Crime fiction is my go-to genre. On a rainy day, on a sunny day, on a day when everything else fails, crime fiction can always save the day. My reading spans cosy crime, action thrillers, Nordic Noir, urban fantasy mysteries and quite a few other sub-genres.
Without competition though, my favourite type of crime fiction is the slow, character-driven drama, where the plot plays a secondary role. You know, the type where you are just sucked into the story by a set of nuanced and complex characters, whom you desperately need to know more about. It doesn’t hurt either, if there is an interesting and atmospheric setting.
Unfortunately, I have struggled to find these elements in the modern style crime thriller from the post Gone Girl era. So I tend to play it safe and stick to older books.
Then last year I picked up Jane Harper’s The Lost Man, which I adored. And it reminded me there are contemporary authors other than Ann Cleeves, who write the type of crime fiction I typically love. This inspired me to search for other writers in the same category.
1. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Olga Tokarczuk has won the Nobel Prize for literature as well as the International Booker Prize and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead was on my radar already before starting this project.
In many ways the novel fits right in with my objectives. It is 100% character-driven and can be described as a character study of the protagonist Janina, an eccentric elderly woman with a passion for animals and astrology. Also, the setting is wonderful. Janina lives in a Polish mountain village close to the Czech border, where the winters are tough and isolated. A series of unexplained deaths, where all of the victims are connected to hunting, frames the novel nicely.
But… Even if Janina is an original and quirky character, I just couldn’t make myself care about her. Obviously, a character-driven novel only works if you have some interest in the characters. This wasn’t the case here and I came very close to DNF. Furthermore, Janina’s obsession with astrology, which started as a fun little quirk, ended up driving me nuts.
It may seem harsh to give two stars to this popular prize winner, since it did have a lot going for it. However, my ultimate criteria for any (crime) novel is: It should make me want to turn the pages. This applies no matter how “literary” or “noir” it may be. And unfortunately, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead failed miserably.
Title: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead [2009] Author: Olga Tokarczuk Format: Audiobook, narrated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Crime Fiction
2. Long Bright River by Liz Moore
I had more luck with my second read. Long Bright River recommended by Callum was everything I hoped it would be. It takes place in a neighbourhood in Philadelphia, which is hard hit by drug abuse and drug-related crime. Mickey is a street cop in the area and every time a drug overdose is reported, she fears it’s her sister Kacey, who is an addict.
The story changes between the present and the past and gradually we get to know the backstory of the two sisters. It was utterly heart-breaking. With some crime novels, I can easily brush off sad or gruesome incidents, because “yeah, this is just fiction”. But here the characters and events felt so real. There is no sugar-coating and no easy solutions or happy endings. The characters are exactly as I like them: flawed, complex and realistic. Even for the ones who appeared unsympathetic or cruel I came to understand their behaviour and could feel some degree of empathy.
The novel is written in present tense, which I quite like, but occasionally there were passages with so many “he says”, “she says” and “I say” that it felt distracting. However, this is just a small detail in an otherwise brilliant novel.
Unfortunately, I don’t think Liz Moore normally writes thrillers, but I am excited to see, what she comes up with next.
Title: Long Bright River [2020] Author: Liz Moore Format: Audiobook, narrated by Allyson Ryan Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery Thriller
3. Further Reads for the future
I’ve included three more books in phase one of my crime project:
When I searched for character-driven crime fiction, Tana French was the author who popped up the most. Also, I suspect Kate Atkinson’s detective series could potentially fit the bill. Both Atkinson and French have written quite a few books, so if I get on with their writing I’ve got lots of reading material to look forward to. Fingers crossed! Finally, I’ve added Graeme Macrae Burnet’s His Bloody Project, which has lingered on my TBR for a while.
That’s it for now. Do you like character-driven crime fiction? Have you read any of these books? And more importantly, do you have any suggestions for me?
If you mean Jackson Brodie when you’ve mentioned Kate Atkinson then I would thoroughly recommend them. They are great books. As always, you have pointed me in the direction of more fiction to try.
Yes, I meant the Jackson Brodie series. I am glad you to hear you recommend them and I look forward to see how I get on with the series. 😊
I really like Kate Atkinson as an author. I have read lots of her books besides Jackson Brodie but they are my favourites.
That sounds promising. Let’s see how I get on with Brodie first, then I may potentially look into her other novels later.
My favourite crime series are the Three Pines books by Louise Penny which I know you’ve tried, and the Ian Rutledge series by Charles Todd. I consider them character driven but maybe not your cup of tea 😊 I have started on Ann Cleves’ latest series featuring Matthew Venn which I enjoyed but not as much as the others I’ve mentioned. She’s written so many books in her other series that it’s daunting to even think about starting on them!
