Crime drama w/ supernatural elements?

[Mannorai]

I'm in search of a good book/series that incorporates elements of a crime drama and the supernatural. Preferably something with in-depth character, location and atmosphere development that doesn't drag on, yet devotes enough time to really pull you in to get you mentally/emotionally involved. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

[Smocca]

Maybe the third Dexter novel (Dexter in the Dark). I thought it was crap but that's mainly because I thought the use of supernatural elements ruined every bit of development done in the previous two books. If you just skipped the first two and went in with no preconceptions it might (MIGHT) be okay.

[Candiarie]

Anita Blake starts out with vampires werewolves and magic and shit and she works for the police, but eventually the police part degrades. You can get like 8 books in without caring too much though: Amazon.com: Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter): Laurell K. Hamilton: Books

The Dresden Files that has its own thread here he also works with the cops if I remember right. I'm interested in the other suggestions this brings up.

[Gaereth]

Quite a few of what they are calling 'urban fantasy' fit into that mold. Laurel K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, Kelly Armstrong, Patricia Briggs all fit into what I would call 'outside of the normal world and normal laws' type of books. The Rogue Angel series is similar as well.

[Brand]

Try Glen Cook's Garret Files...They're more Noir than all the others mentioned.

[Gaereth]

hmm...that just reminded me of the Nightside books by Simon R Green. Private eye type of stuff.

[Schatze]

There's a lot of books like this. Anita Blake is the most famous, but it sort of descended into quasi-bestiality were-thing orgies.

There was a book my brother had picked up, it was based in a sort of parallel universe/city where the main character is a detective whose ability is to "find" things. He was hired to find the holy or unholy grail as both heaven and hell descended on the city. Eventually he gave it to Judas, the guy who hired him, who either holied it or unholied it to a normal cup.

Was actually decent for the genre. The description sounds lame but it was a decent 300 page read.

edit: yeah who gaereth is talking about. I swear he musta posted 30 seconds before me. That's the series/book I'm trying to describe.

[Lenardo]

rogue angel book 1 is good,

rest of the series is crap- since it is not the same author writing it all.

patricia briggs - mercy thompson books- are pretty good, dresden files, nightside by green, and there are hundreds of "urban fantasy" type books, with more coming out, mostly in the "paranormal romance" style.

Lilith Saintcrow's working for the devil
brigg's mercy thompson

are imo 2 of the BETTER versions of paranormal romance...


"sci-fi romance" - well you just have to visit the House of Korval for imo the best of the bunch.

[Suineg]

The Russian books that got turned into those mediocre movies.

Night Watch
Day Watch
Dusk Watch

[Vvoid]

Originally Posted by Brand

Try Glen Cook's Garret Files...They're more Noir than all the others mentioned.

I recommend these also, to a point. The first several books are fantastic, but like any series that drags on too long, they get a little stale. I am an avid Cook fanboy, and just bought Cruel Zinc Melodies, which is the 12th in the series. It is decent, but how many times can you hear the same anecdotes, complaints, etc? I'm still enjoying reading it to an extent, but just like any series, it is never going to be as awesome as the first time I found it.

I'm sure that is true of just about all of them, so start the series and be amazed for awhile, and if it cools off for you check back in a few years later. It won't be hard to pick most of it back up right away.

[Vvoid]

Oh, I forgot to add as well, a pretty interesting series I read years ago were, I think, called The Vampire Files by P.N. Elrod, about a vampire detective. I know there were at least 5 or 6 of them when I last read them, and I think some more have been written since. I remember greatly enjoying them 10-15 years ago, so check them out.

[Faille]

how about :

[Mannorai]

Many thanks to those who have given legitimate suggestions thus far. I've been reading reviews on most everything listed that I was previously unfamiliar with. Please keep them coming if anyone happens to think of more.

[Faille]

[Wash]

I really liked Blaze by Stephen King. It's the last of the Bachman Books; he wrote it in 1972-73, didn't like it, and didn't publish it until this year, so if you like his early style and hate his later like me, you might like it.

It's light on the supernatural and is mostly a crime story. The supernatural part-- mild spoilers:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Although it plays a big role in the book, it's never revealed whether it's actually supernatural or not. It's painted as one way, hints are dropped that it might be another way, and it's ultimately unanswered. It's King, so, I get the feeling it is-- enough that it fits the "supernatural crime" category anyway.