Murder and Mayhem: A Thursday Thirteen

Between Maisie Dobbs and Mr. Whicher, I've been thinking a lot about mysteries lately.  I thoroughly enjoy the genre and would love to find a book of criticism or a 'history of' to read.  I may have mentioned that there is a detective fiction course taught at the university where I work, and I was tempted to take it last summer, but it was an off-campus class and would have been too difficult to get to on the city bus.  Still, I usually have plenty to keep me busy on my own.  As a matter of fact I was contemplating which mysteries/crime novels I might want to read this year, and the result is...a list.  Many of these have been mentioned before as they are all in my pile waiting to be read.

1. Enter a Murderer, Ngaio Marsh - I'm really into that 'Golden Age' of  mystery writers lately.  I read her first Inspector Alleyn mystery last year and collected quite a few other books in the series at a library book sale. 
2. Death in the Fog, Mignon Eberhart - She is a Nebraska author, though I don't believe her books are set here (in the Midwest at least).  I read that she was considered the American equivalent of Agatha Christie. 
3. The Vault, Peter Lovesey - I've read this author before, and this book sounds great--the mystery is set in Bath in  where skeletal remains are found in an abbey cellar, which in the early 19th century belonged to the home Mary Shelley lived in as she was writing Frankenstein. 
4. Cover Her Face, P.D. James- This is the first Dalgliesh mystery.
5. Streets of Babylon, Carina Burman - This mystery is translated from Swedish and set in Victorian London! 
6. Duplicate Death, Georgette Heyer- I have yet to try a mystery by Heyer, though I have enjoyed her Regency novels.  I've heard some of her mysteries are being published here in the US this year.
7. Nemesis, Jo Nesbo - Harry Hole.  What more need I say?
8. In the Woods, Tana French -Everyone has raved about this one, why haven't I picked it up yet??
9. Have Mercy on Us All, Fred Vargas - This is up next!!
10. Tomb of Zeus, Barbara Cleverly (also her Joe Sandilands mystery, Last Kashmiri Rose) - These are two different series--one about an amateur archaeologist and the other set in Raj India.  Both sound appealing to me. 
11. Crime at the Black Dudley, Margery Allingham- This is the first Albert Campion mystery.
12. Mark of the Lion, Suzanne Arruda - The heroine/sleuth in this was an ambulance driver in WWI.  The mystery occurs later and is set in Africa.           

13. Grey Mask, Patricia Wentworth - Another 'Golden Age' cozy!

There's probably nothing really new on my list, which means I will find plenty new books to buy this year.  Still, it's hard to narrow the choices down to just a few.  Other names that came to mind--Elizabeth George, Denise Mina, Frank Tallis, Annette Meyers, Morag Joss, Laurie King, Frances Fyfield.  Well, you saw those bins!  Hopefully you'll be reading about a fair few of these here in the future. 

Comments

[Rebecca]

There's a really good online guide to classic mysteries--I found a lot of authors I wouldn't have otherwise.

http://mikegrost.com/classics.htm

[Danielle]

Rebecca--Thanks very much. I took a quick peek and you're right--lots of good things to read there and lots of new to me authors. I'm always on the look out for more good mystery authors.

[Litlove]

Wow - what a great list, so full of tempting goodies! I had a quick look around for books on crime fiction and found two that looked interesting and a lot of fun: 'Twentieth-Century Crime Fiction' by Lee Horsley and 'Crime Fiction 1800-2000: Detection, Death, Diversity' by Stephen Knight. There's also 'The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction' by Martin Priestman, which will be good but probably a bit more academic than the other two. I must read Into The Woods - lots of people have loved it, I know!

[Cornflower]

There's a book I've had my eye on for a while but not got hold of yet: Susan Rowland, "From Agatha Christie to Ruth Rendell- British women writers in detective and crime fiction".

[Les Blatt]

If I may toot my own horn, you'll find nearly a hundred reviews of classic mysteries at http://www.classicmysteries.net - a weekly podcast and a place to talk about great mysteries. Lots of suggestions there - hope you enjoy them!

[Dorothy W.]

I've been hearing raves about Tana French too, and am curious -- Hobgoblin read and liked her a lot. Great list here! I've love to read more Allingham and James and Heyer and others too. Next up for my mystery book group is Dorothy Sayers's Gaudy Night, which should be a lot of fun.

