Crime, Capers and Cracking Reads

Recommended by Liv

’Hard Rain Falling follows the lives of Jack Levitt and Billy Lacing as they hustle their ways through the sweaty poolhalls of Portland; endure stints of incarceration and struggle for survival in a world that has already decided the script of their lives. It's a really staggering book – admittedly a crime novel in a rather more Dostoevskian sense – but I am shoehorning it in because it is one of the best things I have read for a while and strongly believe it is a firm American classic.’

Recommended by Saff

’A tale of misogyny, precarious work, and loneliness. I picked this up as a holiday read last year and was not disappointed. It combines deft political commentary with a snappy plot and complex characters who, at times, make you want to shout at the page. The novel begins with a woman on the edge; what follows is a story gruesome, poignant, and unerringly propulsive.’

Recommended by John

’I'm a huge fan of the tricksy locked-room mysteries of John Dickson Carr, and this is one of his very best; the rambunctious detective Dr. Gideon Fell investigates an impossible stabbing at the top of an impregnable tower. British Library Publishing are doing magnificently at getting Carr back into print; if you get addicted, which is all too easy, it's worth knowing that he also published under the not-very-opaque pseudonym Carter Dickson.’

Recommended by Caleb

’Toted as a Western in the fells, The Borrowed Hills is also a ripping quick sheep-heist, set in Cumbria during the foot and mouth epidemic, 2001. Written like a hurricane, Scott Preston illuminates a dying way of life in hills as beautiful when flushed with heather as they are when soaked in blood. You've never seen the Lake District like this.’

Recommended by David

‘Saturday evening, 9 March 1566. A queen, 6 months pregnant, is hosting a supper party, thinking herself secure behind the castle walls. Told in an urgent, breathless present tense, Rizzio is a compelling recreation of a pivotal moment in Scottish history by Scotland's Queen of Crime. Simply stunning.’

Recommended by Anya

’Tokyo Express is a short banger, thrilling and beautifully written. If you love trains and the inner workings of public transport, this is the book for you. The investigation spans across multiple Japanese regions and follows a suspicious love suicide which may or may not have been a calculated crime.’

Recommended by Jimmy

’Patricia Highsmith's first novel is my favourite, the wild premise made plausible through her compelling writing. A great novel of guilt and ever-present dread.’

Recommended by Claire

‘The Martin Beck series comprises 10 separate mysteries, all threaded together with the story arc of Detective Inspector Martin Beck of the Stockholm police. Written between 1965 and 1976 they are dark, gritty and – in the best possible way – very slow. The writing duo, married couple Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, have produced not just a series of great reads but an important social commentary of Swedish society at the time. They are considered the inspiration for the modern Scandi Noir. Start with Roseanna and work your way through.’