Adult or juvenile? Fiction or non-fiction? Too many to name them all.
So, let me just name a book that I just finished. Anne Perry's "Bluegate Fields" the 6th in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series of mysteries set in Victorian London, as the book has one of my favorite characters in all of literature.
Arthur Waybourne, the eldest teenage son of an aristocratic family in London, who is found dead in the sewers of one of London's worst slums. Found naked and violated in the beginning of the book, he is the murder victim in this story, who gets the whole story going.
Arthur is one of my favorite characters in literature, because he is so interesting, and he is so interesting, because he is such a cipher. We never see him through our eyes, but only through the eyes of others, and these give such a totally conflicting impression of him.
All of Perry's books are dark. Maybe because she talks about subjects her Victorian characters would rather not talk about, but this may be her darkest, as it deals with . . .
boy prostitutes -- child molestation -- child murder -- a drowning in the tub -- ephebophilia -- a family coverup -- hebephilia -- incest -- perjury -- police misconduct -- procurers -- a scapegoat -- suicide -- venereal disease -- and wrongful prosecution.
From her beginning period. Thus not as well written as her middle period. But better then her late period. Thus a good introduction to the series and recommended for that reason.