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Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Sleuth with Criminal History

February 24, 2015

A while back, Linda M. asked a very interesting question:

Have you ever thought about adding a category where the hero is a bad guy? I’m just finishing Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr’s series (a very likeable burglar) and I loved them! I can think of a few others just now – such as Mary Anna Evans’ Faye Longchamp who in the first few books dug for artifacts to sell on the black market to keep her crumbling plantation house from falling down. Also, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher (definitely NOT a cozy). I would like to find more in this category and I can’t – but I’m sure there are some. I get tired of the goody-goody heroes and these are exciting and refreshing – something different! Anyway, just a suggestion – and I could just click on this category and there they would all be!

Angela replied:

Hailey Lind (aka Juliet Blackwell) writes the art lovers series. Her main character is the granddaughter of an international art forger and while she’s “gone good” she has a past as an art forger that haunts her. Meanwhile her frequent sidekick is an art thief and her art forging grandpa and his friends make appearances often as well. There’s only 4 books in the series now but I am hopeful she’ll write more. Might be one you’d like to check out as part of your “bad guy” idea.

My question for all of you is this: Can you think of any other Cozy Mystery series that feature a sleuth with criminal (past or present) tendencies? If so, please post a comment below.

Sleuth with Criminal History:

Lawrence Block: Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery Series AND John Keller Mystery Series

Simon Brett: Mrs. Pargeter Mystery Series

Leslie Charteris: Simon Templar, the Saint Mystery Series

Lee Child: Jack Reacher Mystery Series (not Cozy)

Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg: Fox and O’Hare Mystery Series

Mary Anna Evans: Faye Longchap Mystery Series

Jonathan Gash: Lovejoy Mystery Series

Bruce Graeme: Blackshirt the Burglar Series

E.W. Hornung: Raffles Series

Maurice LeBlanc: Arsene Lupin Series

Hailey Lind (aka Juliet Blackwell): Art Lover’s Mystery Series

Wyndham Martyn: Anthony Trent Series

J. Michael Orenduff: Pot Thief Mystery Series

Frank L. Packard: Grey Seal Series

Elaine Viets: Dead-End Job Mystery Series

If you’re interested in finding all sorts of other mystery themes, make sure to visit the Cozy Mystery by Themes page on the site.

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34 Comments - Click Here to Read the Comments or to Add Another

Comments

  1. Anne says

    February 24, 2015 at 2:15 pm

    The Dead-End Job Mystery Series by Elaine Viets features Helen Hawthorne who came to South Florida on the run, working dead-end jobs for cash under the table. Each title takes us to another of Helen’s jobs while she struggles to stay below the radar from her former life.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      February 24, 2015 at 2:26 pm

      Anne, Elaine Viets’s Dead-End Job series is a perfect example. Thank you!

      Reply
      • Stash Empress says

        February 24, 2015 at 2:35 pm

        But Helen was not an actual criminal. True, she was hiding out from the law, but only because she didn’t want to have to pay her hard earned money to her scumbag ex. She wasn’t what I’d consider a criminal — never engaged in any actual criminal activity.

        Reply
        • Danna - cozy mystery list says

          February 24, 2015 at 2:40 pm

          Stash, didn’t Helen skip town in order to go against a court-ordered alimony payment?

          Reply
          • Stash Empress says

            February 24, 2015 at 3:03 pm

            Well yeah, but when I think of “criminal” I think more in terms of thieves, murderers, forgers, highjackers, bank robbers, hit men,cat burglars, etc… The premise here is that Helen’s court ordered alimony payment was a miscarriage of justice to begin with. She just didn’t want to give what was rightfully hers to her cheating ex. Technically “illegal” but hardly “criminal”.

            Reply
            • Danna - cozy mystery list says

              February 24, 2015 at 8:13 pm

              Stash, hmmm …. I’m not sure the courts see it this way…

              Reply
  2. Stash Empress says

    February 24, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    I think I’ve come across a number who have alluded to past criminal tendencies or activities, but none where the sleuths are outright criminals in their own rights.

    In the Blackbird sisters mysteries by Nancy Martin, you have Mick Abruzzo with his mob links, but we don’t ever see Mick himself being explicitly involved in anything illegal.

    In Victoria Abbot’s Book Collector series we have Jordan’s criminal family background, but Jordan herself isn’t involved in anything criminal.

