CBTB’s Favorite Crime Fiction Series
If there’s one thing I love as a reader, it’s finding a crime fiction series that I can’t put down. There’s something so special about finding a fictional world that you never want to leave, and if you’re in the market for a crime fiction series to sink your teeth into while you stay home, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog post, I’m rounding up my personal favorite crime fiction series—the series I personally come back to over and over again. As you’ll see in this list, my personal tastes skew Nordic when it comes to crime fiction series. You’ll find here a whole assortment of (if I may say so myself!) top-notch Scandinavian crime series to immerse yourself in this spring, and sprinkled in among these Nordic picks are a number of excellent serial killer thrillers and police procedurals from elsewhere in the world, too. These books have a lot of differences—some are fast-paced, some are slow-burns; some are gritty and violent, some are stylish and refined—but they are all staples of my crime fiction library, and books that I would highly recommend to any crime reader.
To help you navigate your journey through these crime fiction series, I’ve included a few key pieces of information with each series listed here. Along with my quick thoughts on each series, you’ll also find information including where to start reading the series, series order, and key qualities of the series. I hope this reading list will help you find a new series to love! Happy reading! xx A
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Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole Series
Key Qualities: Gritty and Immersive Writing, Chilling Villains, Rich Character Development
Where to Start: THE REDBREAST (Harry Hole #3)
This one is a no-brainer. Jo Nesbø’s outstanding Harry Hole series is my absolute favorite crime series of all, and I will take any opportunity to recommend it to readers. In this gritty and gripping series, readers follow Harry Hole, a detective with the police force in Oslo, Norway, as he hunts down criminals in his city and battles his inner demons, too. Nesbø’s writing is immersive and intricate, and his plots blend superb mysteries with equally compelling stories of his characters’ inner lives. These are dark, inventive crime stories, and they are also crime stories with a huge amount of heart and emotional intelligence at their core, too. I dare you to read one of these books and not fall in love with Harry, the endearing and damaged protagonist of Nesbø’s series. I suggest starting this crime series with book 3, THE REDBREAST, which sounds a bit crazy...but I promise, there’s a theory behind this! The first two books in this series aren’t bad by any means—Nesbø is an amazing writer no matter what—but they’re not the best representation of what the rest of the series is really like. Book 3, THE REDBREAST, is still a bit different than the books that follow, but it’s where Nesbø really starts to hit his stride with this exceptional series. No matter where you choose to start with this series, Nesbø is an outstanding storyteller whose crime novels are an absolute must in any crime reader’s personal library.
SERIES ORDER:
About THE REDBREAST:
Detective Harry Hole embarrassed the force, and for his blunders he’s been reassigned to mundane surveillance tasks. But while monitoring neo-Nazi activities in Oslo, Hole is inadvertently drawn into a mystery with deep roots in Norway’s dark past, when members of the government willingly collaborated with Nazi Germany. More than sixty years later, this black mark won’t wash away—and disgraced old soldiers who once survived a brutal Russian winter are being murdered, one by one.
Now, with only a stained and guilty conscience to guide him, an angry and erratic policeman must make his way safely past the traps and mirrors of a twisted criminal mind. For a conspiracy is taking rapid and hideous shape around Hole...and Norway’s darkest hour may be still to come.
Lars Kepler’s Joona Linna Series
Key Qualities: Terrifying Villains, Action-Packed Stories, Short, Binge-worthy Chapters
Where to Start: THE HYPNOTIST (Joona Linna #1) or THE SANDMAN (Joona Linna #4)
Action-packed writing, short chapters, terrifying villains—that’s Lars Kepler’s writing in a nutshell. Kepler’s books are utterly addictive serial killer thrillers set in Sweden. These books look hefty (their page counts are long!), but every time I crack open one of these books, I fly through it in just a couple sittings. Kepler’s series is unique on this list, in that any book in this series really can be read on its own. I (accidentally!) jumped around a bit in this series when I first picked it up, so I can personally attest to the fact that these books function nearly as well independently as they do when read in order. (The main benefit to reading these books in order is, of course, to see the development of the series’ protagonists as the author planned it to be seen.) Kepler’s thrillers are dark, violent, and addictive—like reading a bookish equivalent of an episode of Criminal Minds.
