18 books like The Day of the Owl

What to read after The Day of the Owl — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

The Redbreast

The Redbreast Jo Nesbø · 2007 · ★ 4.5 · 448p · ≈ 14h · Moderate Don’t Miss the Netflix series Detective Hole, based on Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole series, premiering March 26, 2026!“An elegant and complex thriller….Harrowingly beautiful.” —New York Times Book Review“The Redbreast certainly ranks with the best of current American crime fiction.” —Washington PostJo Nesbø, the New York Times bestselling author of The Snowman, has solidified his spot as one of the most… Shares Police, Investigation, Murder

A Burial at Sea

A Burial at Sea Charles Finch · 2011 · 314p · ≈ 10h · Moderate In March 1873 aristocratic sleuth Charles Lenox undertakes a delicate espionage mission to Egypt, where five British agents have been killed, apparently by the French. But soon after Charles's ship sets sail, the captain calls on him to dust off his deductive skills when a crew member is murdered and left eviscerated on the deck. Shares Investigation, Murder

The King of Diamonds Simon Tolkien · 2011 · ★ 4.2 · 336p · ≈ 11h · Moderate David Swain has spent two years of his life sentence for murdering the lover of his ex-girlfriend, Katya Osman. On the night he escapes from prison, Katya is found murdered in her uncle's home. Inspector Trave heads the manhunt for David, but his personal life becomes entangled in case because his ex-wife his having an affair with Katya's uncle. Shares Police, Investigation, Murder

Beau Death P Lovesey · 2018 · 416p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Shares Police, Investigation, Murder with this book.

Murder on the Mediterranean Alexander Campion · 2014 · ★ 4.4 · 384p · ≈ 12h · Moderate Even on a well-deserved Mediterranean cruise, murder follows Commissair Capucine Le Tellier. Shares Police, Investigation, Murder

Done in one Grant Jerkins · 2015 · ★ 3.8 · 276p · ≈ 9h · Moderate "One bullet equals one kill. For SWAT sniper Jake Denton, the bullet casings he saves as grim reminders of his "kills" are beginning to add up. His wife, his department-ordered psychiatrist, and even Jake himself are all beginning to question just how these sanctioned kills are affecting his mental health. Nobody wants him to end up like Lee Staley, his mentor and ex-partner--now out on permanent… Shares Police, Investigation, Murder

Broken Harbor

Broken Harbor Tana French · 2012 · ★ 4.0 · 450p · ≈ 15h · Moderate The mesmerizing fourth novel of the Dublin murder squad by New York Times bestselling author Tana French Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy, the brash cop from Tana French’s bestselling Faithful Place, plays by the book and plays hard. That’s what’s made him the Murder squad’s top detective—and that’s what puts the biggest case of the year into his hands. On one of the half-built, half-abandoned… Shares Police, Investigation, Murder

The Yard

The Yard Alex Grecian · 2012 · ★ 4.4 · 544p · ≈ 18h · Moderate As Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror in London comes to an end, a new era of depravity sets the stage for the first gripping mystery featuring the detectives of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad.“If Charles Dickens isn’t somewhere clapping his hands for this one, Wilkie Collins surely is.”—The New York Times Book Review Victorian London—a violent cesspool of squalid sin. The twelve detectives of… Shares Police, Investigation, Murder

Find The Lady Roger Silverwood · 2008 · 224p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Shares Police, Investigation, Murder with this book.

The D.A. Draws a Circle Erle Stanley Gardner · 1939 · 191p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Shares Police, Investigation, Murder with this book.

Lost Light

Lost Light Michael Connelly · 2003 · ★ 4.5 · 364p · ≈ 12h · Moderate When he left the LAPD, Bosch took a file with him: the case of a production assistant murdered four years earlier during a movie set robbery. The LAPD thinks the stolen money was used to finance a terrorist training camp. Thoughts of the original murder victim were lost in the federal zeal, and when Bosch decides to reinvestigate, he quickly falls foul of both his old colleagues and the… Shares Police, Investigation, Murder, Literature

City of Stairs

City of Stairs Robert Jackson Bennett · 2014 · ★ 4.3 · 452p · ≈ 15h · Moderate The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions — until its divine protectors were killed. Now, Bulikov’s history has been censored and erased, its citizens subjugated. But the surreal landscape of the city itself, forever altered by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it, stands as a haunting reminder of its… Shares Investigation, Murder

The Bitter Season Tami Hoag · 2016 · ★ 4.5 Shares Police, Investigation, Murder with this book.

Running with wild blood Gerrie Ferris Finger · 2015 · 319p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Richard Lake of the Atlanta Police Department gets a cold case when a witness suddenly gets his memory back. Lake recruits Moriah Dru to look into the murder of Juliet Trapp' sixteen when she died' and a student at Winters Farm Academy. Juliet Trapp had told her mother she was going to Bike Week with Wild Blood' an outlaw motorcycle gang' over the Christmas break. The police were unable to solve… Shares Police, Investigation, Murder

Hell fire Karin Fossum · 2016 · 256p · ≈ 8h · Moderate "A gruesome tableau awaits Inspector Konrad Sejer in the oppressive summer heat: a woman and a young boy lay dead in a pool of blood near a dank camper. The details of the deaths of Bonnie Hayden and her five-year-old son Simon are mysterious. There is no sign of robbery or assault. Who would brutally stab a defenseless woman and her child? Sejer and his fellow investigator Jakob Skarre begin a… Shares Police, Investigation, Murder

Murder on Brittany shores Jean-Luc Bannalec · 2016 · 384p · ≈ 12h · Moderate "Ten miles off the coast of Brittany lie the fabled Glenan Islands. Boasting sparkling white sands and crystal clear waters, they seem perfectly idyllic, until one day in May three bodies wash up on shore. At first glance the deaths appear accidental, but as the identities of the victims comes to light, cantankerous Commisaire Dupin is pulled back into action for a case of what seems to be… Shares Police, Investigation, Murder

Dead to me Cath Staincliffe · 2012 · ★ 4.2 · 392p · ≈ 13h · Moderate "A riveting, sharply observed and thoroughly modern police procedural featuring a stellar but unlikely female dectective team, perfect for fans of Tess Gerritsen and Deborah Crombie Detective Constable Janet Scott is subtle and reliable, a diplomatic thinker with a wry sense of humor. She's put in the time and seen it all, but has no desire for the boss's job--she loves her own too much. Rachel… Shares Police, Investigation, Murder

Broken trust William E. Butterworth III · 2016 · ★ 4.1 · 400p · ≈ 13h · Moderate "The dramaticNew York Times-bestselling adventure in W.E.B. Griffin's Badge of Honor series about the Philadelphia police force. Having investigated his share of gruesome murders, Philadelphia Homicide Sergeant Matt Payne is beginning to think nothing can shock him - until the case of a young socialite's death lands on his desk. The Camilla Rose Morgan he'd known as a teenager was beautiful and… Shares Police, Investigation, Murder

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