[Danielle]

Litlove--You always offer the best reading suggestions--thank you! I have added all three to my wishlist, but I will check the university library next week as we may well have one or two of them (possibly the Cambridge one as we have lots of those companions in the collection). Mysteries are so interesting and I would love to read more about them generally speaking! And the French book sounds so good!
Cornflower--Thanks--another wonderful sounding book--particularly as I am such a great Ruth Rendell fan. Another to add to my wishlist (but will try my library first).
Les--Thanks--so glad you have passed along your link. I will add you to my Google Reader and check out your archives. It looks like you have lots of good stuff there!
Dorothy--I saw the Hobgoblin's post and that almost made me drop everything and just start reading. I really do just need to slip it in rather than try to keep it in a nice orderly queue! I hope you enjoy Gaudy Night--it's a classic. It's the only Sayers I've read, though. I really like Harriet Devine and wonder if I would be disappointed to read the other Lord Wimsey mysteries--probably not. I have heard her Murder Must Advertise is supposed to be excellent, too, so have that one for next (whenever it,too, can be slipped in).

[Dorothy W.]

The only Sayers I've read so far is The Nine Tailors, which was really great (although it didn't have Harriet Devine, so I haven't met her yet). I'm betting you'd really like Sayers's other books!

[Maxine]

Some of your listed books, eg Nemesis and In The Woods, have been reviewed at Euro Crime (www.eurocrime.co.uk), which is a great free resource - lists of authors, their bibliographies and many reviews.
Barry Forshaw's "Rough Guide to Crime Fiction" was published just over a year ago and I think it is a pretty good index - it is a small format, "pocket guide" book so quite cheap. He includes all the classics as well as some of the more interesting modern translated fiction.

I have recently enjoyed the second of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Triolgy, The Girl Who Played with Fire, Burial by Neil Cross and The Coroner by M R Hall. Next up for me is Skin and Bone by Tom Bale.

[kimbofo]

The first time I went to the USA I looked for the crime section in Borders and couldn't find it. I had *no idea* the genre is largely known as "mystery" in the States...

That aside, I've read a few good crime books of late, including Burial by Neil Cross and Manhattan Nocturne by Colin Harrison.

In tomorrow's Guardian they will be publishing a list of crime books as part of their series dubbed "1000 novels everyone must read" (they published their love books today)...

Oh, and I second Maxine's suggestion of visiting Eurocrime -- it's a brilliant website.

[iliana]

You know I've been one of those who's been raving about In The Woods :)

You've got some on your list I really want to read too - like the Beverly Cleverly and Georgette Heyer ones in particular.

I tried reading The Mark of the Lion but couldn't get into it which I found very odd as it has all the makings of a mystery I would enjoy. I think maybe it just wasn't the right time so it's still on my wish list. I'd like to try it out again.

Great list, Danielle, I'm going to look at some of these others you mention and I'm sure I'll be adding them to my list too :)

[Danielle]

Dorothy--Harriet Devine is great, but I am sure you're right that I would like the other books even if she wasn't in them--or only peripherally. I'll have to look up Nine Tailors, too.
Maxine--I get Euro Crime's (as well as Petrona's) RSS feeds via Google Reader. I don't often comment, but I have gotten lots of reading ideas from both places! Euro Crime is an excellent reference! Thanks for the heads up on the Rough Guide (I've gotten their Women Travel guides in the past), so I plan on ordering this one right away! I also have Steig Larsson's books on my list--only his first has yet been published here in the US. Thanks for the other suggestions (all new to me)--I'm off to check them out.
Kimbofo--Do your stores break the two sections up? Yes, here it is all together--it seems in my stories it is mostly mysteries with a smattering of crime. I read your review on the Neil Cross book, so will be looking for that for sure. Will check out your other suggestion. And thanks for the heads up on the Guardian list--great!
Iliana--Maybe I should just start reading the French book and let it jump in front of the queue?! I think you might have mentioned the Arruda book wasn't your cup of tea. Sometimes that happens--I think I might still give her a try, as like you it sounds like something I would like. There are so many great mysteries out there, aren't there!

[Susan]

I have left you a award on my blog
at Jewish Rantings. You have to go on my profile as I have two blogs.

[Danielle]

Susan--Thanks so much! I've left a comment on your blog--your recognition is much appreciated!