Crime Fiction Recommendations

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Fredric Brown's The Screaming Mimi is available for download from Munsey's for free.

http://www.munseys.com/detail/mode/title/Screaming_Mimi

As are The Fabulous Clipjoint and A Plot for Murder.
______
Dennis

[Billjr13]

Gregory Funero's books The Sculptor, and The Impaller, are both worth checking out.

[SensualPoet]

Margaret Truman, daughter of President Harry Truman, wrote over 20 "Capitol Crimes" novels, from the mid-1980s till year death three years ago. Murder at the Library of Congress (1999) links an "accidental" murder in Florida during the theft of a painting from an unimportant local gallery with an underground art theft ring in Los Angeles with ties to Mexican mafia and spins it around a "lost" diary of Christopher Columbus' shipmate and a researcher at the Library of Congress. As the title suggests, another murder occurs in the library premises itself.

Although a series, Truman creates new characters for each story: they are detailed, sympathetic portraits with nominal short-hand, creating believable characters with genuine motivations for their actions. The plotting is solid and the language adult without straying into sensational. One of the things I enjoy about her books is the real-life settings and unravelling: there are no serial killers with hoods lurking in the shadows. This is mainstream murder mystery stuff, with a dash of politics, rather than a spills-and-chills thriller or larger-than-life villains. A highly entertaining read from first page to last.

Available in Kobo, Kindle and other editions, for about $6.

[SensualPoet]

Once-upon-a-time, the name Leslie Charteris was recognised by practically every reader in the English-speaking world. Today, while his most enduring character is remembered, those of us doing the remembering are, alas, approaching retirement. The suave action hero is, of course, The Saint, and he pre-dates the early 1960s TV series famously featuring Roger Moore by 30 years. Charteris passed away in 1993, having written dozens of The Saint novels, and enjoyed seeing his character become a 20th century icon of movies, radio and TV. The Saint, aka Simon Templar, turns 83 this year.

Sadly, none of the novels are currently in print. Not even one. (That's not to say they can't be found in second hand shops, on ebay and in epub and other formats on the Darknet.) Featuring The Saint, from 1931, was the fifth book in the series to be published, and the second made up of novellas that originally appeared in pulp magazines. There's no real connection tying the stories together. The Logical Adventure involves drug and human smuggling in Europe; The Wonderful War is an unlikely adventure in which Simon Templar upsets a dictator in an unnamed Central American country; The Man Who Could Not Die is a more conventional tale of corporate fraud, ego and attempted murder.

Charteris's clipped style and "Boys Own Annual" comic book sense of reality make these pretty light reading but taken on their own values, they are enjoyable diversions. I'm looking forward to sampling one of the longer pieces on my next holiday.

[SensualPoet]

John Ballem was a successful Calgary-based lawyer who authored 14 mystery novels including this one, Murder as a Fine Art, published in 2002. Set in Banff, a tourist town in the mountains an hour's drive from Calgary, Alberta, it makes full use of the gorgeous views and exploits the town's reputation as an artist's haven. Several arts festivals annually, serving many different disciplines, are held there: the ingredient mix of artistic ego, an exotic (Canadian) setting and a couple of murders promises an interesting meal.

Laura Janeway is a painter who has won the right to stay in a small, closely knit artist refuge in Banff, occupying one of eight of cottage studios where she can create without inhibitions and be inspired by fellow artists from other disciplines, sharing the colony's facilities and energy. Alas, first one resident dies suspiciously falling down stairs; then a second burns alive in her cottage, clearly the victim of arson ... and murder. The local officers arrive, and Laura finds herself caught up in the investigation. Are there more murders on the horizon?

Dundurn Press has published at least two other works by Ballem, Victim of Convenience and Manchineel, and I'd like to say I'll be rushing to pick up another. But I found his style workaday, his characters superficially drawn (certainly not standing out as "fine art"), the murderer rather too easy to guess and the whole experience something less than a sum of its parts. There are some nice touches as a travel advertisement for Banff.

Available in Kobo, Kindle and other editions, for about $7.

[SensualPoet]

Glady's Mitchell's terrific heroine, Mrs Beatrice Bradley, is a recent discovery for me. Six of her 66 novels are currently in e-print from Random House and happily available from my local library. In October, I reported on The Saltmarsh Murders here. In Death at the Opera (1934), Mrs Bradley is brought in to investigate the suspicious drowning of a teacher at Hillmaston School; the incident took place during the performance of The Mikado by the students and staff for the benefit of the parents and local community. Despite drowning in a basin of water in a utility closet, the coroner declares suicide – but the headmaster is not convinced. Enter sly but feisty Mrs Bradley who quickly uncovers dark motives, deep secrets, clandestine love affairs and potential enemies around every corner: seemingly everyone had a motive and an alibi. And then a second murder occurs ...

It's a delicious tale, told at a leisurely pace, full of eccentric but believable characters which will leave you routing for one, then another, to be innocent or spared from an indiscretion being made public. It's not clear to me why other talented writers – contemporaries Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh and others – are still so widely celebrated yet Mitchell is not. One hopes a mini revival is taking place and more of these delightful stories will return to circulation.