Series Order:
LAZARUS - COMING DECEMBER 2020
About THE SANDMAN:
Late one night, outside Stockholm, Mikael Kohler-Frost is found wandering. Thirteen years earlier, he went missing along with his younger sister. They were long thought to have been victims of Sweden's most notorious serial killer, Jurek Walter, now serving a life sentence in a maximum security psychiatric hospital. Now Mikael tells the police that his sister is still alive and being held by someone he knows only as the Sandman. Years ago, Detective Inspector Joona Linna made an excruciating personal sacrifice to ensure Jurek's capture. He is keenly aware of what this killer is capable of, and now he is certain that Jurek has an accomplice. He knows that any chance of rescuing Mikael's sister depends on getting Jurek to talk, and that the only agent capable of this is Inspector Saga Bauer, a twenty-seven-year-old prodigy. She will have to go under deep cover in the psychiatric ward where Jurek is imprisoned, and she will have to find a way to get to the psychopath before it's too late--and before he gets inside her head.
M.J. Arlidge’s DI Helen Grace Series
Key Qualities: Strong Female Lead, Cinematic Plots, Binge-worthy Stories
Where to Start: EENY MEENY (Helen Grace #1)
Readers who love TV crime dramas (think Criminal Minds or Mindhunter), this thriller series is for you. M.J. Arlidge’s utterly binge-worthy DI Helen Grace books are set in the UK, and follow protagonist Helen as she hunts down all manner of criminals in her town. From serial killers to arsonists and a whole lot more, this series has a little bit everything—and all of it is deliciously addictive and tons of fun to devour. These thrillers blend policework with cinematic suspense and thrills, and every single book in this series left me wanting more. If you’re a newcomer to crime fiction, these books will make a great place to start: they’re suspenseful and chilling but not overly dark or heavy, and their pacing makes them accessible and easy to devour. These books are a heck of a lot of crime fiction fun.
SERIES ORDER:
About EENY MEENY:
Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.
It’s a game more twisted than any Detective Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn’t spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn’t believe them.
Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, but this case—with its seemingly random victims—has her baffled. But as more people go missing, nothing will be more terrifying than when it all starts making sense....
Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s Children’s House Series
Key Qualities: Gritty and Dark Writing, Compelling Crime-Solving Duo, Icelandic Setting
Where to Start: THE LEGACY (Children’s House #1)
Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s Children House series is my favorite recent crime series launch. The first book in this series—THE LEGACY—published in the US in early 2018, and over the course of a few short years, I have fallen completely in love with this gritty, sinister Nordic crime series. Set in Iceland, the Children’s House books follow an unlikely duo as they solve a series of chilling crimes. Our protagonists here make for a charming pair: a somewhat bumbling police officer (Huldar) and a sharp and intelligent child psychologist (Freyja) are called together in THE LEGACY to work on a case involving a young girl who was the sole witness to her mother’s brutal murder. Over the course of this series, Freyja and Huldar continue to cross paths, utilizing their unique skills and experience to solve a number of chilling crimes. This series does delve into some challenging material: these books tend to involve elements of childhood trauma. I love this series for its intricate plotting, gritty atmosphere, and thoughtfully drawn characters.
SERIES ORDER:
About THE LEGACY:
The Legacy is the first installment in a fantastic new series featuring the psychologist Freyja and the police officer Huldar.
The only person who might have the answers to a baffling murder case is the victim’s seven-year-old daughter, found hiding in the room where her mother died. And she’s not talking.
Newly-promoted, out of his depth, detective Huldar turns to Freyja for her expertise with traumatized young people. Freyja, who distrusts the police in general and Huldar in particular, isn’t best pleased. But she’s determined to keep little Margret safe.
It may prove tricky. The killer is leaving them strange clues, but can they crack the code? And if they do, will they be next?
Camilla Lackberg’s Fjallbacka Series
Key Qualities: Endearing Characters, Small-Town Setting, Compelling Mysteries
Where to Start: THE ICE PRINCESS (Fjallbacka #1)
I’ve been reading Camilla Lackberg for years—my love for her series predates Crime by the Book, but I still consider this a staple of my crime fiction library. Camilla Lackberg’s Fjallbacka series is a perfect entree into the world of Nordic Noir. This series blends small-town charm with endearing characters and a chilling atmosphere. Set in the small fishing village of Fjallbacka, Sweden, Lackberg’s series follows writer Erica and detective Patrik as they solve crimes together. In the first series installment, THE ICE PRINCESS, Erica returns to her hometown to discover that her childhood best friend has died of an apparent suicide—but Erica suspects there’s more to the story, and involves herself in the police investigation to make sure the truth comes out. These books will be a perfect fit for anyone who wants a lighter version of Scandinavian crime fiction—less violence and more time spent on interpersonal relationships, without sacrificing any of the moody atmosphere that makes Nordic Noir so addictive.
