If you wish to try mysteries which are not set in either the United States or Great Britain, you might try some of the authors listed below.
Asia
Barbara Cleverly - British author of a series about Detective Joe Sandilands, a Scotland Yard policeman who is
serving with the Calcutta, India police. The novels take place in the 1920's, and offer a fascinating look at the British
government in India. The first book in the series The Last Kashmiri Rose was published in 2001.
Colin Cotterill - The author of The Coroner's Lunch featuring Dr. Siri, a 72 year old coroner in Laos. This is a delightful mystery featuring an unusual detective in a fascinating country.
Tarquin Hall - Author of The Case of the Missing Servant which features Vish Puri who is head of the Most Private Investigations agency in Dehli, India. In this video Tarquin Hall discusses his book and detection in India.
H. F. R. Keating (1926 - ) - Inspector Ghote series set in Bombay.
William Marshall (1944 - ) - An Australian author of a series of mysteries featuring the Yellowthread Street police of Hong Kong.
Canada
Giles Blunt - His series detectives are John Cardinal and Lise Delorme who solve crimes in the town of Algonquin Bay. Blunt has received the Arthur Ellis award for crime fiction in 2004. You may enjoy a video of an interview with Giles Blunt.
Gail Bowen - author of books featuring Joanne Kilbourn, a crime-solving university professor. Ms Bowen was born in Toronto, and currently
is a professor at the First Nations University of Canada.
Alex Brett - author of books featuring Morgan O'Brien who investigates crimes in the science profession.
Barbara Fradkin - a clinical psychologist and writer of a series featuring Ottawa Police Inspector Green. Her novel Honor Among Men won the 2007 Arthur Ellis award for best mystery novel.
Lyn Hamilton - (1944 - 2009) Author of a series of archaeological mysteries set in fascinating locations around the world.
Louise Penny - (1958 - ) Canadian mystery writer a series of mysteries featuring Inspector Gamache which are set in the village of Three Pines. Ms. Penny was a journalist and a host for Canadian radio before becomming a writer. Louise Penny discusses her Three Pines series in this video.
Michelle Wan - A Canadian author who writes a series of mysteries set in France. If you are an orchid lover, you will enjoy these books.
L. R. Wright (1939 - 2001) - Author of a long running series featuring Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman
Karl Albert. Wright worked as a reporter and editor. When she and her husband moved to Edmonton where he had a full-time job, she could
finally spend her time writing. Wright has won the Poe award and two Arthur Ellis awards.
Europe
Boris Akunin (1956 - ) - Follow the adventures of Erast Fandorin as he solves crimes in 19th century Russia. Akunin worked as a translator before becoming a writer.
Cara Black - Author of a series featuring Aimee Leduc, a private detective in Paris. Cara Black adresses the Sacramento Bee Book Club in this video.
Andrea Camilleri - (1925 - ) His mystery novels feature Inspector Montalbano who solves crimes in Sicily. His biography and a bibliography of his books may be found at the Wikipedia web site.
Michael Dibden (1947 - 2007) - British born novelist who wrote a series about Italian Police Commmissioner Aurelio Zen. Dibden received a degree in English literature from the University of
Sussex, and a masters degree from the Unversity of Alberta. He taught English at the University of Perugia before returning to England. For
more information, try this overview by Antonia Moras.
Bartholomew Gill (1943 - 2002) Irish American author of a series featuring Chief Superintendent Peter McGarr, the head of Ireland's Special Crimes Unit with headquarters in Dublin.
Amaldur Indridason - (1961 - ) Award winning author of Icelandic mystery novels some of which are available in English translations. Indridason has been a journalist, script writer, and a film critic.
Steig Larsson - (1954 - 2004) Swedish novelist who has achieved great attention for three detective novels which he wrote. The first one of these is The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo
Donna Leon (1942 - ). Ms. Leon's series detective is Guido Brunetti of the Questura in Venice. Ms. Leon was born in America, and has lived in Venice for over 20 years. She has been a
teacher of English Literature on a US Air Force Base. Her first series novel Death at La Fenice was published in 1992.
Giulio Leoni - The author of The Mosaic Crimes in which the detective is Dante Alighieri who seeks a murderer in 14th century Florence.
Henning Mankell (1948 - ) Swedish crime novelist who writes a series about detective Kurt Wallander. The first Wallander novel, The Faceless Killers was published in 1991.
Barbara Nadel - Ms. Nadel writes a series about Cetin Ikman, a hard-drinking detective of the Istanbul police force. Ms. Nadel was born in London, and has been a frequent visitor to Turkey.
Rebecca Pawel - American mystery writer whose series books deal with Spain following the Spanish Civil War.
Yrsa Sigurdardottir (1963 - ) - Icelandic writer of books for both children and adults. The sleuth in her mystery novels is Thora Gudmundsdottir, a lawyer. Ms. Sigurdardottir is also the director of an Icelandic engineering firm. Watch her video in which she discusses her second book My Soul to Take and shows some fascinating scenes from Iceland.
Georges Simenon (1903-1989) Author of the Inspector Maigret
novels. One of the most prolific mystery novelists (200 novels), Simenon was born in Liege, Belgium. Due to his father's early death,
Simenon quit school at sixteen to earn a living. Simenon moved to Paris in 1923. The first Maigret novel, The Strange Case of
Peter the Lett was published 1929. After producing 18 Maigret novels at the rate of one a month, Simenon grew tired of the character
and turned to writing psychological novels, and other works. He returned to writing Maigret books in the 1940's. He lived in
unoccupied France during the war, then moved to the United States, and finally settled in Switzerland. As he grew older,
his literary output slowed to only four novels a year. Maigret is popular all over the world and has been adapted for television and films.
Janwillem van de Wetering (1931 - ) - His series features Adjutant Henk Grijpstra and Sargent Rinus de Gier of the Amsterdam Police.
The Middle East and Africa
Zoe Ferraris - Her first novel Finding Nouf (2008) is a fascinating look at the Saudi
Arabia and the position of women in this country. Ms. Ferraris is an American, but has lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in a conservative Muslim
community.
Batya Gur (1947 - 2005). Ms. Gur was born in Tel Aviv, Israel to parents who had survived the holocaust. She earned a Master's degree in Hebrew literature from the Hebrew University of
Jerusalen. She taught in high school and was a literary critic for Haaretz. Her series detective is Chief Superintendent Michael Ohayon of the Jerusalem police. The first book of the series, The
Saturday Morning Murder was published in 1988.
Michael Pearce (1933 - ) - British author of a series about the Mamur Zapt, the chief of the secret police in Cairo, Egypt,
in the years leading up to the First World War. The first book in the series is Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet. Pearce was born in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
South America
Luis Alfredo Garcia - Roza - His mystery series features Inspector Espinosa of the
Rio De Janeiro police.
Crime Around the World
Author of the Inspector Maigret
novels. One of the most prolific mystery novelists (200 novels), Simenon was born in Liege, Belgium. Due to his father's early death,
Simenon quit school at sixteen to earn a living. Simenon moved to Paris in 1923. The first Maigret novel, The Strange Case of
Peter the Lett was published 1929. After producing 18 Maigret novels at the rate of one a month, Simenon grew tired of the character
and turned to writing psychological novels, and other works. He returned to writing Maigret books in the 1940's. He lived in
unoccupied France during the war, then moved to the United States, and finally settled in Switzerland. As he grew older,
his literary output slowed to only four novels a year. Maigret is popular all over the world and has been adapted for television and films.