At the end, the reader should be surprised... not in a "that's unbelievable-surprised" way. Instead, gobsmacked and realizing that they should have seen it coming. The clues were all in plain sight (the writer "played fair).
I recommended some more modern books for the budding mystery writer. For instance GONE GIRL (Gillian Flynn) and DEVIL IN THE BLUE DRESS (Walter Mosley) for writing character. THE HARD WAY (Lee Child) and THE DAY OF THE JACKAL (Frederick Forsyth) for writing action. For writing suspense, WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN (May Higgins Clark) and TELL NO ONE (Harlan Coben.)
I also put together a list of "classics" that define the genre.
HALLIE'S LST OF CLASSICS THAT DEFINE THE MYSTERY GENRE
The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Circular Staircase (1908) by Mary Roberts Rinehart
The Roman Hat Mystery (1929) by Ellery Queen
The Maltese Falcon (1930) by Dashiell Hammett
The Nine Tailors (1934) by Dorothy L. Sayers
Fer-de-Lance (1934) by Rex Stout
Death in Ecstasy (1936) by Ngaio Marsh
The Big Sleep (1939) by Raymond Chandler
The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) by Agatha Christie
I the Jury (1947) by Mickey Spillane
Brat Farrar (1949) by Josephine Tey
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) by Patricia Highsmith
The Laughing Policeman (1968) by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
Indemnity Only (1982) by Sara Paretsky
Twice Shy (1982) by Dick Francis
So my question today is what "classics" got you hooked on reading mystery (suspense... thriller... crime...) novels?
What "classics" got me hooked on reading mystery novels? Sherlock Holmes, I suppose . . . and Nancy Drew . . . and a love of trying to figure out who did it.
ReplyDeleteI agree, that's the fun of them.
DeleteNancy Drew and Ellery Queen got me started in my early teens. But later, as an adult, I fell in love with The Moonstone (which I have read at least four times) and Sherlock Holmes, also Raymond Chandler's mysteries and Josephine Tey's Brat Farrar. Ohh, and also Victor Canning's mysteries and Helen McInnes.
ReplyDeleteThe Moonstone was my first, too. Then Josephine Tey.
DeleteInteresting, Hallie. I am not writing a mystery, but I may read your book. If I do, will I become more critical of the mysteries I enjoy now?
ReplyDeleteI did read Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes. I read E.A. Poe, but is that horror? I also read Daphne du Maurier. But I don't think those mysteries brought me here today. That's a story for another time.
Sounds intriguing!
DeleteWhere Are The Children definitely steered me to crime fiction, and I'm currently reading Harlan Coben's Tell No One. Thanks, Hallie, for a great list of go-to books for mystery inspiration.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! Sharing books we love is such a delight.
DeleteDefinitely The Hound as a child, along with all of Doyle's other stories, and Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames, Student Nurse (and Poe). I know I also read Christie, but can't remember which. In grad school I devoured Dorothy Sayers.
ReplyDeleteWhat made me an aspiring writer as an adult were Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton, Katherine Hall Page and Diane Mott Davidson. Wow, I thought, when women write female protagonists, the story never includes commentary on women's body parts. I was hooked and then tried my hand at writing same.
I started with The Hardy Boys, naturally, but soon moved on to Erle Stanley Gardner's Parry Mason books (influence by the television show at the time). Then Dame Agatha. As a young teen, I discovered the Richard Prather Shell Scott series, impressed by all the naked and near naked ladies, as well as the humor; I was surprised when I found a number of my high school friends were also into Prather. Around the same time I began reading EQMM cover to cover. Halfway through high school, I was gobsmacked by I,THE JURY. Then I stumbled onto Ed McBain and the 87th Precinct. Shortly after high schoool, I moved on to the usual suspects -- Rex Stout, John Dickson Carr, Leslie Charteris, and others (I still hadn't read Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Jpsephine Tey, or Margery Allingham back then). Of course, interspersed with all of this were deep dives into science fiction.
ReplyDeleteIn college, I got heavily into private eye novels, but I also devoured the Carter Brown books (once of twice reading five of them in one day -- the heck with studying!).
I seldom reread books, because there's still too much good new stuff out there, and I get sad to think that I have read most of the books published by my favorite authors who have passed on, such as Bill Crider, Ed Gorman, Evan Hunter, and others. Luckily, there are many, many, many authors I have not read who will eventually join my list of favorite authors.
