Home / Our Services / Good Reads / Book Lists

Book Lists

Action/ Adventure Chick Lit
Comic Capers Crime Cosy Corner Crime
Crime by Females Crime by males
Crime—Espionage Family Sagas
Historical Horror

Action/ Adventure
Try some of these authors for an exhilarating read...

Ted Allbeury Dale Brown Lee Child
Tom Clancy James Clavell  Stephen Coonts
Harold Coyle Clive Cussler Nelson De Mille
Len Deighton William Diehl Clive Egleton
Ian Fleming Ken Follett   Colin Forbes
Frederick Forsyth Dick Francis  John Francome
John Gardner  W E B Griffin Jack Higgins
Graham Hurley John Le Carre Stephen Leather
Eric Lustbader Alistair Maclean Ed McBain
Andy McNab James Patterson Richard North Patterson
Douglas Reeman Matthew Reilly Patrick Robinson
Chris Ryan Gerald Seymour Daniel Silva
Martin Cruz Smith Wilbur Smith James Thayer
Craig Thomas John Trenhaile  

Return to top

Chick lit

Jessica Adams Cecelia Ahern Maggie Alderson
Catherine Alliott Louise Bagshawe Tilly Bagshawe
Melissa Bank Emily Barr Zoe Barnes
Candace Bushnell Meg Cabot Jenny Colgan
Jilly Cooper Jennifer Crusie Janet Evanovich
Helen Fielding Katie Fforde Olivia Goldsmith
Jane Green Wendy Harmer Sarah Harvey
Wendy Holden Marian Keyes Sophie Kinsella
Melanie La’ Brooy Kathy Lette Josie Lloyd
Chris Manby Jill Mansell Sarah Mason
Carole Matthews Anna Maxted Sarah Mlynowski
Melissa Nathan Freya North Sheila O’Flanagan
Adele Parks Carly Phillips Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Patricia Scanlan Sarah Strohmeyer Fiona Walker
Lauren Weisberger Isabel Wolff Danielle Wood

Return to top

Comic capers crime
These are novels defined by humorous narration, scrambling action,
bumbling but lovable characters and sheer fun…

Nancy Atherton Marion Babson Dave Barry
Colin Bateman Lawrence Block Lillian Jackson Braun
Simon Brett Christopher Brookymyre Dorothy Cannell
Janet Evanovich Kinky Friedman Eric Garcia
Carl Hiaasen Elmore Leonard Shane Maloney
Laurence Shames Simon Shaw Donald Westlake
Nigel Williams    

Return to top
   
Cosy Corner Crime
Almost entirely a female subgenre, the requisite furnishings for these novels include an amateur detective, cats, knitting or quilting, cooking, pots of tea, family, friends and community. This is light, fun easy reading.

Margery Allingham M C Beaton  Lillian Jackson Braun
 Agatha Christie  Arthur Conan Doyle  Dick Francis
 John Francome  Caroline Graham  Ann Granger
 Martha Grimes  Ngaio Marsh  Roberta Rogow
 Walter Satterthwait  Dorothy Sayers  

Return to top

Crime by females

Legal/Financial crimes    
Catherine Arnold Linda Fairstein Elaine Feinstein
Kathy Reichs Nancy Taylor Rosenberg Lisa Scottoline
Sara Woods     
Women in charge    
 Martina Cole  Janet Evanovich  Kathryn Fox
 Tess Gerritson  Sue Grafton Lynn Hightower
 Tammi Hoag  Tara Moss  Sara Paretsky
 Forensic crime    
 Patricia Cornwell  Kathryn Fox  Tess Gerritsen
 Tara Moss  Carol O’Connell  Kathy Reichs
 Karin Slaughter    
 Psychological crime    
 Sandra Brown  Patricia Cornwell  Nicci French
 Lisa Gardner  Elizabeth George  Patricia Highsmith
 Tammi Hoag  Iris Johansen  Val McDermid
 Barbara Vine  Gillian White   
Historical Crime    
Stephanie Barron Fiona Buckley Alys Clare
Judith Cook  Kerry Greenwood  Donna Leon
 Gillian Linscott  Amy Myers  Magdalene Nabb
Anne Perry Ellis Peters Candace Robb
Kate Ross Rosemary Rowe Dorothy L Sayers
Kate Sedley Marliyn Todd  
Private investigator    
Margery Allingham Linda Barnes Agatha Christie
Mary Higgins Clark Liza Cody Sarah Dunant
Loren D. Estleman Elizabeth Ferrars Sue Grafton
Joy Fielding Joyce Holms Laura Lippman
Susan Moody  Emma Page Sara Paretsky
Phyllis Whitney     
Whodunit crime    
Catherine Aird Marjory Allingham Lillian Jackson Braun
Agatha Christie  Kerry Greenwood Gladys Mitchell
Dorothy Sayers     
Police work    
Jane Adams Catherine Aird Vivien Armstrong
Pauline Bell Janie Bolitho Gwendoline Butler
Ann Cleeves Deborah Crombie Clare Curzon
Marjorie Eccles Anthea Fraser Caroline Graham
Ann Granger Martha Grimes Faye Kellerman
Lynda La Plante Donna Leon Priscilla Masters
Kay Mitchell Ann Quinton Ruth Rendell
Alison Taylor Josephine Tey   