    Several others where the sleuth’s best friend or significant other has certain talents that “you’d rather not know” where they learned them.

    Reply
    • Anne says

      February 24, 2015 at 2:42 pm

      I love the book collector series! Good call.

      Reply
  3. Linda L says

    February 24, 2015 at 2:45 pm

    Simon Brett wrote a series featuring Melita Pargeter, a merry widow who is busy enjoying her golden years and sleuthing. She frequently refers to her lovingly remembered husband, whose various nefarious activities financed her current rather indulgent lifestyle. Besides their healthy bank account, she also inherits his many loyal but criminally inclined subordinates. They serve as her “irregulars” in her investigations. Oh will Simon Brett ever write for this series again?!

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      February 24, 2015 at 5:21 pm

      Linda L, yes he will! Simon Brett’s Mrs. Pargeter’s Principle is due out this year! Thank you, I’ll go add her.

      Reply
      • Linda L says

        February 25, 2015 at 5:13 pm

        Danna, thank you for making my day!

        Reply
        • Danna - cozy mystery list says

          February 25, 2015 at 8:46 pm

          Linda L, I know!

          Reply
  4. Sheila UK says

    February 24, 2015 at 5:08 pm

    Not exactly a cozy mystery but its mild in its violence (mostly fist fights) are the Saint books by Leslie Charteris and the Saint is definitely a thief with quite a criminal background! Great, fun books!

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      February 24, 2015 at 8:19 pm

      Sheila UK, thanks for the Leslie Charteris series. I had totally forgotten about them.

      Reply
  5. Janice says

    February 24, 2015 at 7:23 pm

    The first character to come to mind for me was Lovejoy in the series by Jonathan Gash – a very disreputable antiques picker who was often on the wrong side of the law.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      February 24, 2015 at 8:27 pm

      Janice, who could forget Lovejoy? (Me, that’s who!) Thank you!

      Reply
  6. Carol says

    February 24, 2015 at 9:42 pm

    There’s Maurice Le Blanc’s Arsene Lupin & E J Hornung’s Raffles.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      February 25, 2015 at 9:13 am

      Carol, thank you for both of these criminial-tendencies sleuths. I don’t think I ever heard of either of them, and they look quite interesting!

      Reply
  7. Susan* says

    February 25, 2015 at 1:37 am

    Nobody has yet mentioned ‘Raffles’ by E.W. Hornung. The classic gentleman burglar!
    When Hornung mentioned his idea to his brother-in-law (Arthur Conan Doyle) he was told not to make his hero a criminal, that the public ‘would never go for it’! Hah!

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      February 25, 2015 at 9:15 am

      Susan*, that’s a great story. And here we are, over 100 years later, discussing his work!

      Reply
  8. Naomi says

    February 25, 2015 at 2:22 am

    The Pot Thief cozy series by J. Michael Orenduff stars Hubert Shuze, a purveyor of ancient Native American artifacts. Digging them up is a crime, but Hubie has a small gallery from which he sells the items.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      February 25, 2015 at 9:18 am

      Naomi, thank you for telling us about J. Michael Orenduff’s Pot Thief Mystery Series. I just added it to the list.

      Reply
  9. Sheila says

    February 25, 2015 at 6:19 am

    Danna.
    How about the new series from Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg with Kate O’Hare ex Navy Seal and Nicolas Fox “Conman” turned FBI Agent

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      February 25, 2015 at 9:23 am

      Sheila, thank you, I just added their Fox & O’Hare series to the criminal history sleuths list.

      Reply
  10. Deahna says

    February 25, 2015 at 1:11 pm

    “The Burglars’ Club: A Romance in Twelve Chronicles by Henry A. Hering”

    No idea what Romance means because love does not play a primary role here. It’s very old, a stand-alone, not a cozy (obviously since it’s so old) but has many of the elements. The hero is a different one each chapter and is – obviously – a burglar of some kind. There’s no bloodshed to speak of and nobody is the poorer for the burglar’s actions in the end.

    Reply
    • Susan* says

      February 27, 2015 at 8:42 pm

      Deahna, being as old as this is (1906) a ‘romance’ simply means a fictional tale.
      The English language is continualy changing, and at one time a romance simply meant a made-up story, or a fiction. Usually something light-hearted, and not too serious. “He spun a romance about all the things he’d seen on his travels.”

