Books like Speak Justly of the Dead by E. C. R. Lorac

Vikram Chandra’s sweeping tale follows Sikh Mumbai cop Inspector Sartaj Singh as he hunts the infamous gangster Ganesh Gaitonde, revealing the city’s shadows, crime syndicates, and the personal costs of duty.

When a respected farmer is bludgeoned to death in his study, Scotland Yard detectives Hannasyde and Hemingway uncover a web of hidden motives, culminating in a second murder that forces them to confront a relentless killer.

A classic English country‑house murder mystery in which an amateur sleuth and his aide investigate a locked‑room homicide amid a rowdy gathering of guests.

During a Christmas gathering at Lexham Manor, the wealthy Nathaniel Herriard is found dead, and six guests become suspects. Scotland Yard inspector Hemingway must untangle inheritance motives and a locked‑room mystery to identify the killer.

Inspector Roderick Alleyn confronts a deadly mystery at a snowbound millionaire’s gala, where the host’s murder forces him to sift through a cast of jealous enemies and possible killers.

Chief Inspector Macdonald unravels a black‑out murder in wartime London, where a lone matchlight reveals the killer’s identity—and a deeper conspiracy tied to the victim’s true name.

Detective Hoke Moseley is assaulted after a grueling homicide investigation, leaving him with bruised wounds, a wired jaw, and missing dentures. He must piece together clues that lead to a hooker, an ex-con boyfriend, and a bizarre Hare Krishna pimp murder.

A fog‑shrouded crime at Paddington Station throws five strangers into a web of murders and secrets, with Inspector MacDonald tracking suspects through post‑war London.

Three members of a distinguished family die in seemingly unrelated accidents, prompting a police investigation that questions whether foul play was involved.

A police lieutenant and his police‑spouse partner investigate a synagogue desecration that leads to a rich young man's murder and a web of concealed secrets tied to hate crimes and family guilt.

*‘Should detectives go to parties? Was it consistent with the dignity of the Yard? The inspector tossed for it - and went.’* Chief Inspector Macdonald has been invited to a treasure hunt party at the house of Graham Coombe, the celebrated publisher of *Murder by Mesmerism*. Despite a handful of misgivings, the inspector joins a guest list of novelists and thriller writers disguised on the night under literary pseudonyms. The fun comes to an abrupt end, however, when ‘Samuel Pepys’ is found dead in the telephone room in bizarre circumstances. Amidst the confusion of too many fake names, clues, ciphers, and convoluted alibis, Macdonald and his allies in the C.I.D. must unravel a truly tangled case.

Detective Carella and Hawes investigate a murder in Isola while 88th Precinct cop Fat Ollie Weeks tracks down three prep school boys and a crack dealer.

A play about an actress pursued by a knife-wielding stalker who is later attacked outside a theater. Detective Steve Carella is determined to solve the case while Bert Kling interviews witnesses and suspects for the show's production. The story explores the blurred lines between reality and fiction in the city of Isola, New York.

When Sir George Braxton is found dead in a frozen fountain, Mrs. Jeffries and her sharp staff unravel the mystery with wit and determination, proving that a detective’s brilliance can outshine even Scotland Yard’s finest.

During the Victorian era, Inspector Witherspoon suspects a murder victim’s young housekeeper, but Mrs. Jeffries, the Metropolitan Police’s housekeeper, unravels the true perpetrator amid intrigue and a cold‑blooded crime.

Detective Banks investigates a case involving a runaway girl and her father's determination to destroy his career, leading him into a web of drugs, sex, and crime in London.

A police lieutenant in Atlanta who stumbles upon a murder mystery.

Detective Philip Trent solves the case three times, each time closer to the truth.

> It opens on a dark and misty winter night, with the central characters eagerly looking forward to a ball that is a highlight of the local social calendar. Two men are making their way to the ball by car. Nicholas Brent, an ex-naval commander who now runs an inn in the neighbourhood, has offered a lift to a barrister called Ian Macbane, who comes from out of town but has local family connections. Their conversation turns to Dilys Maine, a beautiful young woman admired by both of them, and also to the strange disappearance of a local girl, Rosemary Reeve. >Nick Brent has arranged to drive Dilys home, but on the way back after the ball, he brakes to avoid hitting a corpse that is in the middle of the road. When he goes to a nearby house to call the police, he is knocked out by a man he presumes to be Michael Reeve, brother of the girl who went missing. >These events set in train a police investigation which is hampered by the reluctance of witnesses to tell the truth. Who is the deceased, and what could have been the motive for killing him? [From the Introduction by Martin Edwards]