There is something about the sinister, shadowy, gray atmosphere of the AMC show The Killing that is unforgettable. The series was based on a Danish series called Forbrydelsen (The Crime.) The American series is set in Seattle and it does rain. Our detectives eat in the rain and smoke in the rain. Rain falls heavy on the windshield day and night. When we think about books with this same sense of atmosphere, Swedish thrillers come to mind like the Martin Beck series by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall and the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, but here are a few crime series set in the Northwest that take advantage of that Twin Peaks quality in the air out there.
Until Proven Guilty: A J.P. Beaumont Mystery by Judith A. Jance Set in Seattle, homicide detective J.P. Beaumont, searches for the killer of a young girl and discovers an underground world of religious fanaticism.
Decoys: A John Denson Mystery by Richard Hoyt John Denson, private-eye, returns to his hometown in Oregon on assignment to act as a decoy—introducing himself as his client’s fiancé. He soon finds himself in something more serious than a game of vengeance.