Riot Recommendation: 20 of Your Favorite New York City Crime Stories!
Condom dresses and space helmets have debuted on fashion runways. A dead body becomes the trend when a coat made of human skin saunters down fashion’s biggest stage. The body is identified as Annabelle Leigh, the teenager who famously disappeared over a decade ago from her boyfriend’s New York City mansion. This new evidence casts suspicion back on the former boyfriend, Cecil LeClaire. Now a monk, he is forced to return to his dark and absurd childhood home to clear his name. He teams up with Ava Germaine, a renegade ex-model. And together, they investigate the depraved and lawless modeling industry behind Cecil’s family fortune.
There’s just something about New York City. That concrete jungle where dreams are made of (sing it!) is more than a city: it’s a lifestyle, a culture, a whole entire vibe. With its hustle, bustle, bright lights and busy streets, it’s no wonder the Big Apple is so often the backdrop for thrilling crime fiction that keep us on the edge of our seats. That’s why we asked you for your favorite crime stories set in NYC! You gave us everything from hardboiled detective novels and crime classics to YA mysteries and historical thrillers. Now it’s time to share these 20 titles with our Riot readers! We’ll just be over here getting into a New York state of mind.
The 87th Precinct Series by Ed McBain
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
Black Orchid Blues by Persia Walker
The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
If I Should Die by Grace F. Edwards
The In Death Series by J.D. Robb
The Kinky Friedman Series by Kinky Friedman
Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson
Lush Life by Richard Price
Manhattan Mayhem: New Crime Stories from Mystery Writers of America edited by Mary Higgins Clark
The Matthew Scudder novels by Lawrence Block
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
The Nero Wolfe Series by Rex Stout
Of Blood and Sorrow by Valerie Wilson Wesley
The Pendergast Series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
The Terry Orr Series by Jim Fusilli
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole (out September 2020!)
