Looking to escape the summer heat? A fan of murder? I have recommendations for you!
It occurred to me recently that many of my favorite mystery series are set in cold-weather climates, and that I seem to read these books most often in summer (which is like all of two months long up here) when I’m struggling with boob-sweat and inadequate AC. Maybe this is true for you as well!
All of these books contain graphic violence and most involve discussions or depictions of sexual violence too. Please be warned.
The Kate Burkholder Series by Linda Castillo
Set in rural Ohio, the Kate Burkholder series is perfect for readers who love fish-out-of-water stories. Kate is formerly Amish, having left the community as a teen. Now she’s the Chief of Police in her hometown of Painters Mill. Kate doesn’t quite fit in with the “English” community and she’s not part of the Amish community anymore either. Still she’s forced to navigate both worlds when the body of an Amish girl is found in a snowy field in Sworn to Silence.
I actually read Sworn to Silence on the beach in Mexico while (no lie) I was waiting for Sarah to email me back about whether or not she was interested in my reviews for the site.
There are nine total books in the Kate Burkholder series, and they do include some romance as well (Castillo got her start writing for Harlequin Intrigue).
The Dublin Murder Squad Series by Tana French
There’s a perpetual sense of bleakness and never-ending rain in Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series. French also manages to incorporate just enough of the weird into her plots that it makes the books almost impossible to put down.
Fair warning, I would skip In the Woods ( A | BN | K | AB ) as it really pissed me off:
Better to go straight to The Likeness as a start for the series. In The Likeness policewoman Cassie Maddox is called to a murder scene where the victim looks exactly like her, and is carrying ID with the same name Cassie once used for undercover work. Creepy right?
There are six books in the series and they feature a repeating ensemble cast with the main character changing from book to book.
The Chief Inspector Gamache Series by Louise Penny
Louise Penny’s mysteries are set in Quebec, and should not be read while hungry. There are too many descriptions of café-au-laits, croissants, and perfect glasses of wine.
Set predominantly around the community of Three Pines, this series features a stately Quebecois grandfather as the main character. Chief Inspector Gamache is a quiet, thoughtful man – not a hardboiled cop like the male mystery leads I’m used to.
Penny’s writing is beautiful and evocative and all of her books have a remarkable sense of place. Right now I’m reading A Rule Against Murder ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) where Gamache is vacationing at a lakeside resort, and I swear I can smell the water and the forest. I read A Fatal Grace while on the beach (this time in Costa Rica) and I remember shivering at Penny’s descriptions of a brutal Canadian winter even though it was ninety degrees out.
The Chief Inspector Gamache books I’ve read so far are pretty low on violence, although I’ve heard from other readers that they get more graphic as the series progresses. Right now there are thirteen books in the series, so you can totally binge read.
The Fredrika Bergman and Alex Recht Series by Kristina Ohlsson
Kristina Ohlsson has worked as a Counter-Terrorism Office at OSCE (The Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe), and has also worked for The Swedish Security Service, The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and The Swedish National Defense College. She brings all of that real-world experience (including women facing sexism in a male-dominated field) into her writing.
The first book in her Fredrika Bergman and Alex Recht series features a domestic kidnapping that occurs in the ten minutes a train is delayed at a station. She explores terrorism in the fourth book in the series, Hostage ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), when a bomb is found in the bathroom of a commercial plane flying from Stockholm to New York.
The subject matter of Ohlsson’s books won’t be for everyone, but she delivers some really pulse-pounding stories with a very real world feel.
The Fjallbacka Series by Camilla Lackberg
Set in the small Swedish fishing community of Fjallbacka, this series features a journalist heroine, Erica Flack. The setting here is remote, sometimes desolate, and the type of place where a killer can’t hide in the crowd. Sometimes having murder mysteries set in a small town makes them more terrifying because the idea that your neighbor could be the murderer is very real.
The first book, The Ice Princess, feels a bit slow at the beginning, but builds up to an intense pace. Erica finds her friend, Alex, dead and frozen in a bathtub full of ice, an apparent suicide. Erica, and police detective Patrik Hedstrom, believe the suicide to be staged and begin to look for a killer in their small community.
The tenth book in the series, The Witch, is listed for release this year, but isn’t available for preorder yet.
I’m slowly working my way through both The Dublin Murder Squad and the Chief Inspector Gamache series this summer.
How about you? Do you read cold and chilling murder mystery series? What are some of your favorites?
