Check out these traditional Mystery/Police Procedurals:
The Punishment She Deserves by Elizabeth George
Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley are forced to confront the past as they try to solve a crime that threatens to tear apart the very fabric of a quiet, historic medieval town in England.
Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny
When a peculiar letter arrives inviting Armand Gamache to an abandoned farmhouse, the former head of the Sûreté du Québec discovers that a complete stranger has named him one of the executors of her will. Gamache accepts and soon learns that the other two executors are Myrna Landers, the bookseller from Three Pines, and a young builder. None of them had ever met the elderly woman.
The Late Show by Michael Connelly
In this first installment of the Renee Ballard series, Connelly introduces a complicated and driven young detective fighting to prove herself on the LAPD’s toughest beat.
Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin
As he settles into an uneasy retirement, Rebus has given up his favorite vices. There’s just one habit he can’t shake: he can’t let go of an unsolved case. It’s the only pastime he has left and up until now, it’s the only one that wasn’t threatening to kill him. But when he starts reexamining the facts behind the long-ago murder of a glamorous woman at a luxurious hotel, the past comes roaring back to life with a vengeance.
Try these “Cozy” Mystery titles:
Aunt Dimity and the Widow’s Curse (Aunt Dimity Mystery) by Nancy Atherton
It’s early April in the small English village of Finch. Lori Shepherd’s husband and sons are spending Easter break camping, and Lori is perfectly happy to be left at home with Bess, spared a week of roughing it with a curious toddler. The two attend a village events committee meeting and Lori is astonished when the elderly, soft-spoken widow Mrs. Annabelle Craven stands to make an announcement: she’s decided to hold a quilting bee in the old schoolhouse.
Demise in Denim (A Consignment Shop Mystery) by Duffy Brown
When Reagan Summerside turned the first floor of her old Victorian home into a consignment shop, she never imagined she’d be harboring a fugitive in her attic. But after a dead man is found in a bathtub and local lawyer Walker Boone is accused of doing the dirty deed, she suddenly has a new houseguest.
Slay it with Flowers (A Flower Shop Mystery) by Kate Collins
Though nearly once a year Jillian has agreed to marry a different man, she has yet to make it to the altar. But this time, it’s cold dead feet that may stop the wedding. Before the couple says “I do,” one of the groomsmen disappears and another member of the wedding party is found dead.
A Murder for the Books by Victoria Gilbert
Fleeing a disastrous love affair, university librarian Amy Webber moves in with her aunt in a quiet, historic mountain town in Virginia. She quickly busies herself with managing a charming public library that requires all her attention with its severe lack of funds and overabundance of eccentric patrons. The last thing she needs is a new, available neighbor whose charm lures her into trouble.
Silver Anniversary Murder by Leslie Meier
Much has happened since Leslie Meier first introduced her beloved sleuth Lucy Stone. Many holidays and bake sales have come and gone, Lucy’s children have all grown up. But even after twenty-four books into the bestselling series, murder is never out of the picture.
Death by Chocolate Malted Milkshake by Sarah Graves
The island fishing village of Eastport, Maine, has plenty of salty local character. It also has a sweet side, thanks to Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree, her best friend Ellie, and their waterfront bake shop, The Chocolate Moose. But when island life is disrupted by the occasional killer, Jake and Ellie put their chocolate treats aside to make sure justice is served.
A Plain Vanilla Murder by Susan Wittig Albert
China Bayles and Ruby Wilcox are offering their popular “Not Just Plain Vanilla” workshop when, across town on the campus of Central Texas State University, a botany professor (an expert on the vanilla orchid) is found dead in his greenhouse—an apparent suicide.
Sticks and Bones by Carolyn Haines
Private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney and her friends are celebrating New Year’s Eve at the party of the year. It’s a dazzling success…until Frangelica “Sister” McFee walks through the door. Sarah knew Sister in college, before Sister became a bestselling author and moved to New York, and fame and fortune don’t seem to have tempered her arrogance and cruelty.