Return to top 

Crime by males

Humorous crime    
Simon Brett Peter Guttridge Simon Shaw
Charles Spencer Donald E. Westlake  
Legal /financial crimes    
Jonathan Davies Rankin Davis Dexter Dias
William Diehl Stephen Frey Philip Friedman
James Grippano John Grisham John Lescroart
John McLaren Philip Margolin Steve Martini
Richard North Patterson Christopher Reich Robert K. Tanenbaum 
Police work    
David Armstrong Jeffrey Ashford Robert Barnard
Brian Battison Stephen Booth James Lee Burke
Michael Connelly Colin Dexter Nicholas Freeling
John Harvey Mark Hebden Reginald Hill
Tony Hillerman Alan Hunter Graham Hurley
Michael Innes Quintin Jardine Roderic Jeffries
Jonathan Kellerman Bill Knox Ed McBain
Barry Maitland Nick Oldham Stuart Pawson
Ian Rankin John Sandford Alan Scholefield
Martin Cruz Smith Andrew Taylor Peter Turnbull
R. D. Wingfield    
Psychological crime    
Jon Cleary Harlan Coben John Connolly
Jeffery Deaver Michael Dibdin Gregory Hall
Alex Kava John Katzenbach Jonathan Kellerman
James Patterson  Jefferson Parker Ridley Pearson
Modern crime    
Mark Burnell Jeremy Cameron Philip Caveney
Thomas H. Cook James Ellroy Elmore Leonard
Andrew Vachss Joseph Wambaugh Stuart Woods 
Historical crime    
Bruce Alexander Michael Clynes Paul Doherty
Richard Grayson Paul Harding  Ray Harrison
Keith Heller Michael Jecks Bernard Knight
Peter Lovesey Michael Pearce Peter Tonkin
Peter Tremayne M J Trow David Wishart 

Return to top

Crime—Espionage
These novels are about spies and spying, realistic, morally ambigious, nicely written, with little sex and brief violence. Characteristically,they are written by British authors. The “espionage thriller” is unambiguously heroic, more action packed than realistic, often macho,
chauvinistic and gory and is more likely to be written by an American author.

John Altman Evelyn Anthony Anthony Bourdain
John Buchan  Tom Clancy  Richard Condon
 Bob Cook  Stephen Coonts  Len Deighton
 Daniel Easterman  Helen Fielding  Ian Fleming
 Ken Follett  Frederick Forsyth  Michael Frayn
 Alan Furst  Jack Higgins  Linda Ho
 Gordon Kent  John Lawton  John Le Carre
 Robert Ludlum  Gavin Lyall  Gayle Lynds
 Andy McNab  Christopher Reich  Stella Rimington
 Patrick Robinson  Greg Rucka  Gerald Seymour
 Daniel Silva  Martin Cruz Smith  Barbara Sofer
 Robert Wilson    

Return to top

Family Sagas
Try these authors for novels on families and family life...

Lyn Andrews Virginia Andrews Maeve Binchy
Jessica Blair Barbara Taylor Bradford Catherine Cookson
Vera Cowie Joy Dettman Julie Ellis
Helen Forrester Catherine Gaskin Winston Graham
CynthiaHarrod-Eagles Sarah Harrison Audrey Howard
John Jakes Joan Jonker Lena Kennedy
Beryl Kingston Connie Monk Di Morrissey
Maisie Mosco Judy Nunn Pamela Oldfield
A.D. (Tony) Parsons Rosamunde Pilcher Erin Pizzey
Jean Plaidy Belva Plain Susan Sallis
Judith Saxton Patricia Shaw Anne Rivers Siddons
Jessica Stirling Rosie Thomas Nigel Tranter
Joanna Trollope Peter Watt Mary Wesley
Lynne Wilding Marcia Willett   

Return to top

Historical

Peter Ackroyd Marion Zimmer Bradley Elizabeth Chadwick
Tracy Chevalier Bernard Cornwell Lindsay Davis
Dorothy Dunnett Umberto Eco C S Forester
Robert Graves Phillipa Gregory Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Alexander Kent Edward Marston Colleen McCullough
Philip McCutchan James Mitchener Patrick O’Brian
Edith Pargeter Sharon Penman Elizabeth Peters
Jean Plaidy Edward Rutherford Anya Seton
E V Thompson Nigel Tranter Peter Tremayne
Richard Woodman     

Return to top

Horror

V C Andrews Piers Anthony Clive Barker
Chaz Brenchley Robert Bloch  Ramsay Campbell
Orson Scott Card  Jonathan Carroll  Mark Chadbourn
Simon Clark Robin Cook Joe Donnelly
Daniel Easterman John Farris  Raymond Feist
Christopher Fowler Stephen Gallagher Charles L Grant
Barbara Hambly Thomas Harris James Herbert
Tom Holland Shaun Hutson Jeanne Kalgridis
Andrew Klavan Stephen King Dean Koontz
Richard Laymon  Tanith Lee Ira Levi
Frederick Lindsay Brian Lumley George R R Martin
Valerie Martin Robert McCammon Graham Masterton
Mark Morris Leigh Nichols Edgar Allan Poe
Ruth Rendell Anne Rice Phil Rickman
John Saul Mary Shelley Dan Simmons
Bram Stoker Whitely Strieber Peter Straub
Kim Wilkins    

Return to top