Agatha Christie

[sixret]

You should try Allingham and Marsh, Rosy posy.

[Chrissie777]

Thanks, sixret. I do have one Agatha Christie book, but I don't think it's a well-known one...? The Body In the Library. Which book do you recommend?

In Germany that's one of the better known Christie novels. I enjoyed reading it. I also loved "The Hollow".

[Kate Mary]

In my time I have read my way through all of Josephine Tey, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh. I think the best Albert Campion story is Tiger in the Smoke but it's best to start with the first one The Crime at Black Dudley, Allingham's novels are often quirky but great fun.

A crime novel I greatly enjoyed was Death Under Sail by C P Snow, a writer not usually associated with detective fiction, and I love the Miss Silver books by Patricia Wentworth too, anyone read those?

[Chrissie777]

I think the best Albert Campion story is Tiger in the Smoke but it's best to start with the first one The Crime at Black Dudley, Allingham's novels are often quirky but great fun.

In the German copy from "The Crime at Black Dudley" was a lovely map of the mansion in the front of the book. Diogenes Publishing from Switzerland published them all in German translation.

[sixret]

Agreed. The Body In The Library is an entertaining read.

[sixret]

Yes. I have the whole set of Ms. Silver except the elusive title, Danger Point which I bought the ebook version. I've read only 3 titles so far. All of them involve the young couple at stake. Witty dialogues. I have C. P Snow Death Under The Sail also. It was selected as one of the best crime fiction by Barzun and Taylor.

Notice that we have been discussing women mystery authors only. Male mystery authors from the same era, equally popular in Golden Age era being neglected.

They were all first tier detective writers like John Rhode( Miles Burton), Ellery Queen, John Dickson Carr, J.J Connington, Freeman Wills Crofts, Leo Bruce, Christopher Bush G.D.H M Cole, Henry Wade, E. R Punshon, H.C Bailey to name a few.

E.C.R Lorac(Carol Carnac) woman was rarely mentioned nowadays.

But their long gone, obscure books have been reprinted in book and digital form or in public domain. Feel free to ask me if you want to sample their output without paying outrageous prices.

[Moonraker]

Local to Salisbury, John Creasey wrote some excellent detective stories. Two of his recurring detectives are The Toff and Gideon. He was also famous for creating The Saint.

[Domino]

No, Nigel. You're mixing The Saint up with The Baron. The Saint was created by Leslie Charteris (pronounced Charters).

Can I put a word in for Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett?

Dave

[pete9012S]

Yes,Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver books are the nearest to Agatha Christies style that I have ever read.
Some of her books Chimneys and the other one with Bundle have a distinctly P.G Wodehouse feel to them.

[Poppy]

Thanks, sixret. I do have one Agatha Christie book, but I don't think it's a well-known one...? The Body In the Library. Which book do you recommend?

In Germany that's one of the better known Christie novels. I enjoyed reading it. I also loved "The Hollow".

That's interesting, Chrissie, thanks. I'll look into The Hollow as well.

[burlingtonbertram]

I have never been a fan of Agatha Christie on TV but I went to see 'The Mousetrap' in London two years ago and it was really good. A little bit hammy perhaps but very enjoyable. Maybe I should give one of her books a try.

[Moonraker]

No, Nigel. You're mixing The Saint up with The Baron. The Saint was created by Leslie Charteris (pronounced Charters).

I wondered who'd be the first to spot the mistake, and I thought it would be you, Dave! It came to me in a second-hand bookshop in Dorset, earlier (I was looking at a Leslie Thomas book - succession of ideas led me to Leslie Charteris). I said to my wife, "I've made an error on the forums!"

[Domino]

Don't worry about it, Nigel. An easy mistake to make, as The Saint and The Baron were characters of the same ilk. Not helped by the fact that Creasey used so many pseudonyms, including

Gordon Ashe; Henry St. John Cooper; Credo; Norman Deane; Robert Caine Frazer; Patrick Gill;
Michael Halliday; Charles Hogarth; Brian Hope; Colin Hughes; Kyle Hunt; Abel Mann; Peter Manton;
J.J. Marric; James Marsden; Richard Martin; Rodney Mattheson; Anthony Morton; Henry St. John;
Martin Richard; and Jeremy York.

Apparently he used 28 in all!

Dave

[Chrissie777]

Yes,Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver books are the nearest to Agatha Christies style that I have ever read.

Then you should try Martha Grimes and her Inspector Jury series of books (more than 20 volumes).

[sixret]

Yes, The Saint was created by Charteris. The earlier titles are more hardboiled than the later. The later titles are more mystery and detection.

Chandler wrote good stories but bleak. His style was more towards hardboiled and noir. He thought that the real world was full of bleakness so he said that his novels reflected the real world. But in reality, more people live in happy situation. Only one of his novel that have a strong detection. I can't remember which.

I prefer Ross MacDonald rather than his predecessor. His stories are still in hardboiled category but with beautiful proses and the most important, with twisted plots! Still have a 'wow' factor at the denouement like Christie and the gang!

Dashiel Hammett was one handsome man, in my view. His writing was more controlled. Not as great as Chandler but a little bit subdued.

Nowadays, they become more and more easy to buy with the advancement of technology in digital books. Some of them are very scarce in physical book form. I bet there are only a few volumes left for some titles!

I forgot to mention Nicholas Blake, a poet who ventured into detective genre. The first tier in GAD era.