anticipation. I still have authors/series that I pick up and enjoy, even if I tend to read more fantasy, but Crime novels will always hold a small place in my heart.

Thanks to Mandy over at Devouring books  for creating these amazing prompts! You should definitely go check her blog out because she posts some great content.

The Bone Collector

Jeffrey Deaver is an auto-buy author for me, no matter the series or premise, and I have yet to be let down by one of his books. He draws you in as a reader, making you part of the investigation by using evidence boards, and gives you insights into the killers mind that the characters are lacking. His books always make me so tense, never quite sure of the outcome, and with some truly likeable, if a bit standoffish characters.

Lincoln Rhyme was once a brilliant criminologist, a genius in the field of forensics — until an accident left him physically and emotionally shattered. But now a diabolical killer is challenging Rhyme to a terrifying and ingenious duel of wits. With police detective Amelia Sachs by his side, Rhyme must follow a labyrinth of clues that reaches back to a dark chapter in New York City’s past — and reach further into the darkness of the mind of a madman who won’t stop until he has stripped life down to the bone.

The Fort

I think I picked this up on a kindle daily deal and, after finishing, went out and searched for any of the authors other works I could get my hands on. He writes some truly believable and likeable characters, which makes the story that much more tense. I flew through these pages, desperate to find out the answer and hoping beyond hope all the characters made it out alive.

With the boys’ new fort finally finished, everything that summer was going great. And then the killer showed up. During the summer of 1987, from their tree house fort in the woods, neighborhood boys Tim, Scott, and Luke spot a man holding a gun to missing sixteen-year-old Molly Peterson’s back. The problem is, nobody believes their story, not even the police. As search efforts to find Molly dwindle, the boys know that she, and the man with the gun, are nearby — and that they must now find and save Molly themselves. A growing sense of honor and urgency forces the boys to take action — to find Molly, to protect themselves, and to stand guard for the last long days of summer. 

In the Woods

This series is dark and gritty and I love it. Frech doesn’t shy away from the ugly side of people and writes characters that aren’t easily likeable but you cant help but root for. Her books are full of twists and turns that have you screaming in annoyance and satisfaction when you find out the culprit.

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children. He is gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a 12-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox (his partner and closest friend) find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

Angels and Demons

Maybe not a traditional murder mystery but that does play a large element in the story line of this book. If the death hadn’t happened would any of the rest of the story come to pass, why was the person killed and is there a bigger force behind it. I love how this blends murder mystery with history and an almost Indiana Jones style romp into religion past and the forces against it.

World-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization — the Illuminati. In a desperate race to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the beautiful and mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra. Together they embark on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, and deserted cathedrals, and into the depths of the most secretive vault on earth…the long-forgotten Illuminati lair.

The Rosary Girls

This is certainly not a series for the faint hearted, and I don’t think my Nan truly understood what it was about when she bought it for me at the tender age of 16, but I was hooked from the first chapter. With characters that you wholly root for, killers that have you sleeping with the lights on and murder mysteries that have you laying awake at night trying to solve them, this is a great series for any crime fan.

Kevin Byrne has years of experience with the Philadelphia Homicide Unit, a reputation for working a case for as long as it takes to solve it, and a nasty gift that sometimes gives him a vision of the perp he’s after. Now that his longtime partner is sidelined by a heart attack, he has someone new riding shotgun, and it remains to be seen how she’ll deal with his less-than-orthodox methods.

At least Jessica Balzano is no rookie detective but three years of experience in Auto isn’t the same as a stint in Homicide. But as Kevin sees it, she’s earned her chance to prove herself. She’s as eager as he is for a case that will push her to the limit and beyond. Jessica doesn’t expect to get her big break the first day out, but that’s what happens when she and Kevin are called to the scene of the murder of a parochial school student. The dead girl, clasping a rosary, has been mutilated in a way that shocks even the hardened medical examiner. And when a second teen’s body is discovered and a task force is formed, Jessica is determined to make sure that she stays on the case. And if that means going the extra mile and risking her own life and sanity by immersing herself in the dark, dangerous mind of a serial killer, that’s what she’ll do to close the case of the Rosary Girls.