The Harry Hole (it’s pronounced different in Norway) series by Jo Nesbo is dark but absolutely wonderful. Very dark, violence and psychological stuff, FYI. I also enjoyed the Wallander books a great deal; Karin Fossum’s Inspector Sejer series; and Arnaldur Indreason’s (sp?) Inspector Erlendur series. They are all Scandinavian (obvy). I’d also throw in Ian Rankin and Denise Mina (Scotland).
Full confession, I have only watched the tv series and not read the books but Ann Cleeve’s Shetland series set in the Scottish Isles definitely fit the winter theme.
+1 recommendation for Tana French (and I completely agree with your spoiler)
I also read The Winter Over by Matthew Iden when it was available as a Kindle First deal, and it’s currently 99p on amazon.co.uk. It’s set in Antartica during the south polar winter (and turns the Silly Dial up to 11 by the end), but I found it completely compelling while I was reading it.
@Melissa I love the Shetland tv series! My husband likes it too, which is amazing because we don’t always agree on crime dramas.
Lifetime made Sworn To Silence into a movie with Neve Campbell as Kate. I liked it and it’s what led me to read the series.
I like almost all the series mentioned, and am excited for the ones I don’t know.
In addition to the Scandinavian noir writers above I like Kirsten Ekman.
The Spenser detective series by Robert B Parker set in Boston might work, it’s dated but I grew up with them, and remain fond – there are like 40 of them, and not all set in Boston, or during the winter.
When casting about for more Tana French-like books (I love the spoiler part, although agree it’s maddening, it’s what makes the first book my favorite), someone recommended a series that starts with, I wanna say, The Cold Cold Ground? It’s a Catholic detective on Protestant squad in Belfast during the troubles, investigating what looks like a serial killer of homosexuals (which seems the ultimate set up for zero cooperation) but it’s still on hold so idk.
There is just something about Scandinavian mystery writers. So compelling.
I’ll throw in William Kruger Kent’s Cork O’Connor series. Set mainly in Minnesota, the first book, Iron Lake is set in the winter and contains one of the most beautiful, yet horrifying, images I have ever read. And you get a little romance as the series progresses.
I’m a big fan of Lori G. Armstrong’s Julie Collins series, set in South Dakota. One (SNOW BLIND) is even set during a blizzard. Julie is rough, resilient, and very much her own woman, plus there’s a hot romantic entanglement. There’s only six books so easy binge reading. First book is BLOOD TIES.
I wanted to add Cecilia Ekbäck’s Wolf Winter. It takes place during a particularly brutal winter in 1717 Swedish Lapland. The writing is transporting and the female characters are layered and complex. It’s a murder that propels the story but you read it for the characterizations. Both of the people and the land. Can’t recommend it enough.
I second the recommendation about the Louise Penny series. I binged on them earlier this summer and really enjoyed them. Her next book is coming out soon.
I also recommend Dana Stabenow’s books — both the Kate Shugak series and the Liam Campbell series. Quite a few of the Shugak books are set in winter and there are 20 or 21, so there is lots of reading. The Liam Campbell books are also good, but I think that there are only 4 of 5 of those.
Julia Spencer-Fleming has a series that is set in upstate NY (technically the Adirondack Park area, a couple hours north of Albany). They are very well written and the main characters are a female Episcopal Priest and former Army helicopter pilot and the local sheriff. I started reading these during the polar vortex a few years ago and had to put them away until 90 degree weather, because the author captures the cold weather so well.
I third the Louise Penny recommendation.
I love Gamache as a character, both as a detective and as a person. The reason why he stands out to me is that he’s deeply compassionate, and cares for *everyone* within his line of work.
Heads up that books 5 and 6 are connected, the mystery that began in book 5 continues in book 6.
Glad to see there is another fan of Dana Stabenow’s books (they take place in Alaska) and Julia Spencer-Fleming’s works (lot of snow and ice in the Adirondacks!). I have also enjoyed the work of Sue Henry, whose mysteries are set in Alaska as well.
And while I am here, if you are ever searching for a mystery set in a certain place, or are looking for an author’s list of titles, or trying to find a main character with a certain job, there is a terrifically helpful web site to be found at http://www.stopyourekillingme.com. Besides their data base, they publish two newsletters a month detailing new releases, award nominations and winners, and with reviews.
And one more note – coming under the heading of “the exact opposite”: I just read Patricia Cornwell’s latest, titled “Chaos”. It takes place in the Boston area, mostly in and around Harvard University (which is about 5 miles from my house). In the book it is summer and there is a heat wave going on. I was about half way through the book and had to put it down to go run an errand. The description of the setting was so convincing that I expected it to be in the high 90’s when I walked out the door, instead of being in the low 80’s like it really was outside. I imagine this was partly due to knowing the area so well, but I was definitely “transported”! A very strange experience…
Fourthing Louise Penny! She’s easily my top favorite mystery author. I love her series so much.