I have been meaning to continue with Louise Penny (I only got through the first two books), but it may have to wait until I start to travel on a more regular basis, since that is the only time I read ebooks. Unfortunately, the audiobooks don’t work. I tried, but didn’t get on with the narrator.
The Ian Rutledge series? Never heard of it. I will have to check it out, maybe in phase two of my crime project. Hmmm, I havent’ tried the new Ann Cleeves series, it sounds quite different from Shetland and Vera. Personally, I think her best books are in the Vera series. If you feel like some crime fiction for next Christmas, I can recommend The Darkest Evening, which is a bit lighter and more cosy than the other Vera books. It may be a good place to start.
Darkest Evening duly noted. Thanks Stargazer 😊
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I prefer plot driven crime novels, although I love the Zigic and Ferreira series by Eva Dolan, which does have details about the two main characters in it.. I’ve been reading them for years and always get excited when I know there’s a new one on the way.
Crime fiction which holds up for a reread is relatively rare and it’s exactly the kind that I’m looking for. The fact that you want to reread indicates there is more to the story than just a page-turning plot. I never reread unless I’m interested in the characters.
This series is one that always makes me feel out of my comfort zone because it looks at current social issues that I would tend to gloss over.
Everything you say about this series sounds good to me. Will check it out later on Goodreads. Do you have to read them in order?
I think they can be read as standalones, although you might miss some of the references to previous events. They’ve got low ratings on Goodreads because not many people have read them which is a real shame.
Sometimes, it’s a mystery which books get popular. I’ve often wondered about that, but don’t know the answer. In some cases, good marketing may be part of it.
Have you read Elizabeth George? I’ve not read her novels but I’ve bought her writing-craft books. She uses her own work as examples and those are very much character-driven (and well written). She’s on my author TBR list.
No I haven’t, but I can see her books get very high ratings on Goodreads. Will investigate further. It must be interesting to get some insight into her writing process and read her novels as well.
Of these, I’ve only read the Kate Atkinson, but I agree with other positive comments about her. My go-to character-driven crime authors are Donna Leon and Graham Hurley. Donna Leon brings non-tourist Venice to life for me, and I’m not a little in love with Commissario Brunetti and his family, with their lively social consciences and enjoyment of simple pleasures like meals taken together. Graham Hurley’s Joe Faraday works and lives in Portsmouth. His love of bird-watching, engendered years ago by his need to find a hobby that could include his son once his wife died, brings the local seaside margins to life, and his characters include a variety of officers who add yet more colour. His side-kick Jimmy Suttle eventually gets an equally readable series of his own.
I look forward to try Kate Atkinson, I know her books are quite popular. I am not familiar with Donna Leon or Graham Hurley, but I will look into both of them. The Venice setting sounds especially tempting and I am sure reading the books will make want to visit in real life. It’s so interesting to hear about which crime writers other readers enjoy. I haven’t even heard about most of them!
From what I’ve ‘seen’ of you, I feel pretty confident that at least the Donna Leon books will suit!
She has been added to the list!
Yay, I’m glad you liked Long Bright River too! I’ve heard great things about Moore’s other work so I’m intrigued to see how it compares.
Yes, it seems like her previous book The Unseen World also received a lot of praise. Will definitely look into more of her work as well. Thanks for an excellent recommendation!
I am definitely not an expert of this genre, but my father loves it. Last year, I read two books that I thought where Ok even though I don’t know a lot about the genre, but my friends in my reading book club loved them both. They were Before I go to sleep by S. J. Watson (there is a movie of it), and The silent patient by Alex Michaelides.
That is fair enough, I know many readers who are not keen on crime fiction. But it’s great that you still gave it a chance via your book club. The Silent Patient was quite hyped, but I wasn’t sure, it would be for me. I will check out Before I go to sleep.
I want to read His Bloody Project too. I love character and plot driven novels but the best are a combination of both. Most thrillers have both and I find more character driven novels only in contemporary reads where the focus is really on the characters alone. For some reason I can’t come up with any title now though.
I agree, that a combination of character- and plot-driven can work really well. My favourite crime writer is Agatha Christie and her books use a combination. Of course it’s not just a matter of finding character-driven novels, the key is also finding an author whose characters I find interesting! Glad to hear, you also want to read His Bloody Project. Maybe we can compare notes at a later stage. 😊
Ah there’s an idea ☺️ I’ll let you know when I’ve read it 😉
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This sounds like the kind of crime fiction I look to read as well. I have His Bloody Project on my list too, and I also really enjoyed The Lost Man so Long Bright River sounds like a good one to try! My favourite books about crime tend to veer into the literary, like My Sister the Serial Killer and Eileen. Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton sounds like it goes that way as well, and I’m looking forward to getting to that soon. As for more traditional crime fiction I’ve heard good things about Tana French and am hoping to try some later this year.
