VN Your Favorite Mystery and Detective Novels for Adults?

[Finito]

Hello everyone! I'm looking for recommendations for really interesting and well-regarded detective visual novels. I want to get more familiar with some of the best ones in the adult genre, and potentially use them as references in my own work. If you have any suggestions for classic or influential detective visual novels that you found engaging and thought-provoking, I'd greatly appreciate you sharing them. What are some of your favorites and why? What in particular made the storytelling, characters, or mysteries compelling? Any hidden gem recommendations are welcome too! I'm excited to dive deeper into detective visual novels, so please let me know which ones you think are worth checking out. Thanks so much for your help and recommendations!

 

[Raife]

Hello everyone! I'm looking for recommendations for really interesting and well-regarded detective visual novels. I want to get more familiar with some of the best ones in the adult genre, and potentially use them as references in my own work.

Hmmm... to be honest, there's aren't a lot of good detective AVNs out there. Nobody has written a truly Marlowe-esque MC in an AVN, either. To my mind, it's untapped territory.

The only really worthwhile effort that I know of is:

Leaving DNA, by Impious Monk. I have some issues with the MC's Gary Stu-esque qualities, but it's a high quality effort. I admire the way Impious uses visuals to tell his story... he has several sections without any dialogue at all, which feel quite cinematic to me.

The other detective AVNs I know of use the narrative carapace of the genre to deliver porn. They are not mainly about the story.

Depraved Awakening, by PhillyGames, is a typical example. It's very well produced... but I'd say it's primarily about delivering high quality porn.

 

[Raife]

I'd recommend turning to detective fiction, or adaptations of detective fiction for the screen, as your primary inspiration if you are interested in creating an AVN.

Besides Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, who are to this genre what Tolkien is to Fantasy (although Chandler is a much better writer) I'd strongly recommend John D. MacDonald's novels. They are very visual, and make the setting (in this case, Florida) a compelling backdrop.