I also really loved the Shetland TV series and have thought about trying the books but haven’t yet.
Kelley Armstrong has a mystery series set in the Yukon Territory that fits the wintry theme. http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/series/rockton/
There’s three books so far and I’ve really enjoyed them. I’d add that your general warning would apply to these as well.
I’m something of a mystery novel addict, so… in the Northern Europe noir vein, Henning Mankell’s Wallander series is amazing, but also very, VERY dark, so proceed with caution. Elizabeth George’s Lynley-Havers mysteries are set in contemporary England, and are richly atmospheric. If you’re looking to be transported to the rain and fogs of mid-century London, or the generally dramatic landscapes/weather of New Zealand, Ngaio Marsh’s novels are good, and generally include romance subplots. Sarah Caudwell’s 4 erudite mysteries take place partly in England, partly in/on/around the Mediterranean, and they’re tremendously fun. Last but not least, Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher series is fun, feminist froth.
With books throughout the series set in London during any one of the seasons, I HIGHLY recommend the Duncan Kinciad and Gemma James series by Deborah Crombie. For me, these books have the perfect balance of an engrossing police procedural and the development of the relationship between the H/h. London is like a secondary character in the books – I love when an author can paint the scenery so vividly it’s like watching a movie in my head.
I second the recommendation for the Spencer-Fleming series (I think if you like this series, you would like the Crombie series).
Lots of great recommendations in this post! Thanks!
I agree with all of the previous recommendations, and would add the Monkeewrench series by P J Tracy, set in Minneapolis, so plenty of cold and snow, especially the 4th in the series, Snow Blind.
Dark contemporary mysteries used to be my catnip, including a number of the authors/series mentioned here, but I gave them up entirely a few years ago when it seemed that every other one involved serial killers who tortured/killed (primarily) women and the gore factor kept getting ratcheted up higher and higher for shock value. That said, I’ve been slowly trying to dip my toe back in the waters. I even started French’s In the Woods on audio last week (but set it aside to try in print instead). Maybe I should just skip to The Likeness.
Other dark books that didn’t rely on bloodfests? I really liked (most of) Barbara Vine’s (Ruth Rendell) books. And Minette Walters–although I tended to either really love or really hate her books. No in between. And sometimes I’d really hate the first 3/4 and then the final 1/4 would make up for it. My favorite, The Shape of Snakes, has pretty polarized reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. I once gave a copy to a coworker and she despised it. But she passed it along to someone else who loved it. So, she’s definitely not everyone’s cuppa.
Of course, I’ve never given up historical mysteries. I read tons of them and some are pretty dark and gory. For some reason, that doesn’t (usually) bother me as much as with the contemporaries.
Although the Vine and Walters books conjure up images of dark, damp climates, maybe they’re not icy enough for this Rec League. Sorry!
I also recommend Louise Penny though I find the books sometimes difficult to read for the hard philosophical questions Gamache wrestles with and the difficulties the main characters face. But the writing is wonderful and they seem very realistic to me. I’m totally in love with Armand, and I also get very hungry reading about the food they’re eating! If you’re interested, I found out about these books because my partner picked up the DVD of the first book (Still Life) from the library. The lead actor does not really resemble the descriptions but Ms. Penny is okay with him, so I was, too, and the production was very nice. I just finished the last book last week and am impatiently waiting for “Glass Houses” to come in to the library!
So, I was looking at my library trying to think of more icy books and came up with Tami Hoag. It’s been eons since I’ve read any of them so I’m not sure how they hold up, but she has a slew of mysteries set in Minnesota, including the Kovac and Liska series, and I do remember lots of snow. 🙂
And, I haven’t listened to this yet, but I have Harry Farthing’s Summit in my audio queue. It has Nazis and Mount Everest in it.
@kkw thanks for the “Cold Cold Ground” recommendation! It looks good and has high ratings on Amazon.
I too am a fan of the Tana French series, and have my first Louise Penny cued up for the next few months.
I read Suzanne Brockmann’s Into the Storm at least once a year. It is set in the middle of a brutal storm and revolves around a field-training that ends up turning in to a rescue when someone gets kidnapped by a serial killer. I then eventually go through the rest of the series.
2nd the Robert B. Parker books! One of my favorite series ever. And yes they are dated, particularly as the first several books were written before I was even born, but in general it doesn’t faze me.
I am fond of the Icelandic mysteries by Yrsa Sigurdardottir starring Thora Gundmunsdottir. Single mom lawyer heroine, flustered dealing with her kids, interesting.