Lots of crime novels, but not so much brotherly love ‹ CrimeReads

Philadelphia – Philly, the city of brotherly love, the beginning of Route 66 – the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth largest city in the USA with over 6 million inhabitants. Founded on the principles of religious freedom and at one time the capital of these United States. And of course also a city with a pretty decent amount of crime novels. So let's dive right into some of the best that reveal the many sides of the city…

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Liz Moore Long bright river (2020) is a very contemporary Philly, or at least a side of life in Philly. The novel is set in a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, where two once inseparable sisters fall out. One, Kacey, lives on the streets and is addicted to drugs. The other, Mickey, is a police officer. They no longer speak to each other, but Mickey is constantly worried about her sister. Then Kacey disappears in the midst of a series of murders and Mickey must find her. A truly gripping novel set in the dangerous streets of Philly.

Rita Cameron's The house party (2022) is a very different Philadelphia. Maja Jensen is smart, stylish and careful, the kind of woman who considers every detail when building her dream home in the Philadelphia suburbs. But when a group of reckless teenagers trash the newly built house just weeks before she moves in, her plans are derailed. Everyone tells her they're “good kids,” but maybe that's just parents protecting their own people. A glimpse into the hidden gang cultures and violence of affluent American suburbs, and how communities can stick together for good reasons and bad.

Poor Philly, rich Philly… and then there is the big and lonely Philly. In Andrea Bartz's The guest room (2023) Kelly's new life in Philadelphia is a nightmare: she has no friends, no job, and is trapped in a tiny apartment because of the curfew with the man she gave up everything for… who just called off their wedding without warning. The only bright spot is her rekindled friendship with her glamorous bestselling author and childhood friend, Sabrina, and her handsome, influential husband. A threesome in luxurious surroundings sounds just the thing, until Kelly finds out that the last person considered as a third party has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Beware of the Philly suburbs!!

We should not forget that Philadelphia is one of the most historic cities in America, so we can expect a lot of historical novels about this city. Ritu Mukerjis Murder one by one (2023) was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Debut Novel 2023. Mukerji is originally from Calcutta but studied at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Murder one by one It is Philadelphia in 1875 and the semester at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania is beginning. Dr. Lydia Weston, professor and anatomist, is engrossed in teaching her students in the lecture hall and in the hospital. When the body of a patient, Anna Ward, is recovered from the Schuylkill River, the young chambermaid's death is ruled a suicide. But Lydia is suspicious and soon becomes involved in the police investigation. A great novel that suggests that a series may be in the pipeline.

And then there's rough Philly, as seen in David S. Tanz's four-volume Philadelphia Crime Series. A shot of Brandi (2012) we jump back and forth between Atlantic City and Philadelphia and meet gangsters, murderers and the Colombo-like criminal skills of the Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) and lead investigator Stephen Davis. In Silk on the rocks (2013) Stephen Davis and the Philadelphia OCTF are baffled by two series of murders. The first involves the killing of petty criminals by the mob. The second series involves the murders of suburban swinger housewives who end up dead. Do they have anything to do with each other? In A toast to justice (2013) Davis pursues a sniper who has eliminated several symbols representing several insurance companies. Finally in Rough seas ahead (2015) OCTF must contend with rogue cruise ships, characters from witness protection programs, and feuding brothers.

A few more crime novels set in Philadelphia:

• Richard Montanaris Shutter Man (2015) follows the Farren family, who have been a plague on Philadelphia's most dangerous neighborhood, the Devil's Pocket, for generations. There, rows of dilapidated houses hide dark secrets – none darker than Billy, the youngest Farren. When he goes astray, Detective Kevin Byrne and his partner Jessica Balzano must step in.
• John Florios Blind Moon Alley (2016) follows Jersey Leo, a mixed-race albino known on the streets as “Snowball” who works as a bartender at a speakeasy the locals call “Ink Well.” There, he's considered a hero for saving the life of a young boy. But when his old schoolmate Aaron Garvey calls from death row and asks him for one final favor, his life is turned upside down in a Philly filled with corrupt cops, the sensual Myra Banks, ex-boxers, street gangsters, a dim-witted dockworker named Homer, and the shady palm reader Madame Curio.
• Duane Swerczynski's revolver (2016) moves through three timelines – Philadelphia 1965, when two patrol officers are gunned down in a robbery gone wrong and one of the fallen officers, Stanislaw Walczak, leaves behind a twelve-year-old boy named Jimmy. Cut to Philadelphia 1995, and Jimmy, now homicide detective Jim Walczak, learns that his father's suspected killer, Terrill Lee Stanton, has been released from prison. Walczak will be waiting there. And finally cut to Philadelphia 2015: Jim Walczak's daughter Audrey, who is in graduate school studying forensics, is reinvestigating her grandfather's murder for her dissertation. But the deeper Audrey digs, the more she realizes: the man everyone thinks killed Walczak wasn't the one.

Finally, John D. MacDonald, a legend among crime writers and one of the most successful American novelists of his time (he sold an estimated 70 million books), was born in Pennsylvania, although his works are more associated with Florida. However, he also wrote several books set in Philadelphia, including the short story The filly from Philly (1950), while his Travis McGee series is all Philadelphia Northeast City crap adapted to Fort Lauderdale