06-28-2011, 04:59 AM | #46 | |
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06-28-2011, 06:06 AM | #47 | |
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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. |
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06-28-2011, 11:22 AM | #48 | |
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A large part of his short stories, even if not connected between them, ended up as chpaters in his longer novels. The short stories are better than the full novels, IMHO. Back to the OP's question: For mysteries, I really love Georges Simenon and Ellery Queen. I also think that Asimov's Caves of Steel is a very good mystery novel, at least in the Si-Fi genre. If I was requested to write a "best of the century" list, I'd manage to include also: Jack and Jill and Pop Goes the Weasel by James Patterson The Coffin Dancer and The Blue Nowhere by Jeffery Deaver The Millennium Trilogy (at least the first instalment) by Stieg Larsson The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (which will be included in the best Historical Fiction, too) Last edited by Format C:; 06-28-2011 at 11:35 AM. |
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06-28-2011, 09:11 PM | #49 |
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exactly! peter, harriet, peter's family and his inspector feel like people you might know. agatha christie's characters never feel that fully fleshed to me.
i've read some ngaios. my favorite is probably "black as he's painted", despite its typical period racism. i love two of the characters - i found them delightful. i like all the earlier ones, actually, and would probably start with artists in crime rather than black as he's painted. |
06-29-2011, 01:13 AM | #50 |
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+1 for Josephine Tey. I was going to list her "Daughter of Time" as one of my favorite mysteries. But is it the best of the 20th century? I'm not qualified to say. I know that it is for me.
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06-29-2011, 07:41 AM | #51 |
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The best crime/mystery novel of the Twentieth Century
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06-29-2011, 08:36 AM | #52 |
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Well, if it has to be a novel, I'd vote for Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Not usually thought of in this genre, but it does fit and it is a book that continues to reverberate across the literary world.
However, why go the novel route when there are so many real-life crime and mystery events that have been written about. How about, for example, these three:
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06-29-2011, 09:10 AM | #53 |
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Great - I see that Amazon sell all of Josephine Tey's books. Now definitely on my "to read" list!
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06-29-2011, 09:18 AM | #54 |
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06-29-2011, 10:06 AM | #55 |
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Josephine Tey downloads
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06-29-2011, 11:15 AM | #56 |
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06-29-2011, 11:41 AM | #57 |
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I believe Josephine Tey left her estate to the National Trust so hope they will get something from the sales.
Last edited by rosevinecats; 06-29-2011 at 12:00 PM. |
06-29-2011, 01:06 PM | #58 | |
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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. |
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06-30-2011, 05:39 PM | #59 |
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If you like "puzzle mysteries," try anything by John Dickson Carr, who also wrote under the name Carter Dickson.
But of course, that deviates from the thread topic. So...Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver. Unfortunately, not in ebook. |
06-30-2011, 06:36 PM | #60 |
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But regardless of the TV series, the books are really good.
There are some major glaring errors in the TV series. Rizzoli is a blond and Isles has black hair. So they have the wrong people playing the parts just on character descriptions alone. |
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