# Let's talk about our favorite mystery novels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982 "2012-04-16T18:48:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982/61 "2012-08-18T01:36:35Z")
I recall seeing Ruth Rendall books when I worked at the Library. She was indeed popular. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982/62 "2012-08-18T02:10:31Z")
> [@digs](#): > > My favorite SciFi is _ **The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton** _. A couple of mystery stories set in the future. Larry Niven again, this time writing about a noir-ish detective that just happens to have a “psychic arm” (trust me, it works). > > Asimov wrote a number of excellent mysteries, as well. Niven has collected all the Gil the A.R.M. stories into one volume, _Flatlander_, and also put in a never-before-published Gil story. Niven also collected the Beowulf Sheaffer short stories in _Crashlander_, along with some between-story explanations. Asimov wrote both science fiction mysteries and mundane mysteries. I gave my dad a copy of one of the Black Widowers anthologies, and he enjoyed it. He was astounded that a “sci fi” writer could write such great mysteries. > [@Damfino](#): > > The books I’ve read by Minette Walters have been good. Try _The Scold’s Bridle_ or _The Ice House_. I just started reading Minette Walters two or three years ago. Her books are all stand alones, or at least the ones I’ve read are, so I don’t have to worry about which order to read them in. I enjoy them very much. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982/63 "2012-08-18T03:29:35Z")
An entirely separate topic could be **“Let’s talk about our favorite mystery _audiobooks_”**. I’d recommend listening to _“The Cat Who…”_ books. But a lot of the appeal is George Guidell’s folksy reading, and his perfect rendition of newspaperman Jim Qwilleran. I picked up a paperback version and went “meh…”. Same with Sue Grafton’s mysteries with Kinsey Milhone (_“A is for Alibi”_, et al), or Janet Evanovich’s _“One for the Money”_ and so on. Excellent readers that match the protagonist, and make the audiobook a much better experience than the print version. And Lynn, thank you for the Niven News! I had no idea those collections existed-- looks like I’m going shopping tomorrow… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982/64 "2012-08-18T03:47:30Z")
Son of a Rich: You might want to check out Wilkie Collins _The Moonstone_. I think it might have one murder, but that comes at the very end. Most of the novel concerns itself with who steals a fabulous gem. I myself would recommend: Marcia Muller’s Sharyn McCone series and her novel _Point Deception_. Kate Wilhelm’s Barbara Holloway series P.D. James ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982/65 "2012-08-18T17:15:42Z")
For science fiction fans, there’s also _Bimbos of the Death Sun_, by Sharyn McCrumb, if you can find it. It’s a mystery set at a science fiction convention. It’s somewhat dated, but still lots of fun. For instance, we learn that the Christian Science approach will not work on cars in need of repair, they won’t get better if you just leave them alone. The same author wrote _Zombies of the Gene Pool_, and again, it’s hard to find. I’ve heard that she won’t allow the books to be reprinted, but I can’t remember the reason why. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982/66 "2012-08-18T18:10:50Z")
Chandler’s Marlowe books are in a class of their own, of course. That aside, I’m very partial to James Lee Burke’s Louisiana novels. There’s a whole string of them featuring a cop called Dave Robicheaux. They’re undeniably formulaic, but the writing’s good and the audio books read by Will Hatton bring Robicheaux’s voice vividly to life. The place where the protagonist works is always an important character in crime fiction, I think, and Burke conjures both New Iberia Parish and New Orleans very effectively. He’s very good on Louisiana’s unique music, food and plant life too. Given that David Simon was so keen to involve contemporary crime novelists in writing scripts for The Wire, I’ve always hoped he might one day invite Burke to contribute to Treme in some capacity, but as far as I know that hasn’t happened yet. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982/67 "2012-08-19T14:28:46Z")
I was going to mention James Lee Burke, but I thought his books were considered more police procedurals than mystery novels. JLB has two or maybe more series out, the Louisiana ones and another about a police detective out west… He is a wonderfully evocative writer, and though each book is a bit similar (due to the setting, the faintest hint of the supernatural in visions and dreams, and extreme violence that is actually poetic) he is one of the few authors whose work I totally get lost in. Robert Crais is another, L.A. detective Elvis Cole and sidekick superman Joe Pike. They’ve both come a loooong way from the early books, getting much darker. Jonathan Kellerman - Alex Delaware, a psychologist who teams up with Detective Milo for solving gruesome L.A. murders. All of these authors I consider un-put-down-able. ---
**Author:** ![Just1Lurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@Just1Lurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just1Lurk)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982/68 "2012-08-19T15:44:31Z")
I think several of Terry Pratchett’s \*Discworld \*novels also qualify as mysteries - Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, and my personal favorite, The Fifth Elephant. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982/69 "2012-08-19T16:13:20Z")
The distinction between “crime” and “mystery” novels is one of those curious little discrepancies that pop up when you cross the Atlantic. Here in Britain, the bookshop section for most (if not all) of the authors mentioned here would be labelled “Crime”. In the US, it would would be labelled “Mystery”. As far as I can see, you find the same books there either way. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982/70 "2012-08-19T17:00:28Z")
Where would Leslie Charteris _The Saint_ be? What about Rex Stout’s\* Nero Wolfe?\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-our-favorite-mystery-novels/618982.md?page=3)