Wow! Thanks for commenting Jerry - you've given me quite a number of titles and authors with whom I'm ot familiar. (Did love Evan Hunter's books)
DeleteFrom Jay:
ReplyDeleteThere are two books on Hallie's list that factor into my love of mysteries.
Alongside my early love of Encyclopedia Brown, The Three Investigators and those blue hardback editions of The Hardy Boys, it was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles that stoked my love of mysteries as a child and going into more adult level reading.
And it was alongside Robert B. Parker and Sue Grafton that Sara Paretsky's Indemnity Only that revived my love of reading after four years of high school effectively destroyed it. I got to thank Sara in person for that last year.
I had a similar experience - I stopped reading for pleasure in college - it became a chore - mysteries brought me back to the page.
DeleteI never read for pleasure in college because there was so much reading for classes, it was the last thing I wanted to do for fun. When I was a graduating senior (and had A’s in my classes so did not have to take finals but was hanging around for the grad ceremony) I was delighted to find that the University library did indeed have fiction books! I believe I went with Agatha Christie.
DeletePD James. When I first contemplated writing a mystery, Diane Mott Davidson and Katherine Hall Page. Daniel Silva's thrillers. Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky. My current WIP is very loosely based on Helen MacInnes and the characters in her foreign intrigue novels. More recently, Martin Walker's Bruno, Chief of Police mysteries. Set in SW France, the settings are lush with descriptions of the landscape, food, and wine, balanced with a healthy infusion of twentieth century history (WW 2, Algerian War, Cold War).
ReplyDeleteLots of great suggestions - Thanks, Margaret.
DeleteI like your definition, Hallie. But then you lost me with the word classic. I'm not sure what the definition of classic is unless it is something that we agree has stood the test of time. I started with Agatha Christie when I was in the seventh grade. I can still remember that paperback book that was in my Christmas stocking. From there I went on to many of the ones you have mentioned, as well as Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels that I dearly loved. He was wonderful at writing characters. And Donald Westlake's comedic mysteries. Does anyone remember the husband and wife writing team, whose names I absolutely do not recall at this moment? I also loved the Asey Mayo books by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. Those books I loved mostly for their setting, Cape Cod before it became Cape Cod, if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good definition for "classic": "something that we agree has stood the test of time"
DeleteWhen you mentioned the husband and wife writing team, it made me think of Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini. I started reading Marcia Muller in the 80's - she's often credited with introducing the first female PI (beat Grafton and Parensky by a couple of years). Sooooo many great authors!!
DeleteMy first mysteries were Nancy Drew because what kid wouldn’t love to have that kind of adventure? Nowadays I read many mystery sub genres but “whodunnits” are still my favorite. In any mystery, the sense of justice is what makes the story fulfilling for me but, of course, I also read series because I love the characters.
ReplyDeleteBTW Hallie, I taught a college course in writing mysteries a few years ago and used your wonderful book as the textbook. My students loved it as much as I do!
That makes me SO HAPPY! Thanks for sharing, Cathy.
DeleteAgatha Christie and John Dickson Carr--these were the kinds of authors available in our public library. I did read Nancy Drew, but it was the grown-up authors that I devoured.
ReplyDeleteI agree - Nancy Drew didn't make me want to continue reading mysteries. But I remember my first Miss Marple! Oh my.
DeleteI haven’t read any of the classics mentioned in your post, Hallie.
ReplyDeleteI came to mystery novels, as an adult, reading Diane Mott Davidson, Sue Grafton and Robert B. Parker. Since then I’ve read thousands of them, the majority of them written by women.
Danielle
The 'modern's' you mention have all become classic, imho
DeleteMy aunt in Leeds introduced me to Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle when I was a teenager. My mom had some Dorothy Sayers novels, which she loved. I have a clear memory of mom explaining what the Nine Tailors were, She also encouraged us to read The Daughter of Time (Richard III was always loved in Yorkshire). Another book that I adored as a teen, which fits Hallie's definition of a mystery, was The Middle Window by Elizabeth Goudge. So sad and romantic! Later, when I got into mysteries as a genre, I found Dick Francis, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, Tony Hillerman and others,
ReplyDeleteYes on The Daughter of Time - who else could write a book with a detective hospitalized.
DeleteHallie, your book is the priceless how-to that helped launch my own mystery writing career. I recommend it to EVERYONE. As to classics, I hate to be boring but everything by Dame Agatha. I have a particular affection for Sleeping Murder because I love anything where a major clue involves a quote from Duchess of Malfi. Ms. Christie did repeat one of her own plot twists with this book but the set-up is so haunting - almost paranormal until it’s logically explained - that I can get past that.