Yeah, I think you might enjoy Long Bright River as well. It’s quite long, but I was captivated all the way through. My Sister the Serial Killer was brilliant! So funny in a disturbing way. I haven’t read Eileen, but that may be one to look further into. Oh, and I would love to hear what you think about Tana French. I hope you will write a review if / when you get to that.
Very interesting post! I think quite often, genre novels seem to be plot-focused while ‘literary’ are more about character. I wonder what you would make of my thriller We Watch You that I published last year? I feel it has an equal amount of plot and character development, I would be interested to hear your opinion! 🙂
Thanks! I am sure you are right about genre fiction being more plot-focused, but there are exceptions. I admit it sounds a bit contradictory to look for character-driven crime fiction, but I’ve never claimed to make any sense. 😉
Knowing myself, I’m reluctant to promise anything, especially since I only “read” audiobooks these days, but I may give your novel a try at some point.
Kate Atkinson’s Brodie series would definitely fit with your preference. I’d also recommend Louise Penny’s chief inspector Gamache series (how often do you find a detective who quotes Marcus Aurelius?)
I am glad you think the Brodie series will be a good fit. I look forward to get started. Actually, I already tried Louise Penny and even if she didn’t become a favourite, I definitely mean to continue with the series. Gamache is quite a unique character and I love the setting!
Louise Penny’s series has already been mentioned, so I also highly recommend the Ryan DeMarco Mystery Series (only 5 books), by Randall Silvis. As it’s character-driven obviously better to read in order.
The first novel is this one: https://wordsandpeace.com/2017/01/30/book-review-two-days-gone/
Excellent, thanks so much for the recommendation! I will definitely look into the Ryan DeMarco series, which I haven’t heard of before.
I’m not much into crime fiction myself, but Louise Walsh does character driven crime fiction – The Cutting Room and soon the sequel to that, The Second Cut.
Louise Walsh is another author I haven’t heard of. I seem to learn a lot in this post! Thanks for the recommendation!
Oh, and don’t forget, ALL of Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Marple and Tommy & Tuppence books are character driven.
You don’t have to persuade me to read Christie, who is probably my all-time favourite crime writer. 😊 Although, I would say her books are probably a mix of character- and plot-driven.
You might enjoy Jock Serong’s books since you liked Jane Harper’s The Dry. I can highly recommend The Rules of Backyard Cricket and Quota.
Thanks so much Rose, I will have a look at Goodreads. Jane Harper is definitely one of the best contemporary crime writers, I’ve come across, so anything similar to her books deserves to be checked out.
Loving this project, stargazer! I am all about the character-driven story, too, but of course I cannot think of an example right now in this genre. I recently read Heft by Liz Moore and was not a big fan (loved one main character, but the other was a teen and gave the story a young adult feel I didn’t care for); however, I’m really looking forward to Long Bright River. Loved reading your thoughts on each of these.
Thanks Jennifer, I hope I will find more character-driven “crime fiction” going forward (I use the term crime fiction a bit loosely). I actually remember coming across Heft, when I looked into Liz Moore’s back catalogue. Interestingly, it didn’t appeal to me either because of the teen protagonist and instead I think The Unseen World will be my next Liz Moore read. In any case I can warmly recommend Long Bright River.
I like good crime fiction but I find that it often doesn’t live up to what you want it to be. The only great one recently for me was Long Bright River. Oh I loved that book! The female cop is so good in that. I have also read Heft and The Unseen World … but while Heft is good … none are as great as Long Bright River I think, but still worth exploring (though not crime novels). I liked SA Cosby’s first novel Blacktop Wasteland … it’s a slow burn at first, then goes wild at the end. Might be a bit too much …. but a page-turner.
It sounds like we have similar view on Long Bright River! 😀 I look forward to read more of her works even if it may not be as good as Long Bright River. I’ve seen a lot of booktubers speaking highly of SA Cosby (mostly Razorblade Tears), so he might be one to look into as well. Nothing wrong with a good page-turner!
