Fiction books as tours of current cultures and settings?

Question

I like novels as a way to explore life in other cultures or countries. I want much of the novel to be about way of life, motivations, principles and ways of thinking there. Current in the sense of "relevant today". Great writing and great translation.Any suggestions?Skip authors that expensed out a vacation!Mysteries are great but let's not overdo "police culture".Only include "slice of life" if the author describes way of life more than "inner life".

creer · Accepted Answer

These worked for me:Tony Hillerman (US Southwest indian lands)Carolyn See, The handyman, 1999 (Los Angeles)Henry Chang, Chinatown Beat, 2006 (New York City Chinatown)Laura Antoniou, The killer wore leather, 2013 (BDSM convention in the US)Sujata Massey (Japan daily life)Natsuo Kirino, Real World, 2006 (and other titles, Japan daily life)Inio Asano, Goodnight Punpun, 2007- (small town and middle school life in Japan)Inio Asano, Downfall, 2020 (Japan midlife crisis, mangaka)Peter Tasker (Japan daily life)Hideo Yokoyama, Six Four, 2012 (Japan job hierarchy - here in a Police setting)John Burdett, The Last Six Million Seconds - Hong Kong will never be the same, 1997 (Hong Kong)John Burdett, Bangkok 8, 2003 (Thailand)Vikram Chandra, Sacred Games, 2006 (Mumbai)Craig Joseph Danner, Himalayan Dhaba, 2001 (India mountains)Fa&iuml;za Gu&egrave;ne, Kiffe kiffe demain, 2004 or Du r&egrave;ve pour les oufs, 2006 (Paris projects)