SERIES ORDER:
THE STRANGER (A.K.A. THE GALLOWS BIRD)
About THE ICE PRINCESS:
In this electrifying tale of suspense from an international crime-writing sensation, a grisly death exposes the dark heart of a Scandinavian seaside village. Erica Falck returns to her tiny, remote hometown of Fjällbacka, Sweden, after her parents’ deaths only to encounter another tragedy: the suicide of her childhood best friend, Alex. It’s Erica herself who finds Alex’s body—suspended in a bathtub of frozen water, her wrists slashed. Erica is bewildered: Why would a beautiful woman who had it all take her own life? Teaming up with police detective Patrik Hedström, Erica begins to uncover shocking events from Alex’s childhood. As one horrifying fact after another comes to light, Erica and Patrik’s curiosity gives way to obsession—and their flirtation grows into uncontrollable attraction. But it’s not long before one thing becomes very clear: a deadly secret is at stake, and there’s someone out there who will do anything—even commit murder—to protect it.
Dot Hutchison’s Collector Series
Key Qualities: FBI Thrillers, Chilling Stories, Endearing Characters
Where to Start: THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN (Collector #1)
You know those books that you figure you’ll try just for the heck of it… and then you end up completely obsessed? That was my experience with the first installment in Dot Hutchison’s excellent Collector series, THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN. I picked THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN up on a whim, drawn in by its chilling cover, and discovered within its pages a dark, inventive take on a serial killer thriller. THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN tells the story of a twisted villain known as “the Gardener,” but it does so in a very fresh way: by beginning with the capture of “the Gardener,” and then looking into the past through the eyes of one of the survivors of “the Gardener” as she is interviewed by the FBI about the horrific ordeal she just survived. THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN and its central characters are a connecting thread throughout this series, though each subsequent series installment does also incorporate a new case for our team of FBI agents to solve. This is a dark series, but it’s also a series with a tremendous amount of heart. Readers will fall in love with the endearing team of FBI agents central to the series—these are characters you’ll want to follow anywhere.
SERIES ORDER:
About THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN:
Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden.
In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady trees…and a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens.
When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers. But the girl, known only as Maya, proves to be a puzzle herself.
As her story twists and turns, slowly shedding light on life in the Butterfly Garden, Maya reveals old grudges, new saviors, and horrific tales of a man who’d go to any length to hold beauty captive. But the more she shares, the more the agents have to wonder what she’s still hiding…
Sara Blaedel’s Louise Rick Series
Key Qualities: Endearing and Compelling Characters, Police Procedurals, Danish Setting
Where to Start: THE MIDNIGHT WITNESS (Louise Rick #1) or THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS (Louise Rick #7)
Sara Blaedel’s crime fiction series set in Denmark was one of the first series I dipped into in the early days of Crime by the Book, and it has remained a favorite for me in the years that have followed. The Louise Rick series is a perfect place for a newcomer to Nordic Noir to start: these books are character-driven, deeply-researched procedurals, following a compelling protagonist as she solves mysteries in Denmark (both in Copenhagen and in other parts of the country, too). One of my personal favorite qualities of Blaedel’s work is her characters. Louise Rick and Camilla Lind—the two women central to this series—are the kinds of characters you’ll wish you could be friends with in real life. They are smart, strong, relatable women, and every time I delve into a new book in this series, it feels a bit like reuniting with long-lost friends. In the US, Blaedel’s publisher has cleverly divided this series up into three “trilogies”: The Homicide Trilogy (Louise Rick Books 1 - 3), The Camilla Trilogy (Books 4 - 6), and The Missing Persons Trilogy (Books 7 - 9). My personal favorite “trilogy” is The Missing Persons trilogy—and I actually accidentally started reading this series with Book 7, THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS, back in the day! I had no trouble understanding THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS on its own, and would actually highly recommend it for readers who perhaps don’t want to commit to all nine of Blaedel’s current US releases, but want to sample her work. The Missing Persons trilogy finds Louise Rick embarking on a totally new stage in her career, making it a perfect place to dip in and sample Blaedel’s work for yourself.
SERIES ORDER:
ABOUT THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS:
The body of an unidentified woman has been discovered in a remote forest. A large, unique scar on one side of her face should make the identification easy, but nobody has reported her missing. Louise Rick, the new commander of the Missing Persons Department, waits four long days before pulling off a risky move: releasing a photo of the victim to the media, jeopardizing the integrity of the investigation in hopes of finding anyone who knew her.
The gamble pays off when a woman recognizes the victim as Lisemette, a child she cared for in the state mental institution many years ago. Lisemette was a "forgotten girl", abandoned by her family and left behind in the institution. But Louise soon discovers something even more disturbing: Lisemette had a twin, and both girls were issued death certificates more than thirty years ago.
