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This page lists crime novels and short story collections set wholly or partly in the English county of Suffolk.

Look to the Lady

Margery Allingham

1931

Originally published in the US with the title The Gyrth Chalice Mystery.

"Finding himself the victim of a botched kidnapping attempt, Val Gyrth suspects that he might be in a spot of trouble. Unexpected news to him - but not to the mysterious Mr Campion, who reveals that the ancient Chalice entrusted to Val's family is being targeted by a ruthless ring of thieves. Fleeing London for the supposed safety of Suffolk, Val and Campion come face to face with events of a perilous and puzzling nature - Campion might be accustomed to outwitting criminal minds, but can he foil supernatural forces?"

Unnatural Causes

P.D. James

1967

An Adam Dalgleish novel.

"Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh had been looking forward to a quiet holiday at his aunt's cottage on Monksmere Head, one of the furthest-flung spots on the remote Suffolk coast. With nothing to do other than enjoy long wind-swept walks, tea in front of the crackling wood fire and hot buttered toast, Dalgliesh was relishing the thought of a well-earned break. However, all hope of peace is soon shattered by murder. The mutilated body of a local crime writer, Maurice Seaton, floats ashore in a drifting dinghy to drag Adam Dalgliesh into a new and macabre investigation."

Clutch of Constables

Ngaio Marsh

1968

"According to Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn, 'the Jampot' is an international crook who regards murder as 'tiresome and regrettable necessities'. But Alleyn's wife Troy has shared close quarters with the Jampot on a pleasure cruise along the peaceful rivers of 'Constable country' and knows something is badly wrong even before the two murders on board."

Mr. Campion's Falcon

Philip Youngman Carter

1970

Some editions in the US have the title Mr. Campion's Quarry.

"In The Drover's Arms, a four-star upmarket country pub in the Cotswolds, a visitor dies of natural causes and is identified as Matthew James Matthew, a retired engineer and enthusiastic amateur archaeologist who seems to have no immediate family or friends and whose background is vague to say the least. Then the pompous and self-important innkeeper of the Drover's Arms is found dead in very suspicious circumstances miles away, near an archaeological dig in in Suffolk. Can these two deaths be linked to the disappearance of the brilliant but unstable geologist Francis Makepeace?"

Caroline Minuscule

Andrew Taylor

1982

A William Dougal novel.

"William Dougal, a post-graduate expert in the medieval script of Caroline Minuscule, stumbles on the garroted corpse of his tutor - and finds himself embroiled in a hunt for a cache of diamonds, a deadly fairy story in which no one obeys the rules, least of all Dougal's girlfriend Amanda. As the body count rises, the couple pursue both the diamonds and their doom from London, to an East Anglian cathedral close, from Cambridge to a wintry Suffolk estuary."

A Wicked Deed

Susanna Gregory

1999

A Matthew Bartholomew novel.

"Matthew Bartholomew, doctor of medicine and fellow of Michaelhouse, Cambridge, is travelling with a party from the college to accept the gift of the living of a parish in Grundisburgh, Suffolk. One of his companions, Unwin, an unworldly scholar, is to be installed as priest. When they arrive, they are immediately thrust into the machinations of local boundary disputes between three landowners, but all such squabbles seem mere trivia when Unwin is murdered in the very church which was to have been his home. While trying to investigate a possible motive for his killing, Bartholomew discovers that this is not the first unnatural death in the village - deaths which everyone has put down to the curse of the plague-dead village. He is of too practical a mind to believe the superstitions, but is he wily enough to work out the real motive behind the murders and who will gain from them?"

The Dark Water: The Dark Beginnings Of Sherlock Holmes

David Pirie

2004

"Imprisoned in a dank cottage deep in the English countryside Arthur Doyle lies half-unconscious and at the mercy of his nemesis - Cream. Gathering all his dwindling strength he smashes a window and crawls to safety. With a sharp piece of broken glass he awaits his torturer's return, but the man has eluded him once more, leaving behind the rotting body of a local miser and thwarted in his attempt to obtain money for his 'deadly' cause. Securing the help of the remarkable pioneering criminal investigator Dr Joseph Bell the two men return to the scene of the crime but find few clues. London reveals little more except the possibility that their archenemy has gone to the Suffolk coast under the name of Dr Mere. Full of legend the local community fear the 'Dunwich witch' has returned with her evil curse. A man has died in suspicious circumstances and it seems many are unwilling to talk about it. More hideous crimes are yet to come as Dr Bell and Doyle move closer and closer to confronting Cream: Bell to capture a notorious villain, Doyle to avenge himself for a crime which robbed him of his future happiness. Dr Bell and Arthur Doyle are reunited once again in their quest to hunt down a criminal mastermind in a sinister tale of intrigue and violence, which reaches a terrifying and dramatic climax."

