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?
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|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.
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.
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.
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.
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.