The best crime/mystery novel of the Twentieth Century

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by stonetools

Maybe we should have a true crime thread .
Plenty of great crime nonfiction out there-often more interesting than the fictional stuff. I'll take the liberty of posting your examples on the Nonfiction Recommendations Thread, if you don't object.

No objection

[Todd Young]

Originally Posted by issybird

Got it. Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley.

I have to agree with Patricia Highsmith. She's very underated. I like The Talented Mr Ripley, though I prefer Deep Water and the Bluderer.

[janus56]

Cozy mystery - Death on Nile, Agatha Christie
Hard boiled private eye - Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
Police procedural - Lonely Hearts, John Harvey
International\spy thriller- The Mask of Dimitrios (US title: A Coffin for Dimitrios), Eric Ambler

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by beachwanderer

I tend to agree.

If one wants to take another perspective on european crime writing in the 1930s:

Friedrich Glauser (1896 to 1938) wrote some neat stories about "Wachtmeister Studer", a fictional swiss policeman from Bern. The german texts are out of copyright and have been added to the Patricia Clark Memorial Library here on MR by mtravellerh.

As far as I can see there are ebooks of english translations of "Wachtmeister Studer" ("Thumbprint") and "Der Chinese" ("The Chinaman") over at amazon.

Mind you, I don't know if they "work" as translations, as the originals derive some of their feel by occasional use of the local language. But the way Glauser develops his stories and characters should work alright.

I just finished the English translation of "Thumbprint" - and the style was certainly very reminiscent of Georges Simenon's Maigret (some sources describe Glauser as "the Swiss Maigret") - very simple prose, a detective who pays attention to people's behavior and expects them to lie and not cooperate with the police, depicting the police force largely tangled in bureaucracy & politics, a thinking/contemplative detective, etc. In particular, the plot has Studer staying in a small village, trying to decode and understand the long-standing loyalties, feuds, politics, etc. - which is the setting for many Maigret novels: big city policeman versus small town protectiveness and inwardness - while trying to solve a murder.

The translation is a bit rough in places. Sauerkraut & pig's knuckles was translated as "bacon joint". The shifts between local language and formal language is explicitly described, for example, "he resumed his official German diction" or "he began speaking as a peasant would" or "he now sounded like a French nobleman" - the translator chose to identify the verbal shifts rather than try to reproduce them.

Overall, very readable in translation, especially for fans of Maigret. The big downside for the Amazon version - it's Topaz, with some weird formatting, but overall a fairly clean text. The chapter titles didn't render well at all, but the text contained few problems.

[Phogg]

For hard boiled detectives, I am partial to Max Allan Collin's Nate Heller series.

[beppe]

Nobody has mentioned yet the one that I consider the best ever, and quite possibly for ever:
Fred Vargas is the pseudonym of the French historian, archaeologist and writer Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau (born 1957 in Paris). Her crime fiction policiers have won three International Dagger Awards from the Crime Writers Association, for three successive novels: in 2006, 2008 and 2009. She is the first author to achieve such an honor. In each case her translator into English has been Sîan Reynolds, who was also recognized by the international award.

Yes, the 20th Century. She has 5 in the last Century, all outstanding masterpieces.

1995 - Debout les morts; English translation: The Three Evangelists, 2006, (Prix Mystère de la critique)
1996 - Un peu plus loin sur la droite
1997 - Sans feu ni lieu

1996 - L'Homme aux cercles bleus; English title: The Chalk Circle Man, 2009
1999 - L'Homme à l'envers; English title: Seeking Whom He May Devour, 2004, (Prix Mystère de la critique)

Any of her stories could be chosen as the best of the century. Yes, it is a very brazen statement, but try her out and you will be fascinated.

[tilia]

Originally Posted by beppe

Nobody has mentioned yet the one that I consider the best ever, and quite possibly for ever:
Fred Vargas is the pseudonym of the French historian, archaeologist and writer Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau (born 1957 in Paris).

Thanks! You reminded me that I haven't read the latest one translated to Norwegian (An Uncertain Place). Not all of her books have been translated to Norwegian, but those I have read were very good, with interesting plots and characters. I think I’m going to have to read the rest in English some day.

[beppe]

Originally Posted by tilia

Thanks! You reminded me that I haven't read the latest one translated to Norwegian (An Uncertain Place). Not all of her books have been translated to Norwegian, but those I have read were very good, with interesting plots and characters. I think I’m going to have to read the rest in English some day.

Not in French?

[tilia]

No, unfortunately my knowledge of French is limited, so that would be a very slow read. I wish I could read more languages, but I think I’d try Spanish before I started on French. At least I’d know how to pronunciate the words.

[beppe]

There is a very good Spanish writer of Thrillers, exceptional. I can recommend him enthusiastically.

Manuel Vázquez Montalbán

[tilia]

Originally Posted by beppe

There is a very good Spanish writer of Thrillers, exceptional. I can recommend him enthusiastically.

Manuel Vázquez Montalbán

Sounds interesting, a gastronome-detective. But have to admit, I'm sure I'll go for easy and read him in English .

[Ransom]

Originally Posted by crich70

Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep" is a good one.

Yeah, that is a good one, and Chandler has some of the best one-liners in the biz:

"To say goodbye is to die a little." ~ The Long Goodbye

"I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it." ~ The Big Sleep

"From 30 feet away she looked like a lot of class. From 10 feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from 30 feet away." ~ The High Window

Her eyes rounded. She was puzzled. She was thinking. I could see, even on that short acquaintance, that thinking was always going to be a bother to her." ~ The Big Sleep

"He snorted and hit me in the solar plexus. I bent over and took hold of the room with both hands and spun it. When I had it nicely spinning I gave it a full swing and hit myself on the back of the head with the floor." ~ Pearls Are a Nuisance

[Ransom]

They were short stories rather than novels, but I've always thought Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries were the best crime-mysteries of the century. He also had a novel called The Man Who Was Thursday that was a very good crime-mystery novel, but it was also very much a fantasy, so I wouldn't think of it being in the same category really.

[coderserdar]

there are a lof of books

agatha christie - murder on orient express
agatha christie - murder of roger ackroyd
agatha christie - ten little niggers

choose it

[Quake1028]

Ten Little Indians - Agatha Christie