suspense, mystery, and spy novel suggestions

Today I'm going to be suggesting my favorite mystery and spy novels. Here's to the suspense junkies! Let's get started. 

These book suggestions are my favorites. I read these all year long. I love them. If you do not, that is okay. If you share my opinion, great. Any suggestions for other mystery and spy series I might like can absolutely go in the comments.  I can't wait to read your suggestions!

James Bond

James Bond, the beloved 007 that's inspired so many films, was originally written by Ian Fleming and was then continued by other authors. The books haven't stopped. We could make many more films and not run out of material. It isn't a stretch to say the films may not stop, either. 

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Why do I love it? The action, the adventure, and the plot twists. If you do the character of Bond correctly he should be a very scarred (inside and out) man. He should be intense, too. Daniel Craig is probably the closest I've seen. If we combined Daniel Craig and Sean Connery we'd get the Ian Fleming version of James Bond almost perfectly. The only warning I'll give on Ian Fleming's Bond books is that Bond is kind of sexist. Given it was written in the 1950s I can ignore that. It isn't all that shocking when you look at the author himself. Otherwise, it is action and more action. The books are not the movies. There are scenes in the movies that shouldn't be there (cough cough, Pussy Galore and Bond in the barn, cough cough) and weren't in the book at all. 

How many books are there? Well, let me hand you this handy, dandy link. There are a lot. They have also been reprinted with intros in some cases. Keep your eyes open for more books. I don't know if the series will end just yet. 

In Death Series by JD Robb (aka Nora Roberts)

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Let me warn you now. If you want clean romantic suspense I'd go elsewhere. This is the life of Eve Dallas, a woman cop in the far-out future. Three books in she marries a rich, Irish man (Rourke). They have a healthy sex life, he helps her out with her cases, and he also happens to own a lot of buildings she needs access to. This goes in the more intense side of suspense, meaning we're dealing with serial killers and darker crimes. Some of it is heinous. I read these books so quickly, in less than a week. 

Why do I love it? No, it's not the sex. It is the storyline and the character of Eve Dallas that take the spotlight. Her relationship with her husband and her friends is prevalent. She is also a workaholic who gets lost in her work. Rourke does his darndest to get her to slow down and eat during her day. Sometimes his methods are not what I'd choose if I were him, but he does it out of love for her and care for her. 

Do you want to catch up on the saga? Strap in. The series is so long that I'm not caught up. Here is the current list (as of this year at least) of the In Death novels. The whole list here!  

The series has not ended, so please do your own research if you are reading this blog post in 2024. 

Women's Murder Club

This may include sex at times, but it is far more brief than In Death novels. We follow the life of a policewoman named Lindsay Boxer. She eventually gets married and has a child with her husband, Joe. This is mostly serial killers, again. Some crimes may be heinous, just like the In Death series. I found out this actually had a TV series in 2007 and 2008. Lindsay and her friends work through cases and plot twists abound. 

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Why do I love it? Again, the main character. It is in the same vibe as In Death, only with less sex. You see that Lindsay is a mother, a cop, a wife, and a woman who loves her dog. In the first book, her dog saves her from attempting suicide by staring at her with big eyes. You see her struggles, her grief when a boyfriend is killed in action, and her life with her and Joe and her child. You bond with her. I consume these books in mere days. It helps that chapters are short and give you the impression you're making progress. 

This one you have a chance of catching up on. Here is the link to the list of books. There are currently 23 main ones and 3 side novels. If you start now you can get all caught up. 

This, too, is not an ended series. Anyone reading in 2024 needs to look up the updated list. 

Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple

Agatha Christie is amazing. You cannot change my mind. Her work lives on though she has passed on. This woman once disappeared for 11 days. Look it up. The way she did it had them dredging the lake in case she'd drowned herself. One night she left her child with a relative and drove away. They found her car by the lake empty. She'd been found after 11 days at the Statler Hotel under her husband's mistress' name. Soon after she left her cheating husband. 

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Agatha Christie created the iconic characters Hercule Poirot (a Belgian detective with a mustache and an ego) and Miss Marple (a woman who loved gardens and solved mysteries from her home). Christie killed off Hercule Poirot in the last book of his series so no one could take on more stories and take him from her. Both characters are icons of the mystery genre. Both have TV shows and movies.

For the Poirot mysteries list click here. For the Miss Marple mysteries click here. There is a short story collection by other authors writing Miss Marple. The author is dead, so I'd say you don't have anything to worry about when it comes to re-researching a list of books. These books began in 1920. The fact that people still love them is a reason to read one. 

Philip Marlowe

I talked about Marlowe at length in another blog. This is the life a private detective named Philip Marlowe, who often gets a simple case and it becomes a complicated case. Plot twists abound. Marlowe tries marriage and fails at it. Most of his cases have him finding dead bodies and getting into situations he didn't bargain for. Lots of femme fatales show up. For more information on Marlowe himself, click here. That post does not have the latest book included in it, so here is the updated list.

This series could be finished, or not, so 2024 readers will want to double check for an updated list. 

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Wrenville

Last, but never least, I'd like to tell you about the new hardcover of my own suspense book. You didn't think I'd leave myself off this list, did you? 

Wrenville is about Jack Thomas, a private investigator running from a past case in the small town of Wrenville. He moves late at night, makes friends with the locals, and tries to blend in with everyone else. Can he hide here? Is he safe? You'll have to find out for yourself.  My amazon page -Wrenville