If you liked
Books like Cold Steel Rain
by Kenneth Abel
Kenneth Abel's Cold Steel Rain was Edgar-shortlisted for a reason: the Louisiana atmosphere, the small-town procedural patience, and the way the violence lands. These five reads continue the regional-American-crime tradition Abel works in.
The shortlist
What to read next
Down in the Floodby Kenneth Abel
“The third Danny Chaisson novel. Kenneth Abel writing Hurricane Katrina before Katrina happened.”
Bury Me Deepby Megan Abbott
“Megan Abbott rewriting a real 1930s Phoenix murder case as a fever dream. Period noir with a feminist undertow.”
When Rich Men Dieby Harold Adams
“When Rich Men Die by Harold Adams 1987 review. The fifth Carl Wilcox Depression-era mystery sends the alcoholic itinerant artist back to Corden, South Dakota for a banker’s murder.”
The Church of the Dead Girlsby Stephen Dobyns
“The Church of Dead Girls by Stephen Dobyns 1997 review. Three teenage girls disappear from an upstate New York town and the community begins to suspect everyone, including itself.”
Enough Ropeby Lawrence Block
“Lawrence Block's collected short fiction. Eighty-plus stories. The case for Block as one of the most versatile American crime writers of his generation.”
FAQ
Common questions about Cold Steel Rain read-alikes
- Are these all regional American crime?
- Mostly. Harold Adams is 1930s Depression South Dakota, Megan Abbott is suburban-American noir, Stephen Dobyns is upstate New York literary suspense, Lawrence Block is New York short crime. The connective tissue is the patient regional procedural patience.
- Which is closest to Cold Steel Rain in tone?
- Adams's When Rich Men Die. Same Depression-era regional crime sensibility, same patient procedural patience, same small-town atmosphere.
- I want more Louisiana fiction specifically. What else?
- James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux books are the obvious entry. James Sallis's Lew Griffin and Driver novels are the underread alternative.
The original