Mystery Novelists

I've read some Raymond Chandler in the detective genre. I've read some Agatha Christie in the mystery genre.
I enjoyed both, but I never got into either literary genre very much.
My father is a very enthusiastic reader of mysteries.

 

Just thought about Gillian Flynn. I believe she only has two books under her belt, but she is so damn good. Her stories are more in the thriller genre, but they will keep you guessing until the end - particularly "Dark Places," a book that is unlike anything I have ever read.

"Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club… and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer."

http://gillian-flynn.com/dark-places/

 

Never really got into the genre (or into fiction in general) until the start of this year when my sister recommended Sue Grafton's alphabet series. I'm on the "H" one now and have really enjoyed them. I really like the Kinsey Millhone character and personally I enjoy the references to Santa Barbara (disguised as "Santa Teresa") and the surrounding communities because I live on the Central Coast.

My experiences with the Grafton books have me thinking of taking a break and trying an Elmore Leonard or Carl Hiassen novel in the future.

 

Beat me to it! I was going to mention the alphabet series. Great stuff and Kinsey Milhone is one of my favourite characters.

 

Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo.
Great stuff.

 

I'll second Ian Rankin. Tremendous stuff.

 

All,

Thanks. Lehane, Mankell, Pelecanos and Steve Hamilton it is.

I tried Mosely--I really liked the first half of The Red Death but it meandered I thought. I was told that it's the best of his series, so I'll try it again. The voice was a great invention.

I didn't like Connolly's The Poet that much, but I'll give his other stuff a try. And I will try Lehane. I had a friend recommend Robert Parker's stuff but I tried it twenty years ago and was left cold.

PCLL, I have read and re-read TFoEC and own the Criterion edition with Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle, both amazing. For dialogue, I can't imagine that any are better.

YHS, etc

 

Went on a similar mystery binge a few years ago (lots of spare time on the road) and ate up all the Grafton, Patricia Cornwell, and John Grisham books on the used paperback shelves ... my mom, a mystery nut, was still living then, so we had fun swapping books back and forth ... have gotten away from that, but am getting the urge again ... will certainly check out some of the recommendations on this thread ....

 

I was on vacation years ago and the house where we were staying had Rex Stout's "The Silent Speaker" so I read that and have been hooked on Stout's Nero Wolfe series every since.

 

I've loved Mankell after a co-worker recommended him a couple of years ago.

Have you read the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series?

I also enjoy Tana French, Connelly and Lehane.

The Harlan Coben stuff is enjoyable as well (both the sports agent series and his non-agent books.)

 

John Sandford, Michael Connelly, James Lee Burke, Harlan Coben and Lee Child currently make up my five-man rotation.

 

"The Lincoln Lawyer" would be a decent spot to start with Connelly. It was the first book in a new series for him, so you won't be missing the back story (though the character ends up with a connection to Harry Bosch, Connelly's main recurring character).

Wasn't wild about "The Poet." Connelly said a few years later that at a booksigning someone came up to him and said "You aren't a parent, are you? Someone with a child never would have written 'The Poet.'" Connelly was befuddled and kind of offended... and years later he became a father, and he says the guy was right, he'd never write that book now.