Literary mystery novels
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Anonymous
| Strongly second the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy L. Sayers! Gaudy Night is my favorite, but don’t start with that one. |
Anonymous
I love these too! Margery allingham is similar. I also absolutely love Ngaio Marsh’s inspector Allyn series. |
Anonymous
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Ooh I have the perfect rec for you. An Instance of the Finger Post by Ian Fleming.
It’s the best use of unreliable narrator and multiple perspectives that I’ve ever read. It’s quite long and intricate (> 600 pages) and the topic sounds obscure (it’s set at Oxford during the English Restoration) but don’t let that out you off. It’s soooo good. Very literary, |
Anonymous
These books are so great! I even named my dog Wimsey. 
You should definitely read them in order, though, because there’s an arc that unfolds across the books. |
Anonymous
| Sujata Massey’s series about the first female layer in Bombay is awesome. It’s called the Perveen Mistry series. First book is The Widows of Malabar Hill. So good!!! |
Anonymous
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When I think of literary mysteries I think of:
The Secret History The Rule of Four |
Anonymous
| I also find Daniel Silva soothing. While not literary mystery, the characters are generally intellectual and I find the character Gabriel Allon soothing. |
Anonymous
| So can someone point to a site that talks about “literary mystery” as a genre? OP never came back and Google isn’t helping. |
Anonymous
I think she means well written mysteries (as opposed to more beach read thriller type books.) |
Anonymous
I mean, it feels obvious to me? A literary novel but with a mystery theme |
Anonymous
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Razorblade Tears is excellent but it is NOT an escape mystery. I think of SA Cosby as more noir/heist.
And Widows of Malabar Hill is a great suggestion! |
Anonymous
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Heather Terrell's novel might fit the bill. They move between present day and history as the modern character tries to unravel ancient mysteries that at mixed up with modern ones.
The Map Thief The Chrysalis |
Anonymous
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The Name of the Rose
The Alienist The Lovely Bones Alias Grace And I haven't read it, but "Calamity Physics" is on my list. |
Anonymous
This is OP! Thanks for all the ideas! The suggestions in the post I quoted above probably come closest to what I have in mind! I haven’t read them yet, but Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk are other books that I think probably come close to what I’m looking for. I love books like The Woman in White and My Cousin Rachel (which maybe are gothic?). When it comes to authors folks typically think of when they think of mystery writers, Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey, and Tana French probably conf closest, or Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler for noir. I also really liked the Martin Beck series and the Last Policeman trilogy. I’ve read all or most of Agatha Christie, Sayers, Tey, French, Maisie Dobbs, Inspector Gamache, Ruth Rendell, PD James, Guido Brunetti, Bruno Chief of Police, Ann Cleves, and some other similar series
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Anonymous
OP—yes, this! |