Will Gore

The best crime novels to read during lockdown

  • From Spectator Life

For those with work to do and kids to homeschool, the idea that you might have lots more time on your hands amid the coronavirus lockdown probably seems like a bad joke. But for those who have a bit of extra reading time to make the most of, here are five crime fiction series to help pass the lockdown hours:

The LA Quartet, James Ellroy

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James Ellroy L.A. Confidential (Cornerstone)

James Ellroy is well deserving of his status as the pre-eminent crime fiction writer of our times, and for those yet to discover the demonic delights of his oeuvre, the original ‘LA Quartet’ is definitely the place to start. The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential and White Jazz are self-contained, labyrinthine mysteries united by recurring characters (most notably, the monstrous Irish detective Dudley Smith), caustic language and plotting that paints Los Angeles as a seething hotbed of violence, racism and sexual depravity.

Ellroy’s stories are entertaining and alarming in equal measure. Due to their length and narrative complexity, they also make serious demands of the reader. LA Confidential is the best-known book of the four thanks to the excellent film adaptation and White Jazz is a master class in the machine gun prose style Ellroy developed as the quartet progressed.

For me though, my first Ellroy, The Black Dahlia, will always be my favourite. It is perhaps the most accessible book of the lot, but that’s not any kind of criticism. It’s the perfect introduction to the author’s mad and dangerous world. For those who feel at home there, it’s a magnificent place to be.

Claire DeWitt mysteries, Sara Gran

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Claire DeWitt mysteries, Sara Gran (Faber & Faber)

I recently read Sara Gran’s 2011 novel City of the Dead and absolutely loved it. Set in New Orleans, Gran’s private eye Claire deWitt, whose approach to crime-solving involves drug taking, using her dreams for inspiration and following the principles set out in a book written by an unorthodox French detective, goes on the hunt for a missing assistant district attorney in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

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