Louise's investigation takes a surprising when it brings her closer to her childhood home. And as she uncovers more crimes that were committed--and hidden--in the forest, she is forced to confront a terrible link to her own past that has been carefully concealed. Set against a moody and atmospheric landscape, The Forgotten Girls is twisty, suspenseful, emotionally intense novel that secures Sara Blaedel's place in the pantheon of great thriller writers.
Ragnar Jonasson’s Hidden Iceland Trilogy
Key Qualities: Atmospheric Suspense | Icelandic Setting | Stylish and Subtle Writing
Where to Start: THE DARKNESS (Hidden Iceland #1)
Ragnar Jonasson is one of the most unique authors at work in the crime fiction space. Jonasson’s novels are set in his native Iceland, but his love of classic crime fiction shines through in his storytelling. His books are not your standard dark, violent Nordic Noir—in fact, to read one of Jonasson’s novels is to be transported into a story more aligned with a modern-day Agatha Christie tale than a scary Scandinavian thriller. Jonasson has written two fantastic series—the Dark Iceland series and the Hidden Iceland trilogy—and both are excellent, but in terms of my personal favorite, the Hidden Iceland trilogy takes the cake. This inventive, immersive story follows a policewoman through the course of her career in the Icelandic police force. But there’s a fresh twist here: this trilogy is told backwards chronologically. This means that the first book in the trilogy, THE DARKNESS, takes place at the end of our protagonist’s career, and each subsequent trilogy installment goes back in time, giving readers a bit more backstory for the trilogy’s leading lady. Jonasson’s writing is stylish and immersive, and this series is all the more enjoyable for its subtlety. My personal favorite out of the trilogy is probably Book 2, THE ISLAND, but each installment is truly superb, and given the trilogy’s creative chronology, it’s essential that these books are read in order.
TRILOGY ORDER:
THE MIST (Coming to the US June 2020)
ABOUT THE DARKNESS:
The body of a young Russian woman washes up on a remote Icelandic beach. She came looking for safety, but instead she found a watery grave.
A hasty police investigation determines her death as suicide and the case is quietly closed.
When Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir of the Reykjavik police is forced into early retirement, she is told she can investigate one last cold case of her choice―and she knows which one. The Russian woman whose hope for asylum ended on the dark, cold shore of an unfamiliar country. Soon Hulda discovers that another young woman vanished at the same time, and that no one is telling her the whole story. Even her colleagues in the police seem determined to put the brakes on her investigation. Meanwhile the clock is ticking.
Hulda will find the killer, even if it means putting her own life in danger.
Thomas Enger’s Henning Juul Series
Key Qualities: Emotional storytelling, endearing characters, norwegian setting
Where to Start: BURNED (Henning Juul #1)
Thomas Enger’s superb Henning Juul series is one of those hidden gems that I stumbled upon a number of years ago at a crime fiction conference, and there was no looking back: I was instantly hooked on Enger’s heartfelt, intricate crime writing. Enger is a Norwegian-based crime writer, and the Henning Juul series follows a Norwegian journalist who, over the course of the series, is pursuing the truth about a horrific house fire that killed his young son. While each book in this series does involve a stand-alone mystery, this is a series in which every single book builds on the book that came before it, and each book contributes essential new information to the series’ central question: what really happened the day that Henning’s young son died? The greatest strength of this series lies in its characters. Enger writes beautifully about the inner lives of the men and women who fill the pages of his books, and readers will find themselves quickly and irrevocably invested in the fate of Henning, this series’ tragic protagonist.
Series Order:
KILLED
ABOUT BURNED:
Henning Juul is a veteran investigative crime reporter in Oslo, Norway. A horrific fire killed his six-year-old son, cut scars across his face, and ended his marriage, and on his first day back at the job after the terrible tragedy a body is discovered in one of the city's public parks. A beautiful female college student has been stoned to death and buried up to her neck, her body left bloody and exposed. The brutality of the crime shakes the whole country, but despite his own recent trauma - and the fact that his ex-wife's new boyfriend is also on the case - Henning is given the assignment. When the victim's boyfriend, a Pakistani native, is arrested, Henning feels certain the man is innocent. This was not simply a Middle Eastern-style honor killing in the face of adultery - it was a far more complicated gesture, and one that will drag Henning into a darkness he's never dreamed of.
Home ownership feel like a distant dream? Zillow listings have you convinced you’ll be renting for the rest of your life? The woman at the heart of Carissa Orlando’s debut The September House feels your pain—and she’s prepared to put up with a lot if it means she and her husband can finally have a place to call their own. In this case, that might just mean living in a house that’s haunted. Playful and irreverent, spine-tingling and spooky, The September House puts a fresh spin on the classic haunted house story, delivering an immersive tale about the secrets lurking within one building’s walls, and within the lives of its inhabitants.