ReplyDeleteYour choices are so perfect! Murder on the Orient Express was pivotal for me. As were the lord Peter Wimsey, and Harriet Vane mysteries by Dorothy Sayers. I also gravitated toward the 60s apocalyptic political thrillers like Failsafe and Alas Babylon, and Seven Days in May. . Talk about high-stakes! And Sidney Sheldon’s The Other Side of Midnight. For the amazing twist and for playing with readers expectations. (But when did that come out? I feel like I was a bit older.) Certainly the Day of the Jackal was pivotal. I still think about that book when I write. Incredible. To make us root for the bad guy. EVERY TIME!
ReplyDeleteOh, rats. That’s me above.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was maybe nine or ten, I discovered a book on my parents’ shelves that seeded my passion for a good mystery. It is still at my bedside.
ReplyDeleteIt is the complete short stories of Guy de Maupassant. If you’ve not read “The Diamond Necklace”, you’re missing something exquisitely written.
When I looked at your list, Hallie, I see I’ve read all but a couple of those books. It’s a great list. What to add? Many all of Mary Toberts Rinehart, all of Ellery Queen, and of course all of Guy de Maupassant
Fun topic
And absolutely all of Mick Herron!
DeleteWhat a great list. What started me? WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN was one of them. Also STILLWATCH. As for classics, the Agatha Christie canon, starting with MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (I have read MURDER AT THE VICARAGE, too).
ReplyDeleteMy sister who just died age 82 loved THE NINE TAILORS. She reread it often especially when she needed a comforting read set in the deep English fen countryside. I have enjoyed many of the British Library Classic reissues that Martin Edwards promotes and The Poisoned Pen has published.~Emily Dame
ReplyDeleteNancy Drew, of course! After that Daphne duMaurier, followed closely by Agatha Christie. It was a wonderful training ground.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first was allowed in the adult section of the library I worked my way through Christie, Marsh, Allingham. I never liked Conan Doyle! Later it was Tony Hillerman who influenced me
ReplyDeleteHALLIE: Loved GAUDY NIGHT by Dorothy L. Sayers, though it has more pages than I am accustomed to reading. And MURDER IN THE VICARAGE by Agatha Christie. Just finished the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency series by Jordan Stratford about Ada Byron and Mary Godwin as children who set up a Detective Agency. Mary Godwin was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft and she also authored FRANKENSTEIN when she was 19 years old.
ReplyDeleteBooks that I consider to be classics: MAISIE DOBBS by Jacqueline Winspear, DEAD BODY LANGUAGE by Penny Warner, SHERLOCK HOLMES by Arthur Conan Doyle, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS by Agatha Christie, DAUGHTER OF TIME by Josephine Tey, amongst several others.
QUESTION for all JRW mystery authors: Do you prefer writing Closure as in solution to the Questions including who the Villain is OR do you prefer Cliffhangers?
Diana
I have read a little over half of the books on your list, Hallie. I got hooked on mysteries when I was in Junior High School. Sherlock Holmes short stories and Agatha Christie, with a bit of Nancy Drew. When I discovered Judge Dee, I realized I could learn history along with armchair traveling. Your textbook is about to join my TBR mountain.
ReplyDeleteI can hardly remember when I read something that was NOT a mystery. From an early age, I remember spending my allowance money and my gift money on books, which were nearly always mysteries. I received mysteries as gifts for my birthday and Christmas. Titles include most of the ones mentioned here, and others as well. As I got into my teens, my dad and I read a lot of the same thrillers, mostly political.
ReplyDeleteDebRo
When I was in high school, I babysat for one of my aunts. She belonged to a subscription mystery book of the month club and had a den filled with books that were almost exclusively mysteries.
ReplyDeleteA number of them were anthologies of mystery authors. From these short stories I was introduced to many authors who wrote series featuring an ongoing detective.
It was through these stories that I discovered my first mystery authors. The ones I really liked I followed up on by going to the library and finding other stories they had written featuring the same characters.
These writers included Dorothy Sayers, Leslie Charteris, Elizabeth Daly, E.C. Bentley, Ellery Queen, R. Austin Freeman, Mary Robert Rinehart and many more from the golden age of mystery. This is where I was introduced to mysteries.
Since then I have added many more both from the earlier mystery authors such Phoebe Atwood Taylor, Edmund Crispin, Rex Stout and, of course, Agatha Christie.
