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Africa

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency [FIC] by Alexander McCall Smith
AMATEUR DETECTIVE (Precious Ramotswe)

Death of an Effendi by Michael Pearce
HISTORICAL MYSTERY (Mamur Zapt)

Asia

When We Were Orphans [FIC] by Kazuo Ishiguro
LITERARY MYSTERY (not a series)

Dragon Bones by Lisa See
AMATEUR DETECTIVE (Inspector Liu Hulan)

Australia

Whispering Wall by Patricia Carlon
SUSPENSE (not a series)

Five Ring Circus by Jon Cleary
POLICE PROCEDURAL/DETECTIVE (Scobie Malone)

Dragon Man by Garry Disher
POLICE PROCEDURAL (Hal Challis)

China

The Red Pavilion by Robert Hans Van Gulik
HISTORICAL MYSTERY (Dee Jen-Djieh)

Denmark

Smilla's Sense of Snow [FIC] by Peter Hoeg
THRILLER/LITERARY (not a series)

France

Mayhem by J. Robert Janes
HISTORICAL MYSTERY (Jean-Louis Saint-Cyr )

Maigret and the Saturday Caller by Georges Simenon
POLICE PROCEDURAL (Inspector Maigret)

India

Damascened Blade by Barbara Cleverly
HISTORICAL MYSTERY (Joe Sandilands)

Breaking and Entering by H.R.F. Keating
POLICE PROCEDURAL (Inspector Ghote)

Israel

Murder Duet by Batya Gur
POLICE DETECTIVE/PROCEDURAL(Michael Ohayon)

An Accidental Murder by Robert Rosenberg
THRILLER (Avram Cohen)

Italy

Inspector Anders and the Ship of Fools by Marshall Browne
POLICE DECTECTIVE (Inspector Anders)

Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri
POLICE PROCEDURAL (Inspector Montalbano)

Scandal Takes a Holiday by Lindsey Davis
HISTORICAL MYSTERY (Marcus Didius Falco)

Medusa by Michael Dibdin
PROCEDURAL/SUSPENSE (Aurelio Zen)

The Name of the Rose [FIC] by Umberto Eco
HISTORICAL MYSTERY (not a series)

Season for the Dead [FIC] by David Hewson
POLICE PROCEDURAL (Nic Costa)

Doctored Evidence by Donna Leon
POLICE PROCEDURAL (Commissario Guido Brunetti)

Some Bitter Taste by Magdalen Nabb
LITERARY MYSTERY/POLICE PROCEDURAL (Marshal Guarnaccia)

Bernini Bust by Iain Pears
LITERARY MYSTERY (Flavia de Stefano)

The Judgment of Caesar by Steven Saylor
HISTORICAL/THRILLER/PRIVATE DETECTIVE (Gordianus the Finder)

Japan

The Flower Master by Sujata Massey
AMATEUR DETECTIVE (Rei Shimura)

Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland
HISTORICAL MYSTERY (Sano Ichiro)

The Tattoo Murder Case by Akimitsu Takagi
AMATEUR DETECTIVE (not a series)

Portugal

Blind Man of Seville by Robert Wilson
PROCEDURAL/THRILLER/LITERARY MYSTERY (Javier Falcon)

Russia

Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express by Stuart Kaminsky
POLICE DETECTIVE (Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov)

Gorky Park [FIC] by Martin Cruz Smith
POLICE DETECTIVE (Arkady Renko)

Siberian Light [FIC] by Robin White
POLICE DETECTIVE (Gregori Nowek)

Spain

Artful Death by Roderic Jeffries
POLICE DETECTIVE (Enrique Alvarez)

Death of a Nationalist by Rebecca Pawel
HISTORICAL MYSTERY (Carlos Tejada)

An Olympic Death by Manual Vazquez Montalban
PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR (Pepe Carvalho)

Sweden

Blackwater [FIC] by Kerstin Ekman
THRILLER (not a series)

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
POLICE PROCEDURAL (Kurt Wallander)

Worldwide

Good Blood by Aaron Elkins
AMATEUR DETECTIVE (Gideon Oliver)

Magyar Venus by Lyn Hamilton
AMATEUR DETECTIVE (Lara McClintoch)

 Mysteries can be divided into the following subgenres.

POLICE PROCEDURAL
Most police procedurals are distinguished by scenes of gritty violence and an edgy tone. Those set in small towns are generally lighter while urban settings tend to be grittier.

HISTORICAL MYSTERY
This is the fastest growing subgenre. Historically police didn’t have DNA, fingerprinting, etc.; they depended on their wits to solve crimes.

THRILLERS AND/OR SUSPENSE
In this subgenre the protagonist’s everyday ordinary world suddenly turns menacing as he or she becomes entangled in a life-threatening situation.

PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS, POLICE DETECTIVES, AND AMATEUR DETECTIVES
These stories always have a charismatic and entertaining lead character. They are often less gritty and less violent.

LITERARY MYSTERY
The ratio of profound observation of human life to narrative is an important aspect of these stories, as is the use of language. (Some questions to consider while reading these stories are: How much insight does the story give into the human condition? How much do we learn about what it takes to be a human being compared to how important the storyline is?) Literary mysteries seem to be written at a more sophisticated level—not necessarily more elegant, or better, but more self-conscious and more demanding of the reader.

(The books listed here can be found in the “mystery” section at the Voorheesville Public Library unless the notation [FIC] is shown indicating that the book can be found in the “fiction” section. The name within the parentheses identifies the central character found in the series.)

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