^(Note: these are all books I've read and can recommend from experience.)

David Brin's Sundiver is a detective mystery. Likewise his Existence is a mystery about a recently discovered artifact, though its presentation with multiple perspectives lacks the singular detective tone of Sundiver. It's not as much of a mystery/thriller more of a mystery/adventure. It is also one of the overall best science fiction novels I've ever read; the writing is top notch, the characters superbly lifelike, the tone excellent, and the overall reading experience enjoyable and filled with a realistic optimism.

Gregory Benford's Artifact is an investigative mystery about a strange artifact. His Timescape is about a strange phenomenon.

Jack McDevitt's The Engines of God is an investigative mystery about a strange artifact.

Asimov's The End of Eternity is a classic mystery/thriller.

Alastair Reynolds' The Prefect and Chasm City are both standalone detective mysteries. His Revelation Space is similar, but does not have the same classic mystery tone.

Greg Bear's Queen of Angels and Slant are both standalone detective mysteries.

I seem to recall the Second Foundation (Foundation's Fear, Foundation and Chaos, Foundation's Triumph) trilogy by Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, and David Brin having some mystery aspects. I think one of them at least is a detective mystery, but I can't remember which right now.

Dan Simmons' Ilium/Olympos is a sort of detective mystery, but its tone is much more action/adventure despite the protagonist's undertakings to determine what in the world is going on.

Joan D. Vinge's Cat Trilogy (Psion, Catspaw, and Dreamfall) are detective mysteries.

Julian May's Perseus Spur is a detective mystery. It's pretty light-hearted and a lot of fun to read. Something you would pick up at an airport bookstore and not be at all disappointed with. I can't speak for the other two books in the trilogy, haven't read them yet. Just ordered them off Amazon for $4 a piece.

I could go on, but I think that should keep you busy for a while.

 

^(Edited to clarify the tone of some suggestions. Some are more traditional mystery/thriller, while others are more adventure/mystery, more alike to Indiana Jones than a noir detective.)

Here are a few to add to the VR reading list. The sidebar thread is closed, so this seems like an opportune time to add them here:

• Existence - David Brin - Has the Carmack seal of approval.
  
  
• The Atopia Chronicles - Matthew Mather - Fast-paced with a highly detailed and far-reaching vision of perfect VR.
  
  
• Trading Reality - Michael Ridpath - A dramatized account of the process of bringing the first VR product to market(the depiction of the tech scene is accurate but dated to before the emergence of GPUs).
  
  
• The Futurological Congress - Stanislaw Lem - A bleaker portrayal of the world in VR I have never read. And it's a comedy.
  
  
• Reality Threshold - Robert Hinch - Simpler, fun and gaming-focused.
  
  
• Ghosts of Arcadia - Ramsey Isler - A quick story of a near-future VR gaming network.
  
  
• Upload - Mark McClelland - The writing style is rough, but an honest treatment of the question of rights of uploaded personalities and their copies.
  
  
• Everywhere But No Place - Mark Foster - Less heavy on the tech side, but an enjoyable VR fantasy. Free with Amazon prime.
  

This fits a portion of your request, but I don't know if I would describe it as "dirty and lived in." I believe you will love it's approach to space travel and the book definitely meets your political requirements... This book is my favourite modern sci-fi book.

Existence by David Brin

https://www.amazon.ca/Existence-David-Brin/dp/0765342626

Lately I've been ruminating on the Dark Elf Trilogy. I read it years ago, but I liked it a lot. If I recall, I once saw u/mistborn at The Dragon's Keep, and he liked that trilogy too.

I hope sci-fi is okay. Most of the time it's fantasy set in a different era.

• The Martian
  
  
• Existence
  

I enjoyed David Brin's Existence but it's probably not the War of the Worlds style invasion that you're looking for.

Pretty good story with space garbage collection leading to first contact - Existence by David Brin

You should check out Existence by David Brin

I'm reading Existence by David Brin right now, so I don't know if it concludes satisfactorily yet, but it has an interesting twist on the form first contact takes. I had a little trouble getting into it, so many shifting points of view and time spent establishing the near-future setting, but it's a page turner now closer to the end.

http://www.amazon.com/Existence-David-Brin/dp/0765342626
Prepare to be entertained.

That's similar to the plot in David Brin's novel Existence

https://www.amazon.com/Existence-David-Brin/dp/0765342626

For me, it was a different take on "first contact". It's a really fun read, set a little bit further in the future from today.

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