      Reply
  11. Carol says

    February 25, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    Also, Jack Boyle’s Boston Blackie stories. I think the movies may stand up to time better than the stories.

    Reply
  12. susy says

    February 25, 2015 at 1:49 pm

    Doesn’t Nero Wolf’s right hand man Archie(?) have a slightly shady past? Maybe that’s just my interpretation of Timothy Hutton’s portrayal, lol. On a slightly different note, I would never call Jack Reacher a bad guy, no matter how many people he maims or kills. Jeez, can hardly believe I wrote such a sentence!

    Reply
  13. Susan* says

    February 27, 2015 at 8:50 pm

    Talking about some of these older stories reminds me of several more vintage ones. Old, and a bit obscure, most of them, but all worth a mention.
    The ‘Anthony Trent’ series by Wyndham Martyn, The ‘Blackshirt the Burglar’ series by Graeme Bruce, and the ‘Grey Seal’ stories by Frank L. Packard. (The Grey Seal refers to a small piece of sticky paper that the burglar leaves behind, as his ‘signature’, btw, not an aquatic animal! Lol!)

    I particularly recommend the Blackshirt the Burglar novels if people can find them. A light, entertaining read, very reminiscent of Leslie Charteris’ ‘Saint’.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      February 28, 2015 at 10:33 am

      Susan*, leave it to you to find even more sleuths with criminal histories! Thank you!

      Reply
      • Susan* says

        February 28, 2015 at 8:12 pm

        You know how I like my vintage mysteries, Danna. But I’ll stop if you’d rather… 😀

        P.S. The Grey Seal novels, if anyone is interested, are available as e-books. (You just need to Google a little. There’s several around.) Wyndham Martin is also available in e-book through Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40909

        Reply
  14. Mystery lover says

    January 17, 2016 at 7:10 pm

    Lawrence Block also has a series in which the main character is a hitman! His name is Keller!

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      January 18, 2016 at 2:39 pm

      Mystery lover, thank you! I just added his John Keller series to the list.

      Reply
  15. Dawn says

    August 6, 2022 at 11:25 am

    I’ve got a couple. One I’ve not read yet, but, I’ve researched it, and it’s listed as a cozy, plus similar to Stephanie Plum.
    Deborah Knott’s Dad was a bootlegger. Whileshe’s not, I thought it would fit this theme. There’s references made to it a few times in the books.
    The body movers series has Carlotta and Wesley’s her brother’s parents on the run after her father embezzled funds from his law firm, and jumps bail to prove his innocence and their mother decides to bail-jump with him. Her brother Wesley gets charged with hacking into the courthouse records and is in debt up to his eyeballs with loan sharks.
    Carlotta’s got a bit of a past too, being a reformed party crasher, and the times she “borrowed” outfits from her job at Neiman Marcus, and returned later.
    I have 2 that I haven’t read, but, based on my research, including similar authors, they’re cozy, and similar to Stephanie Plum.
    The first is called Confessions of a slightly neurotic hitwoman by JB Lynn. It’s about a woman who becomes a hitwoman to pay for either herself or a family member’s medical bills. I can’t remember which one. The first book is on my TBR list.
    The other one, is by Gina LaManna and it’s called the Lacey Luzzie series. It’s about a woman named Lacey whose broke and desperate for a way to pay the bills. She finds some things in the back of her mother’s closet and quickly realizes why her mother didn’t talk about her past. Her side of the family, are in the mob. And soon enough, she goes into it herself. The way I’ve seen it described is: She’s who Stephanie Plum would be if she were on the other side of the law. and: She’s Stephanie Plum, but, with Russian mobsters pointing guns at her. Plus, the scrapes she gets herself into.
    I have a box set on my Kindle app of the first few books, but, I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.
    The last one I have I’m in the middle of. Can’t recall who the author is, but, the title is called, Miss Melville Regrets. It’s about a woman whose an heiress but her funds are drindling, so she won’t be able to live the lifestyle she’s grown used to. So, she decides to solve her problems by taking herself out of the mix if you know what I mean. But, instead of shooting herself, she accidentally kills the guest of honor. Then, realizing what she’s done, she panicks and runs away. But, someone follows her outside and thanks her for doing his job for him. After which she gets the idea to become a hitwoman.
    I heard about the series/book on another theme post, and decided to check it out, and found myself liking it! 🙂

    Reply

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