Crime Writers

Several years ago, I turned my back on “literature”. Call me shallow, but I grew bored with the shallowness and complacency of most “serious” writers: the usual suspects- Umberto Eco, Milan Kundera, Michael Ondaatje, Kazuo Ishiguro, and my particular bete noire, Julian Barnes. None of their books seemed to be about anything I could care about. All their books seemed almost completely irrelevant, written with pen in one hand, dick in the other, one eye on a literary prize and the other on the approbation of their peers. Frankly, I thought literature was disappearing up its own arse.

And so I turned to crime fiction, seemingly the last bastion of plots, characters, and good honest clean prose - storytelling, in other words, stripped bare of literary posturing and conceit. I have never regretted the switch; I have gained much, and lost little. Here then are some of my favourites, in no particular order.

Jim Thompson. Bleak. Makes Albert Camus look like Peewee Herman. Try The Getaway, if only for the ending. Be warned, this is not beach reading.

James Lee Burke. The only author who makes descriptions of weather and scenery rivetting - don`t know if he knows, but he writes in iambic pentameter sometimes. Try Burning Angel - the only detective story to feature magic realism.

Carl Hiassen. Plots and characters can be repetitive, but completely addictive for his sheer anarchic glee. The man`s a moralist, too - bad punished, good rewarded. Try Stormy Weather.

Richard Price. Imagine Bonfire of the Vanities if Tom Wolfe knew what he was talking about. Probably the closest we`re going to get to the reportage-with-a social-conscience of Dickens. Try Freedomland.

Damon Runyon. No writer ever did more with the simple present tense - the P G Wodehouse of crime writers. Try From First To Last.

And, primus inter pares, The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is where it all began, Wilkie Collins afficionados notwithstanding.

C

Hey. I haven’t really read a lot of the authors you talk about, but I’d like to second Conan Doyle. Genius when it comes to plotting a mystery novel/short story.

My favorite mystery writers are Ruth Rendell and P.D. James, both brilliant. I don’t know if one would call them “real” writers or not, but personally I think they do a great job with plot, characters, mood, psychology…their novels are like whole other worlds. Also Dominick Dunne- not exactly crime, more like the Hollywood world behind the crime, but if you can put up with the namedropping…:slight_smile:

Either way, I’d just like to add that I think that mystery/crime books get a bad rap- at least here in the U.S. I think suspense is a real art, though people tend to dismiss them as pageturners. Personally I’d like to change that.

Thanks for the tips. I’ve read most of James Lee Burke. And almost done with all of Sherlock Holmes stories.

Like to pass on some recommendations of my own:

Ian Rankin. Scottish writer, sets police procedurals in Edinburgh. He had never read a mystery before starting his; just wrote what he felt like. His detective, Rebus, is your typical existential loner detective, but Rankin writes with feeling about all his characters (think Ed McBain’s 87th Precient moved over the drink). Great taste in music, too. I’m listening to Mogwai (electronica) based on Ian’s recommendation in his last book.

Keith Snyder. Electronic musician who also writes books. Interesting guy. Has written four, including “Coffin’s Got the Dead Guy on the Inside” which is probably the only time a musician joke’s punchline became a book title (the question is “What’s the difference between a coffin and a cello?”) His amateur detect is a young electronic musician as well, but these are not conventional mysteries. Try to imagine a guy who tries to help other people in real life, where things just happen not according to some storyline, but because they do.

His web site’s at: http://www.woollymammoth.com/keith/
(Honesty alert: I’ve drunk with Ian at a convention and met Keith, but it’s not like we’re friends. I’ve reviewed their books. Even a better recommendation: I’ve bought their books.

For me, crime writing means one person.
James Ellroy.

I dunno - Ive tried with James Ellroy, but his prose style always defeats me. I think he tries that bit too hard to be a "real " writer, instead of just telling his story. Hes just a little too self conscious for my taste.

I’m with you, tetsusaru, on the subject of James “Look at me, Ma, I’m WRITIN’!” Ellroy.

I’d rather read Dashiell Hammett than Ernest Hemingway, easy.

Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain are also su-pairb, but I’ve never developed a taste for Ross Macdonald.

As for contemporary types, I’m a huge supporter of** K.C. Constantine** in the realist field, and Peter Dickinson as a crime fantasiste.

Beat me to the Chandler recommendation Ukelele, definitely one of my favourite authors of any genre. The Lady in the Lake would be my pick if I had to choose one of his books, but that’s a hard choice. Crime fiction came up in a discussion at a friend’s house just the other day, and someone gave me a copy of a Janet Evanovich. Opinions tetsusaru, anyone?

Janet Evanovich is an excellent writer, in the sense that she just has fun with it, and when a new Stephanie Plum novel comes out, I know I’m in for a few hours of wackiness. The world needs more wackiness.

Second for Keith Snyder, whom I have e-mailed with (I believe I’m responsible for the record of “Weirdest Places Keith Snyder’s Books Have Been Read”) and went so far as to shout his name across the Coliseum in Rome. Not traditional mysteries, and not as suspenseful as most, but damn, what a writer.

And another second for Carl Hiaasen. Funny and well-plotted. The scary part is that his non-fiction is just as funny and well-plotted.

Richard Stark/Donald Westlake is probably my favorite senior living writer overall – I can’t think of a single book he’s written that’s disappointed me. Lawrence Block and Robert B. Parker are right up there, but they occasionally let the quality slip.

George Pelecanos is getting there fast – every word he writes is absolutely perfect.

Glen Cook is the best cross-genre writer working today, period. The Garrett books are all well worth the price of admission. Oddly enough, Terry Pratchett has written some excellent mysteries set in Ankh-Morpork (Guards, Guards, Feet of Clay, Maskerade and others).

Not so much “mystery” as “action,” but my favorite new writer is Matthew Reilly. The climax in The Temple is so hilariously over the top that I still laugh out loud just thinking of it.

Robert J. Sawyer and John Stith both write science fiction with a strong mystery component. Definitely worth it if you like sci-fi, and probably worth the effort if you don’t hate it.

One of my favourites is Lawrence Block, who writes a variety of stuff. His Matt Scudder books are hardboiled and bleak as hell (but damn they’re gripping!), the Bernie Rhodenbarr series features a rather funny burglar, and Evan Tanner is a Bondish sort of spy. He’s also done quite a few non-series books.

Tiffany Thayer! Tifffany Thayer! He wrote some books in the '30s that make James M. Cain look like A.A. Milne!

I tried twice to go into more detail, but I’ll just post the name: Lawrence Block.

And now I see that one of those tries did go through. Oh, well.

Sue Grafton for me. Just got my paperback copy of P is for Peril…hooray!