Book ‘Em: 8 of the Best Procedural Series To Add To Your TBR

Darren Mathews is a Black Texas Ranger in a bit of hot water with his boss. To redeem himself, he takes an assignment in the teeny town of Lark, where the murders of a Black lawyer from Chicago and a local white woman have brought the simmering racial tensions of the town to a boil. But can he solve the crimes before the town explodes? (Be sure to also check out Locke’s Jay Porter series!)

Consulting police detective Kusanagi is called to the scene when a body is found. He’s sure he knows who is responsible, and is even acquainted with one of the suspects. But proving their guilt is going to be another matter entirely. Luckily it’s one challenge Kusanagi is certainly happy to take on. (Be sure to also check out Higashino’s Kyoichiro Kaga series!)

Ellery Hathaway was lucky to have survived an encounter with a serial killer. Now a police officer living under a different name in a small town, no one knows about her past. But then the bodies start turning up, and all clues point to Ellery. It seems someone has learned her secret after all…but will she survive this time around? (Be sure to also check out Schaffhausen’s new Detective Annalisa Vega series!)

It seems impossible, but this series started 15 years ago! And it has been compelling from the get-go! Rob Ryan, the victim of a frightening unsolved case as a child, is now a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad. When he and his partner, Cassie Maddox, get called to the scene of a child’s murder, it brings the past rushing back to him. But are the cases related? (This is also a great Starz series!)

Inspector Anjelica Henley has only just returned to active duty with the Serious Crimes Unit when a body is found chopped up in the river. Did I say a body? I meant two bodies. And the crime has the signature of a famous serial killer Henley put away. So is it a copycat? Whichever it is, they’re singling out Henley, who is trying to keep her home life from falling apart as she follows her instincts to catch a killer. (The second book, The Binding Room, was just released!)

This series is fun because it’s about a group of disgraced MI5 spies who are just shy of being terminated. Instead, they are assigned to Slough House, and overseen by a curmudgeonly, unhygienic boss to whittle away their days doing desk work. That is, until a college student is kidnapped by a hate group, and the Slow Horses suddenly find themselves with the information needed to rescue him. But will they mess it up just like everything else? (The new Apple+ adaptation of this is excellent!)

Monsieur L’Inspecteur Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec is a by-the-book detective. But while this series is often listed under cosy mysteries, they are actually clever detective stories with vicious crimes that will thrill and chill you. The first book in the series has the Inspector looking into what is believed to be a hunting accident. But a little digging uncovers a town with dark secrets and deadly intent. (The 18th book in this series will be out in November!)

No one is happy about Detective Inspector Darko Dawson’s new assignment in a small town. Not his family, who he has to leave behind in Ghana’s capital. Not the local police, who resent an outsider working on their case. And certainly not Dawson himself, who feels he is being stonewalled at every turn. Can he solve the murder of a young music student before the town’s dark secrets pull him into the darkness? (Be sure to check out Quartey’s Emma Djan series!)