Police Procedurals (from Janise)

The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several unrelated crimes in a single story. While traditional mysteries usually adhere to the convention of having the criminal's identity concealed until the climax (the so-called whodunit), in police procedurals, the perpetrator's identity is often known to the audience from the outset (the inverted detective story). Police procedurals depict a number of police-related topics such as forensics, autopsies, the gathering of evidence, the use of search warrants and interrogation.                         From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some authors of police procedurals:

Burke, James Lee

Creasy, John  (AKA J.J.Marric)

Connelly, Michael

Cornwell, Patrcia

Crais, Robert

Deaver, Jeffrey

Hillerman, Tony

James, P.D.

Lehane, Dennis

Leonard, Elmore

McDonald, John D.

Penny, Louise

Simenon, Georges

Walker, Martin

Wambaugh, Joseph

Icelandic Mysteries

Set in Iceland -- Mysteries and More ...

Arnaldur Indriðason

          Erlendur Sveinsson Series: (Mystery)

Jar City - A Reykjavík Thriller (#1)

Silence of the Grave (#2)

Voices (#3)

The Draining Lake (#4)

Arctic Chill (#5)

Hypothermia (#6)

Outrage  (#7) [with Erlendur on leave, Elinborg takes center stage]

Black Skies (#8)

Strange Shores (#9; coming August 2014)

Operation Napoleon Book

    Historical thriller about a crashed WWII German plane.

Bates, Quentin

Gunnhildur Gislasdottir Series (Mystery)

Frozen Assets (#1)

Cold Comfort (#2)

Chilled to the Bone (#3)

Bergsveinn Birgisson

Reply to A Letter From Helga  (Fiction)

Icelandic farmer looks back on his life and why he didn’t respond to a love letter long ago

Brown, Nancy Marie

The Far Traveler - Voyages of A Viking Woman.  921 GUD

Offers a dramatic reconstruction of the life and times of Gudrid, a Viking woman who, according to Icelandic sagas, arrived in the New World, spent three years there, and gave birth to a baby, before sailing home some five hundred years before Columbus, drawing on the latest archaeological data, scientific research, and cutting-edge technology to trace her odyssey.

Kent, Hannah

Burial Rites - A Novel

Based on a true story, tells the tale of a young woman in Iceland in 1829 who was accused of murder and sent to an isolated farm to await execution and tells the farmer's family her side of the story.

Long, Dustin

Icelander  (Mystery)

A satirical crime tale follows the story of Our Heroine, a daughter of a dead legendary mystery-solver, who reluctantly takes up the investigation of her murdered close friend through the sewers and karaoke bars of Iceland, all the while endeavoring to remain out of the clutches of the inhuman Refusirkir.

Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson

The Journey Home  (Fiction)

Discovering that she is terminally ill, Disa leaves England to return to her native Iceland, where she hopes to come to terms with the painful events of her past: her fiance's death by the Nazi's and her mother's rejection.

Sjón

The Blue Fox Book (Fiction)

An elusive fox leads a hunter on a transformative quest, while a naturalist endeavors to build a life for a young woman with Down syndrome whom he rescued from a shipwreck years earlier.

From the Mouth of the Whale (Fiction)

In the chilling aftermath of Iceland's Lutheran Reformation in 1635, Jonas Palmason - a poet, naturalist and self-taught healer - has been condemned to exile for heretical conduct. Based on the historical figure Jon Gudmundsson,

The Whispering Muse (Fiction)

Invited to sail on a Danish merchant ship in 1949, eccentric Icelander, Valdimar Haraldsson, discovers the second mate on the ship is none other than Caeneus, the hero of Greek mythology, who regales his fellow shipmates with tales of the Golden Fleece.

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

Thora Gudmundsdottir novels -- Attorney Thora travels throughout Iceland on behalf of her clients.

Last Rituals - A Tale of Secret Symbols, Medieval Witchcraft, and Modern Murder (#1)

My Soul to Take (#2)

Ashes to Dust  (#3)

The Day Is Dark (#4)

White Fire by Preston & Child

White Fire by Preston & Child

June 2014

Lincoln Child:  Born October 13, 1957, in Westport, CT;. Avocational Interests: Piano, five-string banjo, mountain hiking, English literature, motorcycles, architecture. Addresses: Home: NJ. Office: P.O. Box 162, Convent Station, NJ 07961. Agent: Eric Simonoff, Janklow and Nesbit, 598 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022. E-mail: lchild@prestonchild.com.   Career:  St. Martin's Press, New York, NY, editor, 1979-88; Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., analyst, 1988-95; freelance writer, 1995--.

