18 books like The high window

What to read after The high window — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler · 1939 · ★ 4.0 · 184p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Philip Marlowe, a private eye who operates in Los Angeles's seamy underside during the 1930s, takes on his first case, which involves a paralyzed California millionaire, two psychotic daughters, blackmail, and murder Shares Los angeles, California, Mystery & Detective, Private investigators

Stalking the Angel

Stalking the Angel Robert Crais · 1989 · ★ 4.0 · 256p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Meet Elvis Cole, L.A. private eye . . . he quotes Jiminy Cricket and carries a .38. He’s a literate, wisecreacking Vietnam vet who is determined never to grow up. The blonde who walked into Cole’s office was the bestlooking woman he’d seen in weeks. The only thing that kept her from rating a perfect “10” was the briefcase on one arm and the uptight hotel magnate on the other. Bradley Warren had… Shares Los angeles, California, Private investigators

Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler · 1940 · ★ 4.1 · 249p · ≈ 8h · Moderate This is one of Chandler’s most famous crime novels featuring the detective Philip Marlowe, who’s about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard. Shares Los angeles, Private investigators, General

Hard Time Sara Paretsky · 1999 · ★ 4.1 · 392p · ≈ 13h · Moderate "Multimedia conglomerate Global Entertainment has purchased the Chicago Herald-Star, forcing the paper's staff to scramble to stay employed. Reporter Murray Ryerson, V.I.'s longtime friend and sometime rival, manages to reinvent himself as the host of a television show on Global's network. On her way home from a party celebrating Murray's debut, V.I. almost runs over a woman lying in the… Shares American, Mystery & Detective, Literary Criticism, Private investigators

Ticktock Dean Koontz · 1996 · ★ 3.8 · 318p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Tommy Phan is a 30-year-old Vietnamese-American detective and novelist living in Southern California, and a chaser of the American Dream. He drives home his brand-new Corvette one day to discover a strange doll on his doorstep. It's a rag doll made entirely of white cloth, with no face or hair or clothes. Where the eyes should be, there are two crossed stitches of black thread. Five sets of… Shares California, Private investigators

Camping for Boys H. W. Gibson · 2007 · 296p · ≈ 9h · Moderate Shares American, Literary Criticism, General with this book.

The Monkey's Raincoat

The Monkey's Raincoat Robert Crais · 1987 · ★ 4.0 · 256p · ≈ 8h · Moderate When Los Angeles private detective Elvis Cole investigates the disappearance of Ellen Lang's husband and young son, he stumbles into a bizarre nightmare of high-level intrigue, missing drugs, and murder in Hollywood's seamy underworld. Shares Los angeles, California, Private investigators

Sideswipe Charles Ray Willeford · 1987 · ★ 4.5 · 300p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Hoke Moseley has had enough. Tired of struggling against alimony payments, two teenage daughters, a very pregnant, very single partner, and a low paying job as a Miami homicide detective, Hoke moves to Singer Island and vows never step foot on the mainland again. But on the street, career criminal Troy Louden is hatching plans of his own with a gang including a disfigured hooker, a talentless… Shares American, Mystery & Detective, Literary Criticism, General

Off the Grid C. J. Box · 2016 · ★ 4.3 · 392p · ≈ 13h · Moderate There's no hiding off the grid. Joe Pickett's old friend Nate Romanowski is off the grid, lying low while the FBI search for him. But they're not the only ones looking. Nate finds himself confronted by agents who need his help assessing a potential terror threat in Wyoming's Red Desert – in return they'll make Nate's criminal record disappear. Nate knows they can't be trusted – but with his… Shares American, Mystery & Detective, Literary Criticism, General

The Moving Target

The Moving Target Ross MacDonald · 1950 · ★ 3.9 · 212p · ≈ 7h · Moderate The first book in Ross Macdonald's acclaimed Lew Archer series introduces the detective who redefined the role of the American private eye and gave the crime novel a psychological depth and moral complexity only hinted at before.Like many Southern California millionaires, Ralph Sampson keeps odd company. There's the sun-worshipping holy man whom Sampson once gave his very own mountain; the fading… Shares Los angeles, California, Private investigators

Locating transnational ideals Walter Goebel · 2010 · 288p · ≈ 9h · Moderate Shares American, Literary Criticism, General with this book.

The Drowning Pool Ross Macdonald · 1950 · ★ 3.6 · 213p · ≈ 7h · Moderate “Archer wasn't going anywhere with the case. The women in it were getting to him. The one who had married for money was out to show him how little it now mattered. The one who was being blackmailed didn't care how Archer saved her mockery of a marriage. The young girl was the worst; too innocent to be involved in this sordid tangle. Three beautiful women. They had a way of distracting Archer—even… Shares Los angeles, California, Private investigators

Cop Town Karin Slaughter · 2012 · ★ 3.9 · 416p · ≈ 13h · Moderate "In 1974, the Atlanta Police Department is investigating a serial cop killer hardly welcomes women, so they partner Kate and Maggie to isolate them from the action. But the move will backfire, putting them right at the heart of it"-- Shares American, Mystery & Detective, Literary Criticism, General

Heaven's reach David Brin · 1998 · ★ 4.0 · 582p · ≈ 19h · Moderate Winner of the Nebula and Hugo Awards, David Brin brings his bestselling Uplift series to a magnificent conclusion with his most imaginative and powerful novel to date--the shattering epic of a universe poised on the brink of revelation...or annihilation.The brutal enemy that has relentlessly pursued them for centuries has arrived. Now the fugitive settlers of Jijo--both human and alien--brace for… Shares American, Literary Criticism, General

S.J. Perelman

S.J. Perelman Steven H. Gale · 1985 · 182p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Shares American, Literary Criticism, General with this book.

Son of Stone

Son of Stone Stuart Woods · 2011 · ★ 3.9 · 306p · ≈ 10h · Moderate " A new addition to the New York Times-bestselling Stone Barrington series. After an eventful trip to Bel-Air and a reunion with his sophisticated (and very wealthy) former love, Arrington Calder, Stone Barrington is back in New York, and he's looking to stay closer to home and cash in on his partnership at Woodman & Weld. But Arrington has other plans for Stone...including introducing him to… Shares Los angeles, Mystery & Detective, Private investigators, General

From Puritanism to postmodernism Richard Ruland · 1991 · ★ 4.0 · 470p · ≈ 15h · Moderate Shares American, Literary Criticism, General with this book.

The Girls Emma Cline · 2016 · ★ 3.5 · 352p · ≈ 11h · Moderate Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who… Shares American, California, Literary Criticism, General

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