Mystery Series from Around the World

The first Filipino crime novel, Smaller and Smaller Circles follows a pair of Jesuit priests who moonlight as forensic investigators. The sleuths dig into the serial murders of young boys in an impoverished area, only to find themselves stymied by corruption in both the church and the local government. Smaller and Smaller Circles is currently a standalone, but has a prequel novel coming from Soho Press.

This Chilean noir series follows Heredia, a private investigator, as he digs into the murder of a man once imprisoned by Pinochet. The local police believe it’s simply a robbery gone wrong… but why was nothing taken from the victim? The deeper Heredia goes, the more mysteries begin to crop up — and the more danger he finds himself in. Dark Echoes of the Past is the 13th book in the Heredia Detective series, but the first of Ramón Díaz Eterovic’s novels to be translated into English.

Inspector Singh isn’t your average detective. He’s got a knack for catching killers, which is great; trouble is never far away when Singh’s around. As a result, his Singaporean bosses send him to investigate murders in other countries. Flint is Malaysian-born and based in Singapore. Singh’s investigations take him from Singapore to Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, and more.

The first book in the Konrad Sejer series, Eva’s Eye centers on two murders, three days apart, which seem to involve the same artist — the titular Eva. After pretending to call the police when a body washes ashore in front of her, Eva clams up, refusing to help with Insp. Sejer’s investigation. Even when the second murder proves to be her old school chum, Eva doesn’t talk. Who is this woman, and why is she connected to two seemingly unconnected murders? It’s up to Sejer to find out in this series-starter.

Red Cross nurse Nina Borg makes her debut in The Boy in the Suitcase. Here, she’s dragged into a shocking case involving a drugged toddler stashed in a suitcase inside a locker. There’s no explanation provided, and Nina isn’t quite sure what to do with him. When the friend who gave her the key to the locker dies a horrible death, Nina realizes that she and the boy are in more danger than she first thought.

Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak solve “minority-sensitive cases” in Ontario. So why are they investigating the death of a white man—a death that appears to be, for all intents and purposes, a misadventure? It’s not until Getty learns that the man may have been in Canada under an assumed name that the pieces begin to fall into place. But with a growing list of suspects and few answers to their questions, can Getty and Khattak hope to get to the bottom of this case?

Perveen Mistry may be the only person in India who can help the titular widows in this striking series starter. The Farid widows live in strict seclusion, not interacting with men outside the family. When paperwork indicating that the widows wish to give up their inheritance crosses Mistry’s desk, she begins to suspect that they may have been taken advantage of. Soon, however, she finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation—in which one of the Farid widows may be responsible.

Chen Cao isn’t the man you’d expect to head up the Shanghai Police Bureau’s Special Case Squad. He’s a young poet and ostensibly ill-suited for the job. He knows this, and his colleagues know this. So when a poster girl for Chinese communism winds up dead, Inspector Chen throws himself full force into the investigation. But will he be able to prove himself when the killer might be unimpeachable?

Ousted from the Ghana Police Service after she spurned the advances of her superior officer, Emma Djan recently began work as a private detective. Her new case involves an American who disappeared after six weeks in Accra, spent investigating the sakawa network —international scammers—who catfished him for thousands. Can Djan figure out what happened to the D.C. resident before the trail goes cold?

Kosuke Kindaichi is sort of a Japanese Columbo: disheveled, bumbling, and pretty much the last guy you’d expect to be a competent detective. Set in pre-War Japan, The Honjin Murders follows Kindaichi as he investigates a “seemingly impossible crime:” the deaths of two newlyweds on their wedding night. It’s a locked-room murder mystery involving a samurai sword, a three-fingered man, and a wealthy family who really didn’t accept their son’s new bride.