Police Procedural Books

The best police procedural book reviews. A subgenre of crime fiction, police procedurals focus on the methods and tactics used by law enforcement to solve cases and catch criminals.

NIGHTMARE BEFORE MARDI GRAS, an Unflinching Police Thriller by Robert Sterling Hecker

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The Bottom Line: A fast-paced, unflinching police procedural about a detective’s personal mission to solve a heinous child sex crime. In Robert Sterling Hecker’s debut novel, The Accidental Vigilante, detective Jeremy Porter quickly transformed from a rookie in New Orlean’s Child Abuse Section into an unstoppable force for justice. Hecker’s second novel featuring Porter, who is now the squad supervisor for the New Orleans Police Department’s Child […]

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Last Call, a Brilliantly Told Crime Thriller by Travis Tougaw

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The Bottom Line: Brilliantly told, this nail-biter about the effort to free a convicted killer will make you question everything you know about our legal system. Highly recommended.  Last Call opens in a hole-in-the-wall bar in Denver, Colorado. It’s 2004, and bartender Paul Humphries is worried about a boisterous troublemaker sitting at a corner table named Dennis. After Dennis starts aggressively hitting on three much younger women,

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Chained Birds, an Emotional True Crime Memoir by Carla Conti

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The Bottom Line: An emotional, eye-popping and personal expose of the American prison system that begins with an orchestrated stabbing and ends with a realistic exploration of second chances.  Chained Birds begins on a snowy Pennsylvania day in 2011, as Lewisburg prison inmate Steven “Oakie” Tremblay throws a snowball at a correctional officer named Captain MacDonald. Tremblay is then placed in a rec cage with two other inmates,

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Lost Grove, a Hypnotic Murder Mystery by Charlotte Zang and Alex Knudsen

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The Bottom Line: A perfect choice for fans of Wayward Pines and Twin Peaks, Lost Grove is a hypnotic murder mystery that crackles with supernatural intrigue.  Shortly after his father’s debilitating stroke, Seth Wolf resigned from his post as a homicide detective in the San Francisco Police Department. His return to hometown Lost Grove – home to 1,500 residents, quaint Victorian homes, farms and nearby picturesque beaches – comes with

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Lethal Impulse, a Highly Recommended Crime Thriller by Steve Rush

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The Bottom Line: A small town crime thriller that hits all the right notes. Recommended for fans of Harlan Coben.  Reverend Neil Caldera’s calling takes him to Madison, Georgia, a small town graced with antebellum homes, delicious southern cuisine and a strong sense of community. But as Neil eventually discovers, the town has a dark underbelly. When the seasoned former detective is summoned to a

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Their Little Lies, a Terrifying Psychological Thriller by Quinn Avery

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The Bottom Line: Buried family secrets, steamy romance and a terrifying serial killer add up to a masterfully told psychological thriller. Coming off a botched murder investigation, Detective Josephine Kelly is contemplating early retirement. Feeling the need to regroup, she uses her father’s declining health as an excuse to take time off and return home to Ames, Iowa. But thanks to a troubled childhood, the truth

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Resurrection Walk, a Feast for Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer Fans

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The Bottom Line: A literary feast that brings together fans of Connolly’s Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer book series. The great tragedy of Michael Connelly’s otherwise high-quality Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer streaming series is that they exist in a television universe where Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller are not related (presumably due to the two series being on competing networks). Thankfully, Connolly has given us Resurrection Walk

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Deadly Hush, a Mesmerizing Crime Thriller by Douglas Stewart

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The Bottom Line: A mesmerizing crime thriller that deftly explores high society’s dark underbelly. Highly recommended.  The third installment in Douglas Stewart’s Detective Ratso series opens in Switzerland as a killer, who is obsessed with rigid adherence to schedules as well as numerical synchronicity, stalks his prey. While careful not to reveal the killers’ identity too early, we understand that he is OCD, highly intelligent and

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