Preston Douglas: Born May 20, 1956, in Cambridge, MA; Addresses: Home: ME. Career:  Academic, editor, and writer. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, began as editor and writer, became manager of publications, 1978-86; Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, lecturer in English, 1989-90; Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe, NM, research associate; freelance writer. Member of the board, School of American Research, Santa Fe, NM. Coproducer of an ABC/Mandalay Entertainment television miniseries.

White Fire (#13 in Pendergast Series)

In contemporary times, Corrie Swanson is examining the remains of several miners killed in a series of grizzly bear attacks in 1876 Roaring Fork, CO, when she discovers something shocking. FBI Special Agent Pendergast arrives to investigate just as arson breaks out, and a meeting between Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde figures in the backstory. In fact, key to the plot is the reputed discovery of a new Sherlock Holmes tale, actually written by Child and Preston

"PENDERGAST" SERIES; WITH DOUGLAS PRESTON

• Relic, 1995.
• Reliquary, 1997.
• The Cabinet of Curiosities, 2002.
• Still Life with Crows,  2003.
• Brimstone,  2004.  (Diogenes Trilogy #1)
• Dance of Death,  2005.  (Diogenes Trilogy #2)
• The Book of the Dead, 2006. (Diogenes Trilogy #3)
• The Wheel of Darkness, 2007.
• Cemetery Dance, 2009.
• Fever Dream, 2010. (Helen Trilogy #1)
• Cold Vengeance,  2011. (Helen Trilogy #2)
• Two Graves,  2012.  (Helen Trilogy #3)
• White Fire, 2013.

“GIDEON CREW” SERIES; WITH DOUGLAS PRESTON

• Gideon’s Sword, (2011)
• Gideon’s Corpse. (2012)
• Lost Island, (2014)

NOVELS; WITH DOUGLAS PRESTON

• Mount Dragon,1996.
• Riptide, , 1998.
• Thunderhead, 1999.
• Land of Fire, 2000.
• The Ice Limit, 2000.

Read-alikes

1.	Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Arthur Conan Doyle Reason:  Readers who like Aloysius Pendergast and want a similarly skilled, unemotional, and seemingly indestructible detective may enjoy the Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. -- Rebecca Sigmon
2.	Jack West Jr. novels by Matthew Reilly Reason:  Packed with action, adventure, and intrigue, the Pendergast novels and the Jack West Jr. novels integrate fascinating scientific and technological details into their fast-paced plots. These two series of thrillers feature dashing heroes, exotic locations, and esoteric clues. -- Jessica Zellers
3.	Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin Reason:  Both of these suspenseful series feature ordinary humans struggling to survive in devastating circumstances. The moral qualities of the protagonists evokes the reader's sympathy as the battles between good and evil threaten to overwhelm the characters. -- Katherine Johnson
4.	Fargo Adventures by Clive Cussler Reason:  If you like fast-paced, globe trotting suspense stories, you may like the Fargo Adventures and the Pendergast Novels. Furthermore, both series follow the escapades of treasure hunters, adding elements of historical secrets and artifacts. -- Rebecca Sigmon

5.

The book of lies by Brad Meltzer Reason:  Both are intricately plotted thrillers in which modern investigators find that lost manuscripts -- a missing chapter of the Bible (The Book of Lies), and a long-undiscovered Sherlock Holmes story (White Fire) -- hold the key to vicious murders, past and present. -- Kim Burton

Website :   http://www.prestonchild.com/     FAQ section, sign up for Pendergast newsletter, video clips from interviews

Gods & Beasts by Denise Mina

May 2013

PERSONAL INFORMATION:

Born August 21, 1966, in Glasgow, Scotland; daughter of James (an oil engineer); partner of a forensic psychologist; children: Fergus, Owen. Education: Received law degree from Glasgow University; attended Strathclyde University (Ph.D. program). Addresses: Home: Glasgow, Scotland. E-mail: info@denisemina.co.uk.

