Any recommendation for mystery books?

[ReinaLuna]

hey guys!

I'm a super fan of Agatha Christie, (Hercule Poirot rocks!!!) and mystery novels in general. Having read most of her books and also Arthur Conan Doyle ones, I am running out of ideas here.

Right now I'm reading a nice one called LIVE BAIT, by P.J.Tracy, and I find it reaaaally good.

Could you recommend more books to me that you think might fit my style? ;o)
thanks!

[Janner2]

Try Dorothy L Sayers (eg The Nine Tailors). There were quite a few good writers of detective stories about the same time but you'll have difficulty finding their books now - Edgar Wallace was one, though his style is probably a bit old fashioned now. Leslie Charteris's Saint books might also be worth a try, especially his early books before he went to America.

[shaneystar2]

Have a look Here ReinaLuna
It gives you all the latest mysteries and thrillers with a brief synopsis .
If you like Agatha Christie you would probably like Sayers as Janner has said especially the Lord Peter Wimsey books.
An English village type murder mystery a la Miss Marple is the Agatha Raisin series by M.C. Beaton. Or the Midsomer Murders by Caroline Graham ..village type murder and mayhem !

[Janner2]

Another possibility is Margery Allingham.

[ludwig]

According to Wikipedia, the four 'Queens of crime' were..

Agatha Christie
Dorothy L Sayers
Ngaio Marsh
Margery Allingham

You might want to try and find some books by the 3 other than Christie.

[Janner2]

It's also worth mentioning that these ladies used aliases for some of their books. You can find these aliases on Wikipedia, so there are more names to look out for!

[Quizmonkey]

Concentrate on the 'golden age' authors (see Ludwig's post). I would add to that list the superb first nine or so novels by Ellery Queen - the ones with a nationality and an object in the title eg. The Roman Hat Mystery, The Dutch Shoe Mystery, French Powder, Greek Coffin etc. Most are out of print now but you often see them in second hand bookshops.

Another favourite of mine is John Dickson Carr - master of the 'impossible' locked-room mystery.

[cookiee69]

"the act of roger murgatroyd' by gilbert adair was pubished last year to excellent reviews and was an agatha christie pastiche. as a fan you have to read it. i reviewed it for a national newspaper and it was excellent.

[Janner2]

A small problem - I've just had a look in our local library and they have no books by any of the authors suggested - only Agatha Christie! Let's hope that ReinaLuna has a better library! Admittedly ours is quite small.

[ReinaLuna]

Woooow! Guys you are incredible!!!
Now seems instead of lack of options, I have an excess of them hehehe... I will go crazy wanting to read everything you recommended!

I don't think I have a very big library here, i's a small town called Brierley Hill, close to Stourbridge (midlands), bugt in the market there are ladies selling second hand books, and then, there's always the internet, where we can find so many things that sometimes we would never expect to....

Thanks Janner, shaneystar (I will have a look on the link now), Ludwig (von Beethoven? hehehe), Quizmonkey and cookie!! (yes I will read the pastiche, I like parodies of famous books, like the Barry Trotter for Harry Potter!)
xxx

[reinganum]

When I was a boy (about 40 years ago now) I used to read all the 'golden age' authors avidly, though on re-reading I find some of them a little tedious now.
'Locked Room'-type mysteries (John Dickson Carr, as Quizmonkey says, is the master of this, but he also wrote under the name Carter Dickson) are fine as puzzles, but they don't read very well as thrillers, since some of the situations are somewhat contrived.
The early Allinghams (1929-33) are rather in the 'jolly japes' style; she gets more serious later on, and Tiger in the Smoke is a masterpiece.
For more recently-written books, try Andrew Taylor; his Lydmouth series echo the 'golden age' quite well; the stories are set in the 1950s.

[shaneystar2]

Yes.. those are good ..I recently read Naked to the Hangman....excellent..
A couple of books I have also read recently in that sort sort of genre are books by Carola Dunn "The Daisy Dalrymple " series
http://www.geocities.com/caroladunn/DaisyDalry mpleMysteries.html
,Jacqueline Winspear is good too and Catriona McPherson....all set between the wars ....Marpleish type books...cosy villages with awful goings on behind the net curtains and jam making .

[robbo82]

If you haven't already, I would suggest you read Edgar Allen Poe's detective stories: the likes of The Morder in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget and the Purloined Letter were some of the first detective stories in literature and are eminently readeable. More recently, Paul Auster's New York Trilogy is a superb postmodern take on the mystery story.

[con-amca]

How about some short stories?

Those of R. Austin Freeman, featuring Doctor Thorndyke,
are worth a try. Ellery Queen wrote several books of short stories. There are also the Father Brown stories of G. K. Chesterton. And don't forget the master - Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

Peter Lovesey wrote a series of Victorian detective novels featuring Sergeant Cribb and his sidekick Constable Thackeray - they were very successfully televised - that were good, full of atmosphere and a touch of humour also.

[ReinaLuna]

You keep coming with nice suggestions, I'm taking notes of everything of course!!! Short stories, why not? they are good for when you are travelling either!

And about Sherlock Holmes, yes, I've read it all already I think, how would I miss that? ;o)

Have a greaaaaaat weekend you all!!!

[sherlockian]

Can I add the much neglected and often overlooked novels of GLADYS MITCHELL - she was a contemporary of Christie and produced even more novels than her. Most of them are out of print but I do come across them in charity shops and jumble sales; The Mrs Bradley series (filmed by the BBC with Diana Rigg) are particularly excellent. Also PATRICIA WENTWORTH's series featuring Miss Silver are also worth looking out for, and for a bit of fun try SIMON BRETT's Mrs Pargeter series - a modern day Miss Marple!

[ReinaLuna]

Of course you can add, anything is welcome! Liked a lot your nickname Sherlockian, very suitable for the subject here hehe...