Available for Kobo, Kindle and from other vendors for about $8.50.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

It's not clear to me why other talented writers – contemporaries Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh and others – are still so widely celebrated yet Mitchell is not. One hopes a mini revival is taking place and more of these delightful stories will return to circulation.

How popular was Mitchell back then?

I'm a casual mystery fan, with a preference of offbeat police procedurals. I was aware of Christie, Sayers, Allingham, Marsh, and others because they had remained in print. Mitchell apparently did not. It sounds like her publisher just didn't feel there was a market once she was no longer actively writing. (There are certainly many authors in all genres who sold well enough to be published while alive, but not well enough to remain in print after.)

Another series I'm a bit surprised hasn't stayed in print are the John Putnam Thatcher mysteries by Emma Lathen. Thatcher is Senior Vice President of the Trust Department at the Sloan Guaranty Trust bank in NYC, the third largest bank in Lathen's world. He finds himself involved in murders motivated by money, and solves the crimes by figuring out who stood to make (or avoid losing) a bundle because of the murder. Each book was set in a different industry (The first, _Accounting for Murder_ was in defense contracting), and fans would write to two women writing as Lathen asking when she would set a book in their industry.
______
Dennis

[SensualPoet]

She must have been popular enough if she wrote 66 novels with the same lead character ... one a year for about 60 years ... and there was a British television / PBS series based on the books starring Diana Rigg from the late 1990s ... so, some lingering interest and clearly some during the author's lifetime (Ms Mitchell died in 1983).

There's a nice summary, btw, of "golden age" mystery writers at this page: http://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/boo...y/classic.html

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

She must have been popular enough if she wrote 66 novels with the same lead character ... one a year for about 60 years ... and there was a British television / PBS series based on the books starring Diana Rigg from the late 1990s ... so, some lingering interest and clearly some during the author's lifetime (Ms Mitchell died in 1983).

<blink> I missed the BBC/PBS series with Diana Rigg.

Which makes Mitchell's current mostly out of print status even more mysterious.

Well, the nice thing about ebooks is that it makes it far more economic to keep stuff like this available, so perhaps we'll see more.

There's a nice summary, btw, of "golden age" mystery writers at this page: http://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/boo...y/classic.html

Very nice. Thank you! Added to my resource file.
______
Dennis

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Another series I'm a bit surprised hasn't stayed in print are the John Putnam Thatcher mysteries by Emma Lathen. Thatcher is Senior Vice President of the Trust Department at the Sloan Guaranty Trust bank in NYC, the third largest bank in Lathen's world. He finds himself involved in murders motivated by money, and solves the crimes by figuring out who stood to make (or avoid losing) a bundle because of the murder. Each book was set in a different industry (The first, _Accounting for Murder_ was in defense contracting), and fans would write to two women writing as Lathen asking when she would set a book in their industry.

I like the tagline some of her books carried: "The Agatha Christie of Wall Street".

[DMB]

I love Emma Lathen. I still have a battered set of them in paperback.

[Mayzshon]

For novels about actual criminals, I suggest Donald Westlake's Dortmunder series. Or Richard Stark's Parker series, though I prefer the lighter tone of Dortmunder.

Also in a more comedic vein: Richard Prather's Shell Scott series. The ones fro the fifties and sixties are the best, by the seventies Shell becomes a bit insufferable.

[SensualPoet]

There are no end of pastiches of "new" stories of Sherlock Holmes and his good friend, the chronicler of their adventures, Dr Watson as originally created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Recently, Tony Reynolds has "edited" a new selection called The Lost Stories of Sherlock Holmes. There are eight tales here of varying quality. The are "authentic" stories written in the time of Holmes; they are not transplants to Mars or the 1970s; Holmes is not a woman; etc. They are agreeable, but in no way outstanding; they do not mimic Doyle's rhythm or pacing; nor does the dialogue especially ring true.

But there are pleasures to be found: The Adventure of the Russian Anarchist offers a decent twist; The Adventure of the Medium a happy ending; The Adventure of the Amazonian Explorer some entertaining clues; and The Giant Rat of Sumatra its share of bizarreness. As a whole, the collection is lightweight and unmemorable -- but not offensive. It's a pleasant enough summer diversion, especially as a library book.

Available for Kobo, Kindle and other e-readers for about $8.

[carpetmojo]

James Lee Burke, James Lee Burke................oh, yes.......... James Lee Burke.

Peter Robinson et al aint bad either, and I'll bend me brain to this topic further, but.......

James Lee Burke.

[carpetmojo]

Of course - Michael Connelly, the Bosch series, wonderful.
Robert Crais ( ElvisCole/ Joe Pike), Richard Parker, the Ed McBains [a little "historic" feeling , which is nice. Peter Robinson, from the UK , stars Inspector Banks, really good detective/police procedural.
Ian Rankin too, of course, only not up with the above, personally.

Jack Reacher is really Thriller territory, and very enjoyable

Believe it or not, Hercule Poirot I also enjoy, and Arthur C. Doyle and the master sleuth- but one does have to concentrate, I do, anyway.

That's me for now I think !!

It's dark room and cucumber slices time................