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Who are your favorite mystery writers?

chris302116 said:
I have just started 'Tell no One'. my first book by Harlan Coben. It has started off well, quite gripping, so far. I think it is being released as a movie this year?
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That is exciting about the movie. I hope you enjoy the book. Is this your first Harlan Coben book? I highly recommend his Myron Bolitar series next, if you have not read them. Deal Breaker is the first. They are great mysteries, and the are very funny. I like them all though.
 
I've read all his stand alone stuff but haven't touched that series. I haven't been interested and I don't know why. I love everything else he's done. Just a sports agent as the main character kind of sucks. Is it as good as the other stuff?
 
The Moostone by Wilkie Collins is generally regarded as the FIRST EVER detective novel. Collins was a contemporary with - and friends with - Charles Dickens. I've read the novel and it holds up well. Fans of the genre should definitely read it.

Another great detective writer was Edgar Allan Poe.
Murders of the Rue Morgue, The Perloined Letter, The Gold Bug - to name a few of his stories.

And yet another great is the 1931 novel by Francis Iles, Malice Aforethought.

And I very much enjoy the books of Dick Francis - which mostly deal with horseracing and its environs. I am NOT a fan of horseracing (the English kind is different from the American kind - I don't give a hoot about either) but his work is so good and well plotted that it really doesn't matter.
 
The Hitcher said:
I've read all his stand alone stuff but haven't touched that series. I haven't been interested and I don't know why. I love everything else he's done. Just a sports agent as the main character kind of sucks. Is it as good as the other stuff?
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I like the Bolitar series the best of them all. The characater being a sports agent does not have too much to do with it. Esentially, most of them involve one of his clients (football star, tennis star, ect.) getting accused of murder or something, and he has to figure it out. There are always some big twists. What I like about the series is the characters. The main character has a best friend that is real eccentric, and they have a lot of good banter. He also has two or three other friends that have some funny personality quirks. I have found them very entertaining. I was at a signing a couple of years ago, and everyone there seemed to miss the series. (At the time, he had taken a break from writing the series)
 
gkbk said:
I like the Bolitar series the best of them all. The characater being a sports agent does not have too much to do with it. Esentially, most of them involve one of his clients (football star, tennis star, ect.) getting accused of murder or something, and he has to figure it out. There are always some big twists. What I like about the series is the characters. The main character has a best friend that is real eccentric, and they have a lot of good banter. He also has two or three other friends that have some funny personality quirks. I have found them very entertaining. I was at a signing a couple of years ago, and everyone there seemed to miss the series. (At the time, he had taken a break from writing the series)
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I'll grab the first few this weekend. Thanks
 
StillILearn said:
I'd buy one of P. D. James new books sight unseen and in a heartbeat.
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I would too, because she justs gets better with each book, unlike some writers who tend to go downhill as they do more books. Not all of course.

PD James is a great writer. One of my favourites.
 
Some folks say that she has begun to lose her edge now that she's in her late eighties, but it continues to be a fact that she's one of the best mystery writers out there. Sigh. I purely do love and adore Adam Dalgliesh and I'll miss him dearly when he's gone.
 
I absolutely love John Sandford's books, especially the Prey series, and also the Pendergast books by Douglas Preston and Linclon Child. The first in that series is The Relic and the main character, Pendergast, is absolutely fascinating!:)
 
E.A. Poe, first and foremost.
Agatha Christie
Harlan Coben (I also am a fan of the Myron Bolitar series)
Ray Bradbury
 
GOSH looks like this thread is languishing ... so I will add a few of my favorite mystery writers:
P. D. JAMES
RUTH RENDELL
HENNING MANKELL
KAREN FOSSUM
MARGARET YORKE
GEORGES SIMENON
AGATHA AND DOROTHY OF TEH GOLDEN AGE
HAMMETT AND CHANDLER IN THEIR TIMELESS WORKS
DENNIS LEHANE
IAN PEARS
KAREN KIJEWSKI
IAN RANKIN
VAL McDERMID
PACO IGNACIO II
ANDREA CAMILLIERI
MARY HIGGINS CLARK
DONNA LEON
JOHN SANDFORD
ELIZABETH GEORGE
JONATHAN SANTLOFER
MICHAEL ROBOTHOM

All of these writers are excellent and if you're looking for literary mysteries they are some of the best in the business. They are all very different too which makes reading them a treat.
 
G.M. Ford (not the ex pres.): The leo Waterman mysteries (6) and the Frank Corso mysteries (6). And his new stand alone "Nameless Night", which I plan on reading real soon.

Earl Emerson: The Thomas Black series (11) and Mac Fontana (5). plus he has a number of stand alones. I have read all of them as well.

Ridley Pearson: He has three or four different series. He also writes adventure books for young adults. I have so far only read his Boldt/Mathews series (9).

As you can see, I like to read series. That started a few years ago when I read Ford's first Waterman novel "Who In Hell is Wanda Fuca". I was hooked and found myself scouring the book stores and library for the rest of the series. I was reading one of his books a week. I know... many here in this forum read a lot more than that, but for me and the amount of free time I have that's pretty good.

My favorite single (mystery) book has to be "Red Tide" by Ford. It's part of the Corso series and I just couldn't put it down until I finished it.



DanG
 
Patricia Cornwell up until Blow Fly from the Kay Scarpetta series. I think the series cracked when her death boyfriend suddenly reappeared. I read the Andy Brazil series and wouldn't say it was that great but not bad either. The new series, I was hoping there won't be a continuation, Win Ganaro sucks.

Peter Clement, Mystery-Thriller writer, always keeps me on the edge.

William Bernhardt's Ben Kincaid series one of my favorites as well as Mark Billingham's D. I. Tom Thorne series.

I discovered Harlan Coven just recently as likeable, standalone and series.

Then there is Alafair Burke's Samantha Kincaid series which is very good.
Mo Hayder except the newest one Ritual which is very disappointing to me.

And of course there are a few German writers which I would mention but unfortunately their books haven't been translated into english yet.
 
Well, I just joined up here and figured this thread might be fitting for my first post. I am very much a Mystery/Thriller fan - preferring that genera over most others. Though I can be pretty open as well, any genera is game as long as it offers a good read. Anyway, my favorite crime authors probably go as such -

John Connolly - I love his Charlie Parker series. It's interesting to watch the characters develop and change, learning a bit more of their story as you go. I also enjoy the aspect of getting to know a pretty flawed set of characters, rather then the typical 'good at everything' ex-cops you may see frequently grace the pages of crime fiction.

James Patterson - Some of his stuff, I'll admit, isn't the best...but overall I tend to really enjoy his reading. I particularly enjoy the Alex Cross books and have read a few from the Women's Murder Club. They were enjoyable as well. Most of his books are pretty quick reads (You can just whip through those short chapters ;)) but worth it.

Those are the two off the top of my head that I tend to really keep track of, new release wise. I also do frequent sweeps at my library in which I simply check out a mass of books that look good without paying much attention to who they are written by. So unless I happen to come across a series in that process it may be awhile before I read two or more books by the same author. I would really like to try some Michael Connolly though...he's supposed to be pretty good from what I've heard.
 
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