Changes

Don't worry - these are not the top ten crime books which you ''ought'' (dreadful word!) to read or the most-hyped books. These are ten books which we think you'll love – the ones where you just have to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next. There are a few names you'll know well, but quite a few which might be new to you. Why not [mailto:sue@thebookbag.co.uk tell us] about your favourites?

|author=Ian Rankin

|title=Fleshmarket Close

All the Rebus stories can be read as stand-alone novels. You might like to start at the [[Ian Rankin's Inspector John Rebus novels in chronological order|beginning]] and work your way through, but the later novels are generally better.

}}

__NOTOC__

|author=John Harvey

|title=Cold in Hand

Harvey has rather suffered from Rankin's popularity but his books are comparable in quality and it would be a shame if he was to be overlooked.

}}

|author=Michael Dibdin

|title=Cabal

It's often said that Zen is based on Dibdin's own personality, with depression as the default setting, but it's sad that there will be no more following Dibdin's death in 2008. He's one of the few authors to have captured Italian crime from the outside.

}}

|author=Grace Monroe

|title=Dark Angels

Grace Monroe is the nom-de-plume of the writing team Maria Thomson and Linda Watson-Brown. They're newcomers. They're also a name to watch.

}}

|author=Henning Mankell

|title=The Fifth Woman

Mankell has moved away from the Kurt Wallander novels but they still make for good reading and never seem dated.

}}

|author=Benjamin Black

|title=Christine Falls

Banville's books are not generally known for being action-packed, but in ''Christine Falls'' he proves that he can do plot as well as character and superb writing.

}}

|author=Ann Cleeves

|title=Raven Black

It's good to see a talented writer carrying on this tradition and we hope to see a lot more from Ann Cleeves.

}}

|author=Claire Seeber

|title=Lullaby

When I first saw this book I feared that it might be capitalising on the dreadful disappearance of Madeline McCann, but fortunately this isn't the case.

}}

|author=Andrea Camilleri

|title=The Paper Moon

If you want you can start with the [[The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri|first book]] in the series, but they all read well as stand alone novels and, as with so many writers, the later books are better than the earlier ones.

}}

|author=Stieg Larsson and Reg Keeland (translator)

|title=The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

It's a great shame that Larsson died not long after he delivered the manuscripts for the three books in this series to his publisher.

}}