Sunday, July 22, 2012

Murder at the Olympics

The Olympics have played a very important part in crime fiction, and sadly in true crime--the 1972 Munich Olympics where Israeli atheletes were massacred. With the Olympics opening in London, I thought I'd post a few Olympics related crime fiction novels. One of my favorite Olympic books is Rebecca Cantrell's A Game of Lies. This novel really gives you a great sense of place -- the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The following is a totally unvetted list. Mixed among the list are many well known authors, and I think you're safe with these. In my search, I came up with lots of ebooks, penned within the last few months. Jumping on the bandwagon? Are they well written? I posted a few of those titles here, too, but you'll need to decide for yourself.

As always, let me know any titles I've missed.

OLYMPIC MYSTERIES

Skate Crime and On Think Ice by Alina Adams
Olympic Sleeper by Tom Barling
Echo of the Reich by James Becker
2012 Olympic Sabotage by D.M. Blowers
A Game of Lies by Rebecca Cantrell
Bear Pit by Jon Cleary
Gold by Chris Cleave
No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie
Typhoon by Charles Cummings
Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver
Rush for the Gold: Mystery at the Olympic Games by John Feinstein (YA)
Beyond Gold by Elaine Forder
Trial Run by Dick Francis
Olympic Sacrifice by John Hocutt
Terror-Olympic Size by George L. Hoffman
Flight from Berlin by David John
March Violets by Phillip Kerr
Going for the Gold by Emma Lathen
Golden Girl by Peter Lear (Peter Lovesey)
Olympia '36 by John Lee
Dragon Games by Stephen Mertz
An Olympic Death; Off Side by Manuel Vazquez Montalban
Olympic Nemesis by James Morley
A Medal of Honor by John Morton
A Private Business by Barbara Nadel
The Judas Goat; Carol Heiss Olympic Queen by Robert B. Parker
Target America: Terror at the 2002 Olympics by Frederick W. Parkins
See How They Run by James Patterson

Private Games by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan
Death Spiral by Meredith Phillips
Olympic Fusion by Scott Pickard
The Runner by Christopher Reich
Hartliss Protector (Assignment: Prince William at the Olympics) by Mike Scantlebury
Black Rain by David Shone
The Eighth Day by Alistair Smith
Rogue Agent by Sean Sweeney
Lestrade and the Deadly Game by M.J. Trow
Summer Games: An Olympic Murder Mystery by Sabrina Wylly

9 comments:

Lesa said...

Deborah Crombie's No Mark Upon Her might or might not fit, Janet. The victim was an Olympic candidate for rowing, and it's set in England. I considered it a timely Olympic book when I reviewed it.

Janet Rudolph said...

Absolutely, and I had it on another list to add.. and forgot to look at the list. Thanks for the reminder.

Lesa said...

And, another one, but an old one, Emma Lathen's Going for the Gold, in which the Sloan is the official bank for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Always loved Lathen & John Putnam Thatcher.

Jerry House said...

Perhaps GOLDEN GIRL by "Peter Lear" (Peter Lovesey)?

Lois said...

Thanks for this list. I started reading John Feinstein's YA series several years ago when one of the titles was nominated for an Agatha. Hadn't realized there was a new one out, and now I'm on the waitlist for it at the library.

Alina Adams said...

Thanks so much for including my skating mysteries on your list! There are five in all, and I've just re-released them all as enhanced multimedia editions, meaning that in addition to getting all the text of the original Berkley Prime Crime paperback releases, you now have professional skating videos to go along with the story!

All the best -
Alina

Kent Morgan said...

Gold by Chris Cleave has been receiving excellent reviews.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Janet. The backdrop in Black Rain is the Nazi Olympics, but the true games are fought outside the stadium.


Best regards,
David Shone

Mike Scantlebury said...

Thanks for the mention, J.
Just to get in the 'Olympic spirit', I am making my Kindle ebook FREE on every Sunday whilst The Games are on.
I'd be happy for your readers to download my Olympics 2012 story for absolutely nothing this weekend.
Thanks, again.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hartliss-Protector-Assignment-Olympics-ebook/dp/B006UH2AUA/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1343825150&sr=1-1-spell