More modern authors that I particularly like are Hazel Holt, Joan Hess, Anne George, John Sherman, Monica Ferris, Gerald Hammond, Amanda Cross, John Malcolm, Ellen Crosby, Jane Cleland, Sheila Connelly, Jeanne Dam and Elizabeth Duncan. A lot of them follow in the traditional style of the masters, they don’t use gimmicks, they have just created well-written stories with characters you want to continue to read about.
She's come up a lot for me recently between the announcement that Malice will be honoring her next week and me reading one of her books, but I would have to give credit to The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax for hooking me back in college. Granted, I already enjoyed mysteries, but this was part of what helped push me toward them as an adult.
ReplyDeleteI'd also put And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie on the list. But there are so many of hers that belong on there.
Great list, Hallie! When I was young, my aunt was the local librarian. After I'd torn through Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, she steered me into many of the classics. However, she also snuck a couple of more steamy novels my way with the promise I'd hide them from my mom. Steinbeck was at the top, along with several historical trilogies. One book stands out. Forever Amber, by Kathleen Windsor. I still credit my dear aunt with my love of reading.
ReplyDeleteFabulous list, Hallie. I loved The Daughter of Time by Tey, WHose Body by Sayers and all of the collected works of Edgar Allen Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I spent a lot of rainy weekends, reading my stacks of books from the library.
ReplyDeleteMet Dorothy Sayers in the stacks of the Tacoma Public Library when escaping the work of law school exams. She got me through! Happy Weekend, all. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteI can answer your question, because I didn't really mysteries as a child. Not at all. And I enjoyed Christie's great puzzles as a teen but wasn't "hooked." ( I know now that they characters weren't compelling enough) And then, early '20's, I somehow tried Dorothy L. Sayers. Hooked! Fascinating character. Setting, intelligence, wit, and -eventually - romance. All this plus a mystery? Not to leave out that it was a great time to be hooked - expansion of setting, woman detecives and huge opening of the genre.
ReplyDeleteMary Higgins Clark: She was my first mystery writer. I devoured every one of her books. She used to have a place on Cape Cod and one summer we went to one of her book signings at The Yellow Umbrella. Of course, she asked me what my favorite story was and I shared with her my fascination with the little bell tied with a string to the "dead" person buried in the coffin on the chance that they were not quite dead! That got me hooked on mysteries followed shortly by Robin Cook!
ReplyDeleteHallie, your book is wonderful, and belongs on every aspiring writer's shelf!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely Sayers for me, and then P.D. James. Although I reread Cover Her Face (the first Dalgliesh novel) fairly recently and didn't love it as much as I remembered.) Much later, when I was attempting to write a mystery, I was inspired by early Elizabeth George and early Martha Grimes.
I am in good company here. Nancy Drew was the spark and when the next one wasn't out yet I was willing to read Trixie Belden, Judy Bolton, or anyone where a girl got to do something exciting and be smart. My favorite aunt (also a librarian) got me started on Sherlock Holmes and then I was off and running. Now in our 70s, my graduate school best friend and I have finally finished the mystery we used to fantasize about writing when we were struggling with our dissertations in psychology years ago. It has been a gratifying learning curve about the publishing industry but also (since she is in Chicago and I am in the Bay Area) a long-distance satisfying task that carried us through the pandemic with some zest (thanks to Zoom). It was fun to craft a humorous story about aging withe humor and old friends who find themselves suddenly amateur sleuths.
ReplyDeleteWhile I did read some Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames, Trixie Belden, and Donna Parker, Agatha Christie is really the one that hooked me. I also remembering combing through my parents’ Reader’s Digest Condensed Books for all of the Dick Francis stories.
ReplyDeleteYes, I started with Agatha Christie, then went on to Allingham, Marsh, Sayers & Tey + Arthur Conan Doyle. Police procedurals were from P.D. James, Colin Dexter, Reginald Hill in the UK and George's Simeon Inspector Maitre.
ReplyDeleteOn the American authorbside, it was Ellery Queen, Rex Stout, and the PIs: Chandler, John D. And Ross MacDonald, Hammett. In the early 1990s, I started reading Diane Mott Davidson & Katherine Hall Page, culinary cozy legends.
I hate autocorrect. Last detective in paragraph 1 should be Inspector Maigret!!
DeleteNot a classic novel per se, but anthologies in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. I started reading those when I was in high school and haven't stopped (I'm 60 years old). I discover new authors and occasionally encounter old favorites. I got hooked on Bill Pronzini & Marcia Muller early on.
ReplyDelete