Whether it’s Felix Unger and Oscar Madison or Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, we love a good odd couple. Watching two opposite personalities clash while they try to reach a common goal is one of life’s finer reading pleasures. Crime fiction lovers in particular have a banquet of unlikely teams to root for, whether they are law enforcement, private investigators, or amateur sleuths.
The Lou Norton Series by Rachel Howzell Hall
LAPD Homicide Detective Elouise ‘Lou’ Norton serves the ever-changing border of gentrifying Los Angeles. In the first book of this outstanding series, Land of Shadows, Lou is assigned a new partner, Colin Taggert, and the two couldn’t be more different. Colin is white, naïve, and fresh from the comparatively bucolic Colorado Springs police department. Black, street-smart native Angeleno Lou has no time for it. She tries to ignore her new partner, but soon realizes she’ll need every resource she can get to investigate the dark side of Los Angeles.
The Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths
In Crossing Places, the first book in the series, forensic archeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway examines a skeleton suspected of being the body of a missing child. Galloway lives alone at the edge of the desolate Saltmarsh, her lifestyle and academic goals in complete opposition to brash, impatient DCI Harry Nelson. The one thing they have in common, though, is that their lives both revolve around death. Working together to solve the case of the missing child is awkward at first, but Galloway and Nelson’s differences make them a formidable investigative duo.
Detective by Day Mysteries by Kellye Garrett
Dayna Anderson doesn’t set out to solve a murder. All the semi-famous, mega-broke actress wants is to help her parents keep their house, and the reward money from a hit-and-run is too much to resist. Aubrey S. Adams-Parker, an eccentric ex-cop, represents the opposite of Hollywood types, and his passion for private investigation sets him up as Dayna’s rival to solve the hit-and-run. The two bump heads often enough for Dayna to realize that Aubrey might also make the perfect investigative partner.
The Mace Reid K-9 Mysteries by Jeffrey B. Burton
Mason “Mace” Reid is a down-to-earth guy with a quick sense of humor and an encyclopedic knowledge of all things canine. He’s a dog trainer who specializes in HRD—human remains detection—and at the beginning of The Finders, he meets his most gifted pupil imaginable. Vira, a golden retriever puppy, survived an attempt on her life and was rescued by the Chicago PD at nine weeks old. She quickly becomes a preternaturally talented cadaver dog, trained to smell death. Mace is shocked though, when he realizes that not only can Vira find a victim buried in the ground but also a killer lurking in the crowd.
Dead Boy Detectives by the DC Comics Vertigo Imprint created by Neil Gaiman
In 1916, Edwin Paine was murdered at his boarding school. After decades of torture he escaped hell and returned to earth, trying to protect student Charles Rowland from being murdered as well. He’s unsuccessful, but Rowland’s ghost decides to join Paine and the two become supernatural detectives in the afterlife. The unlikely duo turned into an unlikely trio when they meet Crystal, a girl with a gift for technology and a link to the undead. The Dead Boy Detectives originated in the Sandman comics, spun off into their own series, and are currently set to become a series on Netflix.
The Lincoln Rhyme Series by Jeffrey Deaver
Lincoln Rhyme was the premier criminologist in the New York City police department until an accident at a crime scene left him paralyzed. Three years later, he’s shut himself off from society and determined to end his life, until someone begins a killing spree around the city, leaving clues that only Rhyme can decipher. He recruits unwilling, temperamental Officer Amelia Sachs to be his crime scene technician. She’s transferring to a desk job and has no interest in forensics, but her growing concern for the victims draws her into the investigation and into the isolated Rhyme’s life.
To Catch a Storm by Mindy Mejia
When Jonah Kendrick, psychic detective, tells scientist Eve Roth, “I have certain parapsychological abilities to see things at a distance,” she promptly shoves him out of her house with a baseball bat and replies that the only way to see things at a distance is with a telescope. Eve is trained to measure the world in terms of concrete, replicable data, but her husband has gone missing and the police think she had something to do with it. She doesn’t believe Jonah when he claims to have dreamt about Eve’s husband, bound and bleeding in a barn, but Jonah might be the only person who can help Eve find him.
Bonus entry: Odd Partners: An Anthology. Edited by Ann Perry.
This Mystery Writers of America-sponsored anthology features nineteen original stories about unlikely detective duos solving intriguing cases. Edited by New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry, contributing authors include Jacqueline Winspear, Jeffery Deaver, Allison Brennan, Robert Dugoni, Charles Todd, and many more. The ultimate fix to satisfy all your unlikely partner reading needs!
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