Literary mystery novels

[Anonymous]

I’m excited to read A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley when my family travels over the holiday and I would love recs of other literary mystery novels I could add to my reading list. I read a ton of mysteries, including novels I have read before, because I find them to be good at helping me manage anxiety and insomnia. But with a break from work over the holidays I think I might have enough mental bandwidth to tackle some more challenging mysteries!

[Anonymous]

Can you give your definition of "literary" mystery?

I know cozy mystery, historical mystery, true crime, and procedurals, but I've never heard of "literary" as a subgenre.

[Anonymous]

You might want to describe in more detail how you define a literary mystery, but the Louise Penny series features frequent references to literature, and includes quite a bit of poetry.

[Anonymous]

Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series has complex characters with backstories and dilemmas, not just "Bad guy kills out of greed" plots.

[Anonymous]

Tana French

[Anonymous]

Not sure if these fit your definition of “literary”, but some of my favorites include:

- The earlier books in the series by Batya Gur. She does deep dives into the worlds of somewhat closed cultures, including
a psychoanalytic institute, a university, a kibbutz, and an orchestra / musical family.

- The earlier books in the series by Elizabeth George are good.

- Some of the Donna Leon books are great, and I love that there’s a cookbook that she co-wrote after multiple requests.

- I also like the earlier books in the series by Louise Penney.

I’m happy to make more recommendations if I can get a clearer idea re: what you’re looking for. As in: Would Jack Finney count?

[Anonymous]

Sherlock Holmes.

[Anonymous]

The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear

[Anonymous]

Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen

[Anonymous]

You mean clever, well written mysteries? THere's a whole lot of new definitions like Domestic Noir, Nordic Noir, etc there's no reason why your term shouldn't also be used.

[Anonymous]

Agree early Elizabeth George (last book was horrific), Tana French, and also PD James.

[Anonymous]

Julie Kaewert’s “Booklovers Mystery series “ is quite literally literary mystery novels. I’m not sure what’s currently in print, but I highly recommend this series.

[Anonymous]

Possession by AS Byatt

Julian Kestrel series by Kate Ross

Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L Sayers

Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

[Anonymous]

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54860585-razorblade-tears?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=OA6B8S4zIw&rank=1

[Anonymous]

Instruments of Darkness by Imogen Robertson (her writing is GORGEOUS): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8799787-instruments-of-darkness

Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman by Tessa Arlen: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22313642-death-of-a-dishonorable-gentleman