A is for Agatha Christie. British crime fiction wouldn’t have been the same without her influence. Though, for a more modern, satirical take on the golden age British crime novel, LC Tyler’s Herrings series is hard to beat. The books are wickedly funny while simultaneously lampooning and adhering to the conventions of crime fiction. The Herring Sellers Apprentice is the place to start.
B is for The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. As if it could be anything else – a seminal work that influenced most of the crime fiction that has come since, it is above anything, a great read that captured a whole new poetry in the language. A powerful, lyrical read.
C is for City of Bones. The Lincoln Lawyer is getting all the attention at the moment with the new movie, but Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series is among the best series sets for me. From The Black Echo onwards, the character of Bosch arrived fully formed. It’s a toss up between Angel’s Flight and this for my personal favourite.
D is for Declan Hughes. Hughes has taken the PI genre and given it a distinctly Irish twist with his Ed Loy series. Beautifully written, Hughes’s experience as a playwright is obvious in the sharpness of the dialogue and the piquancy of his observations on Modern Ireland. All The Dead Voices is one of my personal favourites of the series.
E is for Endeavour Morse. Colin Dexter’s creation is inextricably of his time and place in the way that all great detectives should be. Written with warmth, wit and intelligence, the characterization of Morse, and the relationship between him and Lewis, are what makes these books such enjoyable reads.
F is for F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. This is one of my favourite books of all time. It features several crimes, a wonderful criminal in Gatsby and a deconstruction of the casual violence and lack of emotional connection in the upper classes of 1920s American society.
G is for Gone, Baby Gone, by Denis Lehane. His standalones may be hugely popular, but this is my favourite by the Bostonian author and The Wire screenwriter. The moral choice faced by Patrick and Angie at the end spurred him to write the recent follow up Moonlight Mile.
H is for Dashiell Hammett. Chandler commented that Hammett took murder onto the streets where it belonged. The Maltese Falcon is a thrilling example of it. Sam Spade is a superb creation and Hammett the master of the genre.
I is for Arnaldur Indridason. This Icelandic author has produced some top class crime novels – Jar City and Voices are well worth a read. The latter, revolving around a murder in a hotel at Christmas, nails a taut claustrophobic feel throughout.
J is for James Elroy. His biting prose style gets sharper with each novel, but LA Confidential is, for me, the strongest he has produced, the attack dog prose style still strangely poetic.
K is for The Killing Kind. John Connolly remains an inspiration for many of the new generation of Irish crime writers. His Charlie Parker series is among the best written out there at the minute. I loved this series from Every Dead Thing, but personally, I felt this book took it to a whole new level. It is a stunning thriller, mixing crime and the supernatural to chilling effect.
L is for La Requiem. The Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais is hugely readable. This one, though, has the best balance of wit, pace and emotional pay-off.
M is for The Moonstone. This was the first crime novel I remember reading. Sergeant Cuff is the precursor for many modern detectives – slightly morose, quirky in his tastes, and more intelligent than everyone else in the book combined. And he gets it wrong. The book also dared to suggest the upper echelons of Victorian society could be as guilty of crime as the poor. And, in Roseanna Spearman, we see just how those poor were exploited by the wealthy.
N is for The Neon Rain. It’s not the best of James Lee Burke’s Robicheaux series, but as you need to read them all, it’s the first and so the place to start. The most recent books have, if anything, shown Burke exploring new, darker, bleaker territory. There is simply no better living crime writer.
O is for The Big O by Declan Burke. Burke's mixture of comedy and crime is pitch perfect in an Irish novel with an international feel, crackling dialogue and a bloody great wolf.
P is for Peter Hoeg’s Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow. I love snow set crime fiction and this is one of the best. The ending stretched credibility a bit far, but the build up, starting with the discovery of a child’s body where he has been chased off a roof top is superb.
Q is for Quick Investigations, the company run by John Quigley and Sarah Kenny, the heroes of Arlene Hunt's wonderful series. Thrilling and funny, these books are well worth reading.
R is for Red Dragon. The Lector trilogy (including Hannibal but ignoring Hannibal Rising) is a superb thriller series. Red Dragon really started the serial killer boom in crime fiction. In spite of that, it’s a terrific book and Lector an incredible villain.
S is for Snow Falling on Cedars. More snow based crime. This modern day To Kill a Mockingbird remains Guterson's best. A beautiful book and one of my favourite book titles.
T is for The Talented Mr Ripley. Patricia Highsmith’s novel is chilling, the eponymous Mr Ripley as compelling an anti-hero as the genre has produced.
U is for Umberto Eco’s The Name of The Rose. A novel which deals with, among other things, the meaning we give to words, corruption in the medieval church, it is, in it's own way, the ultimate crime novel, dealing with a book that kills.
V is for Vera Stanhope. Ann Cleeves' heroine is about to get her own TV show which should hopefully remind everyone what a great creation she is and just how astute is Cleeves' wonderful grasp of human behaviour.
W is for Winterland, Alan Glynn's incisive exploration of the impact of the death of the Celtic tiger, which predated its death. Again, it is the upper levels of society, particularly politicians, who commit the most audacious crimes, and usually get away with it. How prophetic this proved to be.
X for Exit Music. Black and Blue was the first crime novel that I read for enjoyment after finishing my degree and remains one of my favourites. However, this book ended the Rebus series in style. From the pitch perfect title to the tantalising ending between Rebus and Big Ger, this book shows Ian Rankin at the top of his game.
Y is for You Only Live Twice. It might not be the best of the Bond novels, the first section being an extended travelogue around Japan, but the impact of Bond on the spy genre and, indeed, on many fictional detectives, make all Fleming’s novels essential reading. If Dr Yes appeals more than Dr No, Colin Bateman’s Mystery Man series is worth checking out, not least for the appearance of Northern Ireland’s only crime bookshop, No Alibis.
Z is for Michael Dibdin’s evocative Aurelio Zen mysteries. Or, for an alternative Italian detective, Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano series is hard to beat. Start with the first, The Shape of Water, where a city engineer’s body if found by the local refuse collectors. The books combine humour with real heart.