Rec me mysteries and mystery-adjacent media, please!

[gremdark]

I love mysteries and heist stories, but I have trouble finding good ones that scratch that particular itch. Does anyone have recs?

I am particularly interested in books and television, but I would happily watch a good movie if you know the perfect one. Fantasy elements and/or strong worldbuilding are a definite plus. If something isn't necessarily a traditional mystery or heist but is similar to things I've listed below in other ways, I'd love to hear about it. I'm not a big fan of cops, but am willing to tolerate them for a strong story.

Behind the cut, I've listed stories I've particularly enjoyed and stories I've bounced off.

I love the October Daye books by Seanan McGuire. Some favorite mystery-adjacent shows are Father Brown, White Collar, Elementary, and Leverage. I recently rewatched the first Knives Out movie and had a great time. I also love the original Father Brown, Jeeves, and Sherlock Holmes stories. The webcomic Widdershins is possibly my favorite adventure serial of the decade.
I bounced off The Dresden Files, the Sookie Stackhouse books, and the TV shows Hustlers and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

Comments

[vriddy]

In fantasy, I really enjoyed the heist in the Six of Crows duology :D And it's fun worldbuilding with great characters, too. (I'm unfortunately not familiar with enough of your references to get a feeling for whether it'll scratch the itch, even if I hope it will! It's a once-off heist though, not something that would involve a detective and mystery/heist of the week 🤔)

[shadaras]

Some stuff which comes to mind:

Angel of the Crows, by Katherine Addison, is an excellent urban fantasy adaptation of the original Sherlock Holmes short stories (including keeping to that time period).

The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett, perhaps? Secondary-world fantasy framed around a murder mystery and inspired by classic detectives with some cool worldbuilding.

The Quantum Thief, by Hannu Rajaniemi, is science fiction rather than fantasy, and I read it over a decade ago, but I recall being quite fond of it.

I've heard excellent things about the recent Lupin TV show on Netflix?

I haven't read them myself, but I keep getting recced Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey novels (usually Strong Poison, because my friends know I love when smart women are also important).

[capri0mni]

I'm currently reigniting my love for Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, by Dorothy L. Sayers. The novels were published between 1923 and 1937, so the writing style is more old fashioned -- though not as old fashioned as Doyle, I suppose. She set her stories the current day.

The character Lord Peter is a veteran of World War One, along with his butler and partner in Crime-solving, Bunter, and sometimes his shell shock comes to the surface when investigating the murders in question. However, the tone of the stories is, in general, lighthearted (as seen in the main character's name). And the stories are as much, if not more, social satire and parody as they are mysteries. If you like Jeeves and Wooster, you'll probably like these stories.

Sayers stopped writing Lord Peter mysteries when World War Two broke out, mostly because, I think, she didn't want to have to put him through that again.

[thewayne]

Just last night I recommended Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty. A generation ship is traveling from A to B, crewed by six people who back up their memories regularly, and if one suffers a bad accident, a clone is popped out, the memory is restored, and they're back in business.

Then all six of them awake in the med bay to a scene of carnage, and none of them remember what happened....

I loved it!

I would also recommend The Spare Man, by Mary Robinette Kowal. It's a science fiction version of the Thin Man murder mystery with the additional twist of the detective (man) being thrown in jail and his wife having to resolve everything! All set on a sealed space ship en route to wherever. I thought it was quite good and am hoping for a sequel with the pair (and their little dog).