Not Your Grandmother’s Detectives

not your grandmothers detectives

As a lifetime fan of mysteries and thrillers, I sometimes find myself getting a bit burned out with the traditional detectives—whether it’s the morally upstanding detective who is beloved by their community and has a knack for solving crimes, or the divorced, prickly detective who drinks too much but always gets the bad guy. It isn’t that I don’t enjoy those detectives, but just like I would get bored with every book having the same setting, I need to read about different types of characters—from personality to ethnicity—solving crimes.

It’s why I seek out mystery novels with detectives who are, let’s say… probably not your grandmother’s detectives. Unless, of course, your Nana is here for edgy, interesting, and/or non-traditional gumshoes. In that case, she’ll love these mysteries—and you should buy her a few because your Nana deserves nice things.

Jamie Canavés is a Book Riot contributing editor who always has a book in one hand. She writes the Unusual Suspects mystery newsletter, never says no to chocolate or ‘80s nostalgia, and spends way too much time asking her goat-dog “What’s in your mouth?!” Tweets: @Oh_Dinky.