# Your nominations, please, for the greatest mystery writer of all time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-nominations-please-for-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time/563373 "2010-12-08T03:41:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-nominations-please-for-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time/563373/61 "2010-12-11T08:40:08Z")
Mystery writers I’d go out of my way to read, in order of preference: Josephine Tey Edgar Allen Poe Raymond Chandler Dashiell Hammett Ross Macdonald Ian Rankin Peter Robinson Ed Mcbain Arthur Conan Doyle Kinky Friedman Elmore Leonard ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-nominations-please-for-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time/563373/62 "2010-12-11T19:43:23Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > JB Fletcher. Duh! Begging your pardon - do you mean [J. S. Fletcher](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/j-s-fletcher/)? Or am I being whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-nominations-please-for-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time/563373/63 "2010-12-11T19:53:22Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Richard Parker is a poster here. He"ll be glad to know you’ve nominated him. > > You mean Robert B. Parker. There is a [Richard Jay Parker](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/richard-jay-parker/), who wrote the one novel ‘Stop Me’ in 2009. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-nominations-please-for-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time/563373/64 "2010-12-11T20:51:44Z")
My nominations: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Agatha Christie Ellery Queen (\*The Greek Coffin Mystery \*is at least as radical in its approach to the “Golden Age” mystery as _The Murder of Roger Ackroyd_) Dashiell Hammett Raymond Chandler Ross McDonald James M Cain PD James Marcia Muller Kate Wilhelm Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (Slider is highly underrated) Sharyn McCrumb (for the Ballad and Jay Omega novels, not the wretched Elizabeth McPherson shit) I myself will be voting for PD James who, IMO, has raised the detective story to the realm of literature. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-nominations-please-for-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time/563373/65 "2010-12-11T21:33:43Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Begging your pardon - do you mean [J. S. Fletcher](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/j-s-fletcher/)? Or am I being whooshed? [Yes. Very much so.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086765/) ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-nominations-please-for-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time/563373/66 "2010-12-11T21:46:37Z")
Ah, got it! :o 😃 I’ll take that one off the list, then, shall I? (It’s part of the fun, running into writers that I haven’t even encountered before that other people feel should be nominated. Makes me want to chuck all this holiday season bollocks and hide in the library for a month…) ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-nominations-please-for-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time/563373/67 "2010-12-12T13:31:10Z")
And the run-off poll can be found at [this link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13241455#post13241455). Poll to follow within the hour. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-nominations-please-for-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time/563373/68 "2010-12-12T13:32:56Z")
Closed at the request of the OP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-nominations-please-for-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time/563373.md?page=3)