15 Captivating International Crime Thrillers

Debut: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

If you're looking for novels with an unforgettable private eye and a truly vivid sense of place, try this series from Alexander McCall Smith.

Debut: Bad Debts

After his wife is killed by a disgruntled client, Irish—once a Melbourne criminal lawyer, now a horse-racing junkie and debt collector—turns to detective work in Peter Temple's rough-and-tumble books.

Debut: Blood of the Wicked

A federal police inspector fights corruption and crime in Leighton Gage's books—dark, gritty affairs threaded with graphic Brazilian street violence. (The squeamish might want to skip these.)

Debut: White Heat

Kiglatuk—an Inuit hunter and guide—helms M.J. McGrath's bleakly gorgeous thrillers, which are set on the vast expanses of ice wedged between Greenland and the North Pole.

Debut: The Neruda Case

Roberto Ampuero's cerebral mysteries star a wine-loving, poetry-spouting private eye who—in his very first case—comes to the aid of Pablo Neruda.

Debut: The Blackhouse

An Edinburgh cop heads home to the remote, windswept Outer Hebrides in Peter May's atmospheric Lewis trilogy, which is so popular in England that tourists now flock to the islands.

Debut: Jar City

One of the pleasures of Arnaldur Indriðason's series is watching the likable Erlendur mature from young traffic cop to seasoned detective. Also, who knew Reykjavík has a seedy underbelly?

Debut: The Case of the Missing Servant

The fussy, potbellied private investigator at the heart of Tarquin Hall's delightful Delhi-set series will remind you of old-fashioned detectives like Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes.

Debut: Nairobi Heat

Kenyan history and politics pulse through the pages of Mukoma Wa Ngugi's violence-laced thrillers, told through the adventures of an African-American expatriate and a Nairobi cop.

Debut: Finding Nouf

It's rare to discover mysteries so steeped in Islamic culture. These, by Zoë Ferraris, feature an unusual investigative pair: a forensic scientist and a Bedouin guide.

Debut: Siren of the Waters

Michael Genelin's books, suffused with the legacy of the Communist era, have a distinctly Eastern European feel. Matinova, a Bratislava cop, is unforgettable—roguish, razor-sharp, and kind.

Debut: The Coroner's Lunch

Set in the 1970s after the Communist takeover of Laos, Colin Cotterill's mysteries—packed with colorful detail about the country's history, culture, and religion—star an elderly physician-turned-coroner.

Debut: Death Rites

It isn't just the cases that are so fascinating in Alicia Giménez Bartlett's hard-boiled police procedurals, it's the characters—especially Delicado, a quirky, cranky Barcelona cop.

Debut: Belshazzar's Daughter

The story lines crackle in this series, which is rich in Turkish lore and lingo, but Barbara Nadel likes to linger on the inner lives of her characters — especially İkmen, a chain-smoking cop and father of eight.

Debut: The Ice Princess

Her husband may be a police officer, but it's Erica—a best-selling author—who's the better sleuth in this brainy series by Camilla Läckberg, set in a picturesque Swedish seaside town.