Five under-appreciated crime novels that deserve your attention

It’s hard for writers to break into the crime fiction market. It’s especially hard for authors who write in languages other than English or write on the anglophone periphery. Unless they are the big names of Nordic noir, translated crime novels are rarely advertised or placed in prominent positions in bookshops.

This is a shame because there is a lot of great crime writing going on around the world. Below we offer a list of five novels by writers from Italy, Japan, Israel, New Zealand, and Finland. They might have passed you by, but are well worth reading.

Out of Season, Antonio Manzini

Out of Season, translated by Anthony Shugaar, is an engaging novel by bestselling Italian author Antonio Manzini. This is part of a crime series centred on police chief Rocco Schiavone, who has been exiled to the town of Aosta in the Alps after a dust-up with his superiors in Rome.

A city lover who likes the sun and light clothing, Schiavone finds it very hard to get used to a mountainous, gossipy town and its constant cold weather. Grumpy and endowed with a “Roman” (that is, very cynical) sense of humour, Schiavone is an “outsider” police detective. He is surrounded by a group of loyal subordinates, including the young and efficient...

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