I also prefer character-centric crime fiction! I loved The Dry by Jane Harper but haven’t read her next novel yet, I’ll have to push it to the top of my list. And I haven’t got around to reviewing it yet but I just finished Girl A by Abigail Dean and I think it fits the bill perfectly. It’s very focused on the characters and is essentially a study of how different people cope with extreme trauma – definitely be aware of the trigger warnings 📚❤️ X x x
I loved The Dry too, but I thought The Lost Man was even better! So you should definitely give it a try. Interesting you should mention Girl A. I heard a booktuber talking about it the other day and I did wonder if it would fit my criteria. It does sound intriguing! I will check out if a review should appear on your blog. 😊 Thanks for the recommendation!
If you are interested in really older crime fiction, I just discovered a publisher that focuses on hidden foreign gems never translated into English. I just got a review copy of a 1917 Norwegian mystery by them.
Here is the site if you want to contact Chiara: https://www.kazabo.com/
They have a Criminal Destination series
That sounds interesting! Thanks so much for letting me know!
Oh dear I loved Drive Your Plow but then I’m not a mystery reader, I loved the quirky character and even if I didn’t understand the astrology I found it hilarious that she spoke about it as if it were something an average villager would understand. Love the honest review.
She certainly was a quirky character and I really wanted to love this novel, which on paper was right up my alley. It just didn’t happen and I can’t even put my finger on the exact reason. It seems most people love it, though. Haha, in the beginning, the astrology talk amused me, but I thought it was overdone in the end.
Thank you for all the wonderful recommendations and reviews! I came across your blog while searching for books to read (character driven cime novels it has to be for me) for our summer holidays, and I have put some on my TBR list, thank you!
I also second the Jackson Brodie series by kate Atkinson, intriguing plots with deliciously flawed and so relatable characters – a delight! Loved the dry humour, too, and might have been caught laughing out loud a few times.
I also like Brunetti in Venice, and the Shetland series by Ann Cleeves.
I read your comments about the Gamache series by Louise Penny, and its my favourite series of all, so I must mention it here again 🙂 I have re-read the books at least twice if not more, listened to the audiobooks, really wonderful reading with quirky and indirectly strong characters, and intricate plots. I google a lot to find out about the historical or geographical backgrounds, too, so I always learn a bit as well.
You might also enjoy:
Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley series (I think they are up to 20 novels by now – and were mentioned above)
Deborah Crombie’s Gemma and Duncan series (up to 18 books now), set in the UK around detectives Gemma and Duncan from scotland yard, each novel exploring a different facet of actuality, or a different region in the UK, yet with the red thread of the 2 detectives and their relationship evolving over time. Very deeply researched novels with interesting plots.
Elly Griffith’s Ruth Galloway, a brilliantly smart and overweight forensic archeologist, professor at a uni in Norfolk who helps the police solve interesting crimes. I only mention the “overweight” part because its mentioned in any book review about the series and it encapsulates Ruth’s thinking: she doesnt care what others think of her, she focusses on her work (at which she is brilliant :). Over time the police team and she become like a small group of friends/ family, as they work together so many hours.
There is about 14 books in the series now.
Some nordics, not quite so Noir:
Viveca Sten’s series around inspector Andreasson plays out in a group of islands close to Stockholm, where many people have holiday or weekend homes. His old school friend Nora Linde also has a 2nd home there and somehow always gets embroiled in the cases and helps solve them. Cathc a glimpse of modern Scandinavian family lifes (patchwork 😉 and ineresting cases in a beautiful Midsummer-festive environment.
Jussi Adler-Olsen’s series around inspector Carl Morck, who is a bit too unconventional for normal police work and so gets relegated to the basement to work on Cold cases. He ends up with the most quirky collection of a small team, who also did not fit in in other places, and the 3 (later 4) of them solve old cases but often they reach into the present as well. Their quirkiness makes it light reading, and all are imminently relatable. On the face of it anybody would say its the opposite of an A-team, but the combination of their very different strenghts make them into an A-team in their own category.written by a brilliant mind with a lot of empathy.
There are about 6 or 7 books in the series now.
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Thanks so much for all your recommendations and apologies for the late reply. I am a big Ann Cleeves fan and completely agree about the Shetland series. Also, I’ve enjoyed the Ruth Gallaway series and some of the Jussi Adler Olsen books as well (actually, I am originally from Denmark and used to read a lot of Nordic crime).
Since I wrote the post, I’ve also read the first Brunetti book and found it surprisingly good. I wonder if this could become another favourite series.
The rest of your recommendations are new to me, but I will definitely check them out! It’s a pleasure to “meet” another reader, who enjoys character-driven crime fiction, I’ve always thought it feels like a contradiction – surely, crime fiction is meant to be plot-driven?
Thanks again for stopping by and giving me (and the readers of the blog) a lot of great suggestions for character-driven crime fiction. Much appreciated!