Crime books to read post True Detective
If you were a True Detective devotee and you’ve been feeling a bit bereft since the finale, then we recommend you turn to literature (as you should in all difficult situations).
We’ve asked our crime specialist Fiona Hardy to recommend five books that would appeal to True Detective fans.
The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker (translated by Sam Taylor)
For those who enjoy the meatiness of this television series over the brief stab-n-solve of a movie, you might also be interested in this 600+ page addictive behemoth of a book. Containing a crime that happened decades before and a body that has just been unearthed now, French novel The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair is already a bestseller in Europe and the English translation is due for an Australian release in May.
Author Marcus Goldman is suffering from extended writer’s block and a publisher frothing at the mouth for his new book, when he finds out his literary mentor, the great Harry Quebert, has just had a spot of gardening done on his property which unearthed a surprise: the body of Quebert’s old underage girlfriend who disappeared without a trace years earlier - until now. It also just so happens that buries beside the body lay the manuscript of Quebert’s own phenomenal bestseller. Quebert is promptly arrested yet Goldman is convinced of his innocence, and sets out to prove it. I was just convinced that this is a beautifully-written, fascinating read.
Love & Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere by Poe Ballantine
Nebraska is a state away from being classified as Southern literature, but with his liberal use of beautiful language and my terrible sense of geography, I had imagined it as Southern literature when I read it. Poe, an essayist and author, has been living in the town of Chadron for years when university professor Steven Haataja vanishes after buying groceries and paying his rent. Everyone in the small town has a theory and most of them are willing to talk - but when Haataja’s burned corpse is found, it brings more questions than answers. With short chapters you could just tear out and eat for their literary gumption, this is a ponderous, murky tale.
Light of the World by James Lee Burke
Fellow Readings staff member Robbie Egan cites Burke as his favourite thriller writer - and if you’ve ever had the good fortune to read one of his titles you’ll understand why. Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for an earlier work and sustaining his zinging wordplay throughout the years, Burke’s latest book is another of his southern crimes starring Detective Dave Robicheaux. Here, Dave’s daughter Alafair conducts an interview with a depraved serial killer and two years later, as they merrily holiday together as a family, it seems that something sinister from that interview has followed them there.
The Double by George Pelecanos
If you just can’t get enough of HBO’s game-changing television, you’ve probably already seen The Wire - and, if you didn’t know already, series writer George Pelecanos is a published crime writer as well. His recent Spero Lucas series sees the comparatively youthful Iraq war vet who makes a living finding lost items for those in need. We’re not talking about lost socks (sadly, RIP star-spangled sock of 2009) but things that have been stolen such as money or as in The Double, a valuable painting that a beautiful lady had been hustled out of. Lucas is not afraid of violence or confrontation, which makes for a compelling if not always particularly loveable character, but one you’d be lost not to follow from one punchy book to the next.
North of Boston by Elisabeth Elo
From the beginning I found Elo’s writing completely beguiling: Pilar, an executive at her father’s perfume company and someone almost completely fearless, has survived a crash on a fishing boat in freezing water for hours. Her feat hasn’t escaped the attention of those who wish to profit from her ability - but Pilar is not as taken by their needs as she is by her need to find out who crashed into the vessel that day - and who took her friend Ned away from his young son and disinterested, struggling wife. This is dark, brooding, and so evocatively written that her time at sea could make you put on the heater even in summer.
