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Detectives Who Are No Help At All

Crime novels where the person solving it makes everything worse. My favourite subgenre and nobody will admit it exists.

a list by Verity Lane7 books

  1. The Long Goodbye

    “Marlowe gets one friend in seven books and look what happens.”

    Raymond Chandler

    Shelve
    1
  2. In the Woods

    “He is the detective and he is also the reason it fails.”

    Tana French

    Shelve
    2
  3. Mystic River

    Dennis Lehane

    Shelve
    3
  4. The Talented Mr. Ripley

    “No detective at all, which is the extreme version of the idea.”

    Patricia Highsmith

    Shelve
    4
  5. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

    “You know why.”

    Agatha Christie

    Shelve
    5
  6. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

    “Smiley solves it and it costs him the last thing he had.”

    John Le Carré

    Shelve
    6
  7. The Black Dahlia

    James Ellroy

    Shelve
    7