If you love Agatha Christie, read these . . .
Agatha Christie's legacy as the queen of crime means she's often the first author suggested to readers looking for a cosy, yet devilishly ingenious mystery. But despite the huge number of Poirot and Miss Marple available, there must come a time when every reader has to ask – what next? What else can I read that will have the same combination of picturesque settings, lovable detectives and incredible twists?
Fortunately, there's actually a wealth of books and series available that can equal even Agatha Christie for originality! Here are my top recommendations, to get you started . . .
If you're captivated by the tension and close-quarters of Murder on the Orient Express
Death in the Air by Ram Murali
Welcome to Samsara, a world-class spa nestled in the Indian Himalayas where all your wishes are only a gilded notecard away. Until one of the guests – gorgeous, charismatic, well-connected – is found dead.
As everyone scrambles to figure out what happened, rakish Ro Krishna is pulled into an investigation that endangers them all and threatens to spiral beyond the hotel walls. Because it turns out it's not just heiresses and Bollywood stars-to-be that have checked in: cocktail hour is over, and death is on the prowl . . .
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
I was dreading the Cunningham family reunion even before the first murder. Before the storm stranded us at the mountain resort, snow and bodies piling up.
The thing is, us Cunninghams don’t really get along. We’ve only got one thing in common: we’ve all killed someone.
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
On midsummer, guests gather for the opening of The Manor hotel, the new jewel on the Dorset coastline. The champagne is flowing, the guest list sparkling, the sun setting on an unforgettable summer solstice. But under the cloak of celebration, something dark is stirring. The Manor has a secret history; built in the shadows of an ancient wood.
Now old friends and enemies are creeping out of the shadows. And they’ll soon discover what other deadly secrets come out at night . . .
Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Louise Heal Kawai
Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on the remote Gokumon Island bearing tragic news – the son of one of the island’s most important families has died, on a troop transport ship bringing him back home after the Second World War. But Kindaichi has not come merely as a messenger – with his last words, the dying man warned that his three step-sisters’ lives would now be in danger. The scruffy detective is determined to get to the bottom of this mysterious prophesy, and to protect the three women if he can.
If you want to find an unlikely detective as loveable as Miss Marple
The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson
They keep everyone's secrets, until there's a murder...
Sydney, 1965 – after a chance encounter with a stranger, tea ladies Hazel, Betty and Irene become accidental sleuths, stumbling into a world of ruthless crooks and racketeers in search of a young woman they believe to be in danger.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?
How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
In 1965, seventeen-year-old Frances Adams was told by a fortune teller that one day she'd be murdered. Frances spent the next sixty years trying to prevent the crime that would be her eventual demise. Of course, no one took her seriously – until she was dead.
When her great-niece Annie arrives from London and discovers that Frances' worst fear has come true, Annie is thrust into her great-aunt's last act of revenge against her sceptical friends and family. Can Annie unravel the mystery and find justice for Frances, or will digging up the past lead her into the path of the killer?
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Sutanto
Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective?
Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).
But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could, Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.
The Bookshop Detectives: Dead Girl Gone by Gareth Ward & Louise Ward
When a mystery parcel arrives at Sherlock Tomes bookshop in small-town New Zealand, husband-and-wife owners Garth and Eloise are drawn into the baffling case of a decades-old missing schoolgirl. Intrigued by the puzzling, bookish clues, the two are soon tangled in a web of crime, drugs, and floral decapitations, while endeavouring to pull off the international celebrity book launch of the century.
With the sinister suspect who forced them to run away from Blighty reemerging from the shadows, have Garth and Eloise Sherlock finally met their Moriarty?
If you love the period setting of Agatha Christie
Death of a Foreign Gentleman by Steven Carroll
Cambridge, UK, 1947. Martin Friedrich, a German philosopher in Cambridge to give a series of lectures, is cycling through an intersection on his way to give a lecture when a speeding car runs through him and kills him. A grisly death for one of the finest minds of the age.
Shortly afterwards, Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter stands over the body of Friedrich, contemplating the age-old question – who did it? Because Friedrich might be one of the finest minds of his age, but there is no shortage of suspects. Friedrich was hated by almost everybody, even those who loved him . . .
Murder in Punch Lane by Jane Sullivan
Melbourne, 1868. When dazzling theatre star Marie St Denis dies in the arms of her best friend, fellow actress Lola Sanchez, everyone believes it was suicide by laudanum overdose. Everyone except Lola. On the brink of stardom herself, she risks everything by embarking on a quest to find Marie's killer.
When journalist Magnus Scott publishes a compassionate obituary about her friend, Lola decides to seek his help. A fraught attraction develops between these two amateur detectives from opposite sides of society – will their volatile relationship compromise their investigation?
Mystery in Provence by Vivian Conroy
Fresh from teaching at her prestigious Swiss boarding school, Miss Atalanta Ashford suddenly finds herself the most eligible young lady in society when she inherits her grandfather’s substantial fortune. But with this fortune comes a legacy passed down from grandfather to granddaughter . . . sleuthing discreetly for Europe’s elite.
This amateur detective isn’t one to back down from a challenge and Miss Ashford must depend on her sharp wit and charm to solve her first case, which takes her to the lush lavender fields of Provence and a wedding at the mansion of the Comte de Surmonne.
The Meiji Guillotine Murders by Futaro Yamada, translated by Bryan Karetnyk
Tokyo, 1869. It is the dawn of the Meiji era in Japan, but the scars of the recent civil war are yet to heal. The new regime struggles to keep the peace as old scores are settled and dangerous new ideas flood into the country from the West.
A new police force promises to bring order to this land of feuding samurai warlords, and chief inspectors Kazuki and Kawaji are two of its brightest stars. Together they investigate a spree of baffling murders across the capital, moving from dingy drinking dens to high-class hotels and the heart of the Imperial Palace. Can they solve these seemingly impossible crimes and save the country from slipping into chaos once more?
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman
Welcome to the secret life of the Colebrook twins: unnoticed old maids to most, but unseen champions to those in need.
Lady Augusta Colebrook, 'Gus', is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents itself: to rescue their friend's goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband.
What follows is a high adventure full of danger, clever improvisation, heart-racing near misses, and a little help from a rather charming Lord-turned-Highwayman.
