Police crime novels

[Marian]

Hi I am looking for recommendations. I would like to find police crime novels with up to date forensics and police procedures. Any good suggestions. Marian

[I. J. Parker]

What?  True crime or police procedurals?

[Marian]

Fiction

[I. J. Parker]

Thanks for the clarification.  Most police procedurals do go into forensics rather carefully. Just look into any of the top-selling series.

[Eric Christopherson]

Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books beginning with The Bone Collector always had up to date forensics and police procedures, as I recall. If there is a new one I'd check that one out. I stopped reading him because I hate his prose, but his plotting is entertaining.

[I. J. Parker]

I only read the first one of Deaver's. Both the British and the Scandinavian writers use forensics quite a lot. Doesn't Kathy Reichs in the U.S. specialize in forensics? Another one I stopped reading.

[Christopher Valen]

Pardon me for the shameless self-promotion, but read any of my five John Santana novels. They're all police procedurals. The latest, Death's Way, was just released in March.

[Patty L.]

Thanks Christopher...now I can add another author to my list ...looking forward to checking out your series

[Stephen Seitz]

Go with the master: Ed McBain and the 87th Precinct. They get the information the old-fashioned way by getting into the street and pounding on doors.

[I. J. Parker]

I take it there are no forensics. The request was for forensics.

[Stephen Seitz]

There's a fair share, but they don't take center stage.

To my mind the CSI formula has been beaten to death. Science doesn't solve everything. In fact, real-world policing relies far more on the traditional techniques than it does on guys in lab coats. I've been covering crime for years, and it's plodding detective work which always wins the day.

[I. J. Parker]

I agree absolutely. Though it's probably good to use what's available at the time.  In a current setting, forensics should be included. I even include a little for 11th c. Japan.

[Gippy Henry]

D.P. Lyle online has tons of information in this area and others. I've met quite a few people on Twitter who are in the business: Detectives, police, etc. who put information online, some fact, some sample cases. I also spend a lot of time on the news and police sites in different states. Hope this helps.