# Who is you favorite crime novelist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-you-favorite-crime-novelist/358656 "2006-05-29T20:25:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-you-favorite-crime-novelist/358656/61 "2006-06-01T18:09:09Z")
If you like Victorian crime series then give the \*\*Anne Perry \*\*books a try. She has two series of books , one involving Inspector Pitt and the other Inspector Monk. Anne is a real-life convicted murderer. Her story formed the basis of the film _Heavenly Creatures_ ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-you-favorite-crime-novelist/358656/62 "2006-06-01T18:16:33Z")
If you like Victorian crime series then give the \*\*Anne Perry \*\*books a try. She has two series of books , one involving Inspector Pitt and the other Inspector Monk. Anne is a real-life convicted murderer. Her story formed the basis of the film _Heavenly Creatures_ ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-you-favorite-crime-novelist/358656/63 "2006-06-01T18:17:39Z")
Sorry about the double post. Not my fault , honest! ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-you-favorite-crime-novelist/358656/64 "2006-06-01T19:18:24Z")
I tried her stuff, but for some reason it just didn’t hit me right. Maybe I was just in the wrong mood. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Iyamity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/96bed5/32.png) [@Iyamity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iyamity)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-you-favorite-crime-novelist/358656/65 "2006-06-05T03:34:39Z")
I discovered Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels a couple months ago, and they’re great. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-you-favorite-crime-novelist/358656/66 "2006-06-05T03:52:55Z")
[QUOTE=Oy!] Other than that, I like what’s known as the ‘cozy English village mystery.’ Miss Marple (Agatha Christy) is a favorite of mine, as is Miss Silver, written about for over thirty years by Patricia Wentworth. I like little old lady detectives and I like the general format - lovely calm village, highly unpleasant person murdered, our hero(ine) strides (Shuffles) in reminding everyone (in the thirties yet!) of times long gone, and solves everything. I don’t particularly like the books dealing with seedy and sordid crime. I like that setting for some movies - \*Blade Runner \* did “Chandler in the 23rd century” (yes, I know it was set in 2019, but we won’t get there that soon) LA with all its seedy decadence and I loved it. But not books. [/QUOTE] Now see, you and I are the exact opposite. I can’t stand the little old lady sleuths and snobby Victorian crimesolvers who belong on PBS. I like NOIR, the seedier and more sordid, the better. Hammett and Chandler did it first, and I think Ellroy does it the best of anyone now. Heck, I even like Mickey Spillane! But that just goes to show you why it’s good there are so many different authors out there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-you-favorite-crime-novelist/358656.md?page=3)