Crime Writing

[Halicarnassus]

Detective novels and the crime genre in general wouldn't be high on my reads. But I'm mildly taken by a cheap kindle book I've just bought called The Cornish Coast Murder (1935) by John Bude (Ernest Elmore). I'll let you know how I get on...

Up until this point my only other dabbling in this genre has been with the Ian Rankin Rebus novels (the first half dozen early ones) and a book by Shamini Flint called A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder.

I haven't touched Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers, yet I probably should. Anyone else into this genre?

[77ss]

Detective novels and the crime genre in general wouldn't be high on my reads. But I'm mildly taken by a cheap kindle book I've just bought called The Cornish Coast Murder (1935) by John Bude (Ernest Elmore). I'll let you know how I get on...

Up until this point my only other dabbling in this genre has been with the Ian Rankin Rebus novels (the first half dozen early ones) and a book by Shamini Flint called A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder.

I haven't touched Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers, yet I probably should. Anyone else into this genre?

One of the genres I read (along with scifi/fantasy and historical).

If you like Rankin, you might try Peter Robinson's 'Inspector Banks' series. I have just finished 'Watching the Dark' and thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you enjoyed Shamini Flint you could also try Tarquin Hall's Vish Puri novels, set in India. I am assured by a Hindu friend that he has got the character types down to a T. I liked 'The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken' best.

[midnightcatprowl]

My parents were keen on detective fiction, so I got the bug at an early age. I enjoy this type of book to this day most especially when I simply want to relax rather than be desperately challenged by a book.

I must admit that I can rarely work out 'who done it' and if I do get it right it is due more to a hunch than a careful working through of the clues. I tend to enjoy this genre more for the characters and situations. I think whether you want to be 'be the detective' or simply enjoy other things about such books has a big effect on which authors you will enjoy, though of course many authors manage to cover both bases. Dorothy L Sayers I'd reckon was one of the latter and if you can put up with the ultra 'posh' background of the characters she's an extremely good writer.

P.D.James also wrote at a much higher standard than is found in your average 'whodunit' and is probably best known for her Adam Dalgliesh detective character has very interesting plots and characters but I've only got to enjoy her over the last year or so. When I was younger I found her writing very off-putting though I can't precisely say why. It is odd how your tastes can change over the years. Georges Simenon's detective character 'Maigret' is a classic of detective fiction and one I used to really enjoy but I now find the books quite distasteful though again I can't exactly explain why.

A big find for me were the books by Robert van Gulik which are set in ancient China so as well as crime and detection they provide the added interest of an insight into a culture massively different to our own. This quote is from Wikipedia:

Judge Dee (also, Judge Di) is a semi-fictional character based on the historical figure Di Renjie, county magistrate and statesman of the Tang court. The character appeared in the 18th-century Chinese detective and gong'an crime novel Di Gong An. After Robert van Gulik came across it in an antiquarian book store in Tokyo, he translated the novel into English and then used the style and characters to write his own original Judge Dee historical mystery stories. The series is set in Tang Dynasty China and deals with criminal cases solved by the upright and shrewd Judge Dee, who as county magistrate in the Chinese imperial legal system was both the investigating magistrate and judge.

As for The Cornish Coast Murder (1935) by John Bude (Ernest Elmore), this was actually a Book Club choice in early 2016 when we were still on The Fool and you can still see the discussion here:

http://boards.fool.co.uk/reading-review-thread-the-cornish-coast-murder-13320962.aspx?sort=whole#13320962

[Urbandreamer]

I only occaisionally dabble my feet in these waters, however here's a couple of rec's

The Mrs Jeffries books (a very easy read, good when you just want to relax and tune out of life, incompetant inspector helped by his domestics).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss ... +mysteries

The Morgue draw series (A ghost helps the police, translated from German)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss ... s+in+order

I'm not sure if I should include the Merrily Watkins book (they are sort of in a genre of their own), but they usually have a crime in them (the local exorcist happens upon the crime while doing her job)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss ... s+in+order

Then of course there are the Cadfael books (ex crusader monk solves murders).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss ... ndle+books

Ps nip over to Iplayer and hunt down Falco by Lesley Davis while you can (Roman detective).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0071pr ... des/player

Oh and yes you should read Christie. Since everyone's seen Poirot I'd reccommend the less well known Tommy and Tuppence books.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Adversa ... +adversary

[Halicarnassus]

Dorothy L Sayers I'd reckon was one of the latter and if you can put up with the ultra 'posh' background of the characters she's an extremely good writer.

Indeed. Her Dante translation is outstanding and her accompanying notes, profound. Her Lost Tools of Learning is an essay from literary heaven.

[midnightcatprowl]

Oh and yes you should read Christie. Since everyone's seen Poirot I'd recommend the less well known Tommy and Tuppence books.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Adversa ... +adversary

I'm an Agatha Christie fan but she's an extremely uneven writer - due doubtless to churning the books off the production line. Looking at her detective stuff I'd rather read Miss Marple than Poirot and I find the Tommy and Tuppence books quite unbearable! I do actually enjoy Poirot stories but those books and stories are exceptionally uneven in quality. Although Poirot may seem to be a rather 'definite' character - and you'll feel that even more if you've watched the TV productions - Christie is very inconsistent in his characterisation and in some of the books you suspect she could have done with re-reading her previous books about the character before embarking on another. I recently discovered what might be one of the reasons for the inconsistencies. Christie also has a detective called Parker Pyne who is a young salesman (a commercial traveller in the parlance of the time) with a deep attachment to the precepts of the 'Salesman's Handbook'. It seems that during the great churning out of Christie's novels and short stories she sometimes made a last minute substitution of detective so that what was intended to be a Parker Pyne becomes a Poirot (or maybe it was the other way around) and if you know the two characters you can well see how this would lead to some slightly odd results.

If I was reading Christie's detective stories for the first time I'd want to start with one of the better known stories as just choosing one of her works at random could lead you to an experience which would put you off her writing altogether. This would be a pity as although her books are not great literature, the majority are good recreational reads and she also gives a lot of insight into the world of the 20s and 30s including the remarkable level of interest in spiritualism in a day to day way of those times. This blog:

http://forteana-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/agatha-christies-seances.htm

has some very interesting comments on this issue of which I'm quoting just one:

But just as interesting are those stories where spiritualism merely forms part of the cultural background, without any serious suggestion of supernatural goings on. In one story the characters might play a game of bridge in the evening, in another they may hold a séance. From a social point of view, there often seems to be little difference between the two activities!

By the way Christie's 'non-detective' works are worth considering. Again, in my opinion, they are very uneven in quality, but I think it would be a pity to be a reader and not have read in particular 'And Then There Were None' which is a thriller of great psychological intensity rather than a detective story. There was a tremendous three part adaptation of this on TV in 2015 which I keep hoping they will show again. I'm soon bored by TV but I was glued to the screen during this. The atmosphere created was quite something.

[Slarti]

Another good Detective read is Ngaio Marsh, her books are mainly about the cases of Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard. A bit old fashioned, but enjoyable.

Also in that category are the George Gently books by Alan Hunter. They have very little in common with the TV series they somehow inspired, other than the main character's name.

A surprising source of detective short stories is Isaac Asimov, the best known collection being Tales of the Black Widowers

RD Wingfield's Frost books have much the same stories as the TV series, but the harder character in the book makes them worth reading.

And for something American police procedural it is hard to beat Ed McBain.

Oh, and if looking at American, don't forget Raymond Chandler.

Cheers
Slarti

Edit to add Alexander McCall Smith's The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.