'Classic' Detective Stories you have enjoyed.

[aeolium]

I suppose Leslie Charteris' Simon Templar became a sort of detective later on, though always on the fringes of the law. I wonder why the 'golden age' of the detective story was the inter-war years (excepting of course the Sherlock Holmes stories which mainly came out in the 2 decades before the first war) whereas the age of the ghost story was more the half-century preceding the first war.

[Thespian]

charles t. Yes a brief mention of Brett but no-one mentioned the chaotic life of Charles Paris, very funny books. Weren't they also on TV?

There was a Radio 4 series of Charles Paris some years ago

[salymap]

As a child, I followed in my elder brother's footsteps, first with Sherlock Holmes, then with Father Brown. Of both I have vivid memories of certain stories (The Man with the Twisted Lip, The Red-Headed League, The Dancing Men, The Speckled Band (of course), The Wrong Shape, hmmm, more Holmes than Brown, on reflection): I wonder if that's because one remembers things from the distant past more clearly?

My 'Christie' equivalent was the silliness of Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin, and also from student days, Gaston Leroux (Le mystère de la chambre jaune, Le parfum de la dame en noir - and, naturally, Le fantôme de l'Opéra).

Lots of names, like Crispin, which have been mentioned and two or three from the 'classic' era who (possibly?) haven't:

Nicholas Blake (C Day Lewis): e.g. The Beast Must Die
Francis Iles: e.g. Before the Fact - which I see was the novel on which Hitchcock's Suspicion was based.
Ronald Knox: The Footsteps at the Lock

Re Dornford Yates: My parents had reams and reams of his works which were published in a book club edition, bound in a greeny grey buckram. I don't think they ever read them (they never read anything), and I never got further than the titles in the bookcase.

Frenchie, who was it said "Books do furnish a room" ? My ma liked Mrs Gaskell's novels and left several which I enjoyed too. One other book ' The Cuckoo Clock' about lots of butterflies, if I remember correctly.
All long lost/thrown out. Sorry, not detective so off topic.

[mercia]

' The Cuckoo Clock' about lots of butterflies

is that Mrs Molesworth's Cuckoo Clock?

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/molesworth/clock/clock.html

[salymap]

Yes, that's it mercia. It was scary to a small child as I had no wish to be covered in butterflies.

[Mahlerei]

Has anyone mentioned Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels? I read all of them years ago and remember Detective Steve Carella as one of the main characters. Perhaps they're more police procedurals than 'tec, but I enjoyed them at the time. Oh, and Micky Spillane's Mike Hammer as well.

More recently, Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency boks made quite an impact; I think there was even a BBC TV production. Very lightweight - some might say twee - but the sentiments and charm are spot on.

[Chris Newman]

When young I enjoyed Georges Simenon's "Maigret" stories. I rather liked his uncouth manners (rakishness is too polite) apparently like the author's. The books are hard to find these days.

A author's one off that I found totally compelling was "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. He really made his reader work for his supper, like a sort of "Medieval Morse", and unlike the film, which highly entertaining, simplified the book to mere plot. Of course, others have since written monastic and medieval who-dunnits but "Brother Cadfael" is nowhere near the same class of detective as Brother William of Baskerville.

For something rather different there are the highly camped-up spoofs (or should I say spooves?) of Sherlock Holmes Mark Gatiss's "The Vesuvius Club" and "The Devil in Amber" feature Lucifer Box, Victorian/Edwardian detective extraordinaire who rodgers everything and everyone in sight whilst solving his cases.

[Sparafucile]

Hi,
I've recently read Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone, ( I never seem to be far from 'Sensationalist' literature for very long!), as well as The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, with which it has a number of connections. Sherlock Holmes stories are never far away either, and I recently picked up a volume in the budget price Wordworth editions of Victorian crime fiction, which is full of stuff I'm completely unfamiliar with. Wonderfull!
Also recently read Dorothy L. Sayers' Strong Poison, which was OK, but not as good as Gaudy Night or The Nine Tailors.

Of more recent fair, Scandinavian crime fiction has it's claws in me, well and truly, as does the historical crime writing of C.J. Sansom, Rory Clements, and S.J. Parris.

[amateur51]

May I lob in Watcher in The Shadows (1960) and Rogue Male (1939) by Geoffrey Household, both excellent British thrillers, and CP Snow's early excursion into mystery fiction, Death under Sail (1932)?

Does anyone read C P Snow's other stuff these days, such as the Strangers and Brothers series? Like J B Priestley recently, perhaps Snow's time for a re-assessment is over-due

[salymap]

A book on my shelves that is worth looking out for..........Bloody Murder. From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel: A History. by Julian Symons, Faber 1972.

[DoctorT]

DoctorT - yes, I'm a Rankin fan; & have you read Kate Atkinson's books? Jackson Brodie is in the same mould as Rebus.

Yes Flosshilde: I've read them all. The most recent one has a great title: 'Started early, took my dog.'

[Flosshilde]

A author's one off that I found totally compelling was "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. He really made his reader work for his supper, like a sort of "Medieval Morse", and unlike the film, which highly entertaining, simplified the book to mere plot. Of course, others have since written monastic and medieval who-dunnits but "Brother Cadfael" is nowhere near the same class of detective as Brother William of Baskerville.

For something rather different there are the highly camped-up spoofs (or should I say spooves?) of Sherlock Holmes Mark Gatiss's "The Vesuvius Club" and "The Devil in Amber" feature Lucifer Box, Victorian/Edwardian detective extraordinaire who rodgers everything and everyone in sight whilst solving his cases.

Yes, I'm afraid that that's the only Umberto Eco novel I've read, &, while I enjoy it enormously as a who-dun-it I always suspect that I'm missing some terribly clever analogy to modern times!
The Brother Cadfael novels started before 'The Name of the Rose' - 'A Morbid Taste for Bones', the first, was published in 1977; 'Name of the Rose' in 1980 in Italian & English in 1983, so Ellis Peters can be rest assured that she (?) started the trend!

Like Sparafucile I rate Sayers' 'Nine Tailors' highly. Wonderfully atmospheric, with a nice touch of horror, and some fascinating information about change-ringing into the bargain!

[Ferretfancy]

french frank

I remember reading And Berry Came To, expecting it to be a thriller, but it was actually one of a series of books featuring Berry and his friends living it up and designing villa in the South of France. On the other hand, in thrillers like Dangerous Corner, the protagonists always had a chauffeur ready with the Lagonda whenever danger loomed, they were far too grand to drive themselves!

[antongould]

Catching up again with this wonderful thread - in terms of modern writers I rate Rankin, who has been mentioned, highly but also 2 "Nordic" writers who possibly haven't been posted - being Mankell with the Wallender series and Indridason with the Sveinsson books.

[Ferretfancy]

I must dip my feet in the water again for some of those gloomy Swedes. I started the Stieg Larsson series, but lost interest halfway through the second book. I couldn't help feeling that if he had lived, the author would have worked closely with an editor. Some of the padding could have been cut without spoiling the overall mood. As it was, I lost track of how many times the hero made himself a cup of coffee!