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The Ellie Hardwick Mysteries

Barbara Cleverly

2012

"Ellie Hardwick is a young architect, specialising in ancient buildings. Working for a Suffolk practice, she spends her days amongst the architectural gems of East Anglia - great houses, cathedrals, medieval churches, and castles. In her work, she trips over the occasional corpse, ghost or wrong-doer. Architecture has much in common with detective work, and Ellie uses her investigative skills to unravel ancient mysteries. An ally in her endeavours is Detective Inspector Richard Jennings, who finds himself grudgingly involved with her problems."

• Love–lies Bleeding
• Here Lies
• A threatened species
• A black tie affair
• Die like a maharajah

The Death of Lucy Kyte

Nicola Upson

2013

A Josephine Tey novel.

"When bestselling crime author Josephine Tey inherits a remote Suffolk cottage from her godmother, it came full of secrets. Sorting through the artefacts of her godmother's life, Josephine is intrigued by an infamous murder committed near the cottage a century before. Yet this old crime - dubbed the Red barn murder - still seems to haunt the tight-knit village and its remote inhabitants. As Josephine settles into the house, she knows that something dark has a tight hold on the heart of this small community. Is it just the ghosts of the Red Barn murder, or is there something very much alive that she needs to fear? Trapped in this isolated community and surrounded by shadows of obsession, abuse and deceit, can Josephine untangle history from present danger and prevent a deadly cycle beginning once again?"

Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of the Ruby Elephants

Christopher James

2015

"Engaged by a jeweller in fear for his life, the trail leads Sherlock to two secret societies, each pursuing the eight ruby elephants said to unlock a vault containing the lost Nizam diamond. Standing in his way are some deadly foes: the Archangels: assassins in top hats and tailcoats, hell bent on the murder of the great detective and the acquisition of the treasures of the realm. The adventure leads the intrepid pair to Lord's Cricket Ground, the Royal Albert Hall, a bizarre series of thefts at the National Gallery, deepest rural Suffolk and ultimately the very heart of the Empire. With high speed chases on Penny Farthings and a cast of eccentric characters, it takes all of Holmes' ingenuity - and a little help from Mycroft - to unravel this elephantine mystery."

The Sinking Admiral

Members of the Detection Club

Editor: Simon Brett

2016

A Collaborative Novel Written By Simon Brett, Kate Charles, Natasha Cooper, Stella Duffy, Martin Edwards, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Tim Heald, Michael Jecks, Janet Laurence, Peter Lovesey, Michael Ridpath, David Roberts, L.C. Tyler, and Laura Wilson.

"The Admiral is a pub in the Suffolk seaside village of Crabwell, The Admiral Byng. ‘The Admiral’ is also the nickname of its landlord, Geoffrey Horatio Fitzsimmons, as well as the name of the landlord’s dinghy. None of them are as buoyant as they should be, for the pub is threatened with closure due to falling takings. Tempers are already frayed due to the arrival of a television documentary team when Fitzsimmons is found dead in his tethered boat. The villagers assume a simple case of suicide and fear that their debt-ridden pub will now sink without trace. The journalists seem determined to finish the job by raking up old skeletons, but they weren’t banking on the fact that this story has been written by 14 extremely competitive crime writers – arch bamboozlers who will stop at nothing to save a good pub."

The Habit of Murder

Susanna Gregory

2017

A Matthew Bartholomew novel.

"In 1360 a deputation from Cambridge ventures to the Suffolk town of Clare in the hope that the wealthy Elizabeth de Burgh has left a legacy to Michaelhouse. Yet when they arrive they discover that the report of her death is false and that the college seems destined for bankruptcy. Determined to see if some of its well-heeled citizens can be persuaded to sponsor Michaelhouse, Matthew Bartholomew, Brother Michael and Master Langelee become enmeshed in the town's politics. They quickly discover that a great many other people in Clare have recently met untimely deaths. These killings, combined with the arrogance Lady de Burgh has shown over the refurbishment of the church and the grotesque behaviour of some of her entourage, have created a dangerous restlessness in the town: an atmosphere intensified when yet more murders occur. One of the victims is a fellow traveller of the Michaelhouse contingent, and Matthew Bartholomew and Brother Michael feel honour-bound to identify his killer. It is a hunt which takes them deep into Clare's murky foundations and which threatens their own survival as well as that of their beloved college."

Mr Campion's Abdication

Mike Ripley

2017

"Margery Allingham's Mr Campion finds himself masquerading as technical advisor to a very suspicious but glamorous Italian film producer and her crew hunting for buried treasure that never was in the Suffolk village of Heronhoe near Pontisbright which used to host trysts between Edward VIII and Mrs Wallis Simpson."