CAREER:

Writer, novelist, playwright, and comic book writer. Formerly worked in a meat factory, as a hospice nurse in geriatric and terminal-care nursing homes, as a bartender, as a cook, and as a university tutor in criminology and criminal law.

Scottish novelist Denise Mina entered the literary scene in 1998, winning two awards from the Crime Writers' Association, one for the short story "Helena and the Babies" and another for her first novel, Garnethill. Since 1998, she has continued to work as a novelist, completing her "Garnethill" trilogy, several novels in the "Paddy Meehan" series, a stand-alone thriller, Deception, and installments in the "Alex Morrow" series, including Still Midnight and The End of the Wasp Season. Mina has also produced graphic novels for the "Hellfire" series and a stand-alone graphic novel, A Sickness in the Family.

Scottish mystery novelist Denise Mina exposes a seamy underbelly in the streets of her native Glasgow. All of her books are moody, tempered by a feeling of anxiety that slowly crescendos through her tightly-plotted stories. Be warned that the crimes will be violent and gruesome, and the heroes who investigate the crimes, though sympathetic, will be deeply flawed. Mina is best known as a traditional novelist, though has a following for her graphic novels, which include original works as well as adaptations of other authors. Start with: [Still Midnight].

“Alex Morrow” Series

.                      

Still midnight (Mar 2010)

Series: Alex Morrow novels, 1

.The end of the wasp season (Sep 2011)

Series: Alex Morrow novels, 2

Gods and beasts (Feb 2013)

Series: Alex Morrow novels, 3

The red road (Feb 2014)

Series: Alex Morrow novels, 4

"Garnethill" Trilogy

• Garnethill,  1999.
• Exile,  2001.
• Resolution,  2002.

"Paddy Meehan" Series

• The Field of Blood, 2005.
• The Dead Hour, 2006.
• The Last Breath,(UK Title: Slip of the Knife,)  2008.

OTHER

• Sanctum (mystery novel), UK:, 2002, (published as Deception, Little, Brown, 2005).
• Hurtle (radio play), BBC Radio 4, 2003.
• John Constantine, Hellblazer: Empathy is the Enemy (graphic novel), illustrated by Leonardo Manco, Vertigo (New York, NY), 2006.
• (Contributor) Hellblazer: The Red Right Hand (graphic novel), illustrated by Leonardo Manco, Vertigo (New York, NY), 2007.
• A Sickness in the Family (graphic novel), illustrated by Antonio Fuso, Vertigo Crime/DC Comics (New York, NY), 2010.
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Book 1 & 2 (graphic novel), DC Comics (New York, NY), 2012.

Read alikes

Glasgow P Division procedurals   by Peter Turnbull    

(The man with no face;   Deep and crisp and even)

Reason: Though Alex Morrow is a female DS in Glasgow while the Glasgow P Division novels feature a mostly male force, both series offer the gritty details of a police procedural and the bleak atmosphere the Scottish city is known for. In these bleak, Glasgow-set novels, the city itself offers a dark backdrop for mysteries that combine the details of a police procedural with revelatory psychological depth.

                                                                       

Where the bodies are buried   by Christopher  Brookmyre                                              Reason:  Seemingly separate investigations come together in these mystery novels, both set in a grungy, vividly described Glasgow. The two novels also offer strong female protagonists, corrupt cops, political problems, and a wealth of procedural details

Death line  by Geraldine Evans                              

Reason:  These hard-edged mysteries, set in the UK and starring female cops, boast investigative details, imaginative plotting, and insight into the lives of their protagonists, Glaswegian DS Alex Morrow in Gods and Beasts and English DS Bev Morriss in Death Line.

                                                           

Bannister, Jo    

Reason:  Jo Bannister and Denise Mina write stand-alone psychological suspense stories that feature strong characters, imaginative plotting, and taut suspense. The stories have a dark atmosphere, sinister revelations, and twists and turns that keep the stories moving quickly

Rankin, Ian                                                                                        

Reason:  Both Denise Mina and Ian Rankin are Scottish writers of the hardboiled style, telling gritty, dark, and disturbing stories. -- Victoria Caplinger                                                            

McDermid, Val                                                                                              

Reason:  Denise Mina and Val McDermid are Scottish authors that focus on the psychological aspects of their chilling mysteries, creating characters that are fully realized, if disturbing. Both authors feature strong women protagonists and gritty urban settings. -- Victoria Caplinger