8 MYSTERY NOVELS WITH NON-DETECTIVE MAIN CHARACTERS

[SheltieLover]

https://bookriot.com/mystery-novels-with-non-detective-main-characters/

When I think of mysteries, I think of the typical detective procedural story. A tragedy-shrouded, unhinged detective gets too invested in a hard-to-crack case but perseveres despite things like rules or ethics or personal health. Corruption, secrets, and red herrings galore, the procedural mysteries have it all. And there are some great ones out there with thrilling twists and touching back stories that are sure to entertain.

But the police-centric murder mysteries are not the only type of mystery out there. All sorts of characters get obsessed with a loose end they can’t solve. Missing persons, stolen art, a rogue pet — it’s all fair game when protagonists have perspectives outside of being the hardened detective behind their desk. Family members dedicated to finding out what happened or investigative journalists shedding light on cover-ups are just two of the different perspectives you can get in the genre, but there are so many others out there! We’re all plagued with mysteries in our lives and the same applies to fictional characters.

So here are eight mystery novels with non-detective main characters if you’re sick of the police procedurals but still want the twists and turns of solving a case.

More at link.

Enjoy!

[MLAA]

1. SheltieLover, have you read the Thursday Murder Club books yet?

I highly recommend them. I’ve read the first 2 and waiting for the 3rd to come out in paperback.

[SheltieLover]

2. I think I've read a couple. Will have to check.

I live in perpetual fear that I will run out of quality reads.

So I'm always searching for more.

Irrational fear, I realize, cuz I can always reread the best. Or simply get back to working on my own series, but a fear nonetheless.

Thx for rec!

[Genki Hikari]

3. It's not anything new

Police didn't even exist in the form we know them when the first mysteries were written by Edgar Allen Poe and Wilkie Collins. Almost all of the "famous" detectives of mysteries are not police--Poe's Dupin, Doyle's Sherlock, Christie's Poirot & Marple, Stout's Nero Wolfe, and so on.

If anything, amateur sleuths dominate mysteries compared to professional investigators (cops, PIs, lawyers). Every career field imaginable has yielded an amateur sleuth--chefs, librarians, bookstore owners, bounty hunters, doctors, nurses, teachers, reporters, postal workers, engineers, archaeologists, historians, scientists, beauticians, DJs, government employees, writers themselves, art dealers, clergy, and etc.