Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to the group! Please introduce yourself and say a little about your favourite classic detectives, authors and series.

I found the series as I am a fan of Martin Edwards. I want to try some of these as I like aBritish mysteries, esp period pieces.

Welcome, J! I've just read The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude which has an interesting introduction by Martin Edwards.

I haven't read any of Edwards' own books yet - must give them a try. Which series would you recommend starting with?

Wow! I have found this group when it is brand spanking new!

I'm Carol I'm a volunteer from New Zealand.

As far as classic authors go I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie & Georgette Heyer. I've liked some by Wentworth, Tey & Marsh. (Is PD James old enough to be considered classic?)An author I want to give another chance is Dorothy L Sayers. I'm trying to find some Allingham but so far I can only find an audio - & I'm not fond of being read to.

Before anyone suggests Amazon or any other foreign (to me) online book sellers, last time I checked, a NZ dollar only bought 65 US cents. :)

Welcome, Carol, thanks for joining! Yes, the group is brand new.

I've just read one of Heyer's Regency stories, so am looking forward to trying one of her mysteries soon. I've also liked some by Marsh and Tey, as well as Allingham and Sayers. I hope you manage to find some Allingham in New Zealand - I know it can be expensive buying from abroad.

I'm in the UK, so it's easy to get hold of most of these authors here, but even so sometimes I find something is only available in the US!

Thanks Judy.

I volunteer at an op (charity shop) so I've had some success there. Christie & Marsh turn up on a regular basis. GH's h/r books turn up but once I decided I was going to collect them all the mysteries dried up.

When younger I do remember Allingham being stocked at the library I worked in but her work does seem to have vanished now.

How exciting! Judy, I think that you know how much I love Golden age detective fiction. So glad I found this new group.

Susan wrote: "How exciting! Judy, I think that you know how much I love Golden age detective fiction. So glad I found this new group."

Oooh, someone I follow! Hi Susan!

Hi Carole. I belong to another group with Judy and she is also the reason I have spent many hours this year reading Proust :)

I live in London with my husband and two younger children (my eldest has just gone away to University).

I love Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Christianna Brand, Nicholas Blake, Anthony Berkeley and many others from that era.

Great to see you here, Susan - I was just about to invite you! :)

Just realised I should post an introduction too! I live in Ipswich, Suffolk, with my husband and son, who is 21 - my older child is nearly 26 and has left home.

I love Allingham and Sayers, as I just said to Carole above, but I am looking to discover more writers from this era and maybe some who are a bit more recent.

Thanks Judy. Yes, always happy to discover new authors.

Thanks for the invite to join this group Carol. And thanks to Judy for starting a group for the Golden Age detectives.

I am from New Zealand and work in a small academic library. In my youth I read many of the old detective authors courtesy of my Mother's subscription to the Foyles Book Club. I am really enjoying re-discovering those that are not so well known. As Carol said, for some reason it is difficult to get hold of the Allingham Albert Campion books as books. Plenty of sound recording and dvds around in the libraries and for purchase, but not the books, yet I clearly recall shelving them in the 1980s. They're even hard to find in my favourite online second hand shops. Not sure why that is. The same is for Christianna Brand.

Good to see you here EG (& I hope you don't mind me telling a couple of people about this group, Judy!)

I haven't given up hope as a couple of Teys turned up at work yesterday. Both ones I've already read unfortunately but I took Brat Farrar anyway. Really cute vintage cover.

Brand is another one I am looking for & haven't been able to find.

Welcome, Ella's Gran, and Carol, please do spread the word about the group! I've been given permission to mention it at another group I belong to, so that might bring a few more people along too.

It's a shame to hear that the Allinghams are so hard to get hold of in New Zealand - I remember some of them were out of print in the UK for a time, but they came back into print again, so I hope the same happens for you.

Must confess I haven't read any Christianna Brand yet, but after you and Susan both recommending her, it's time I put that right. Which is the best one to start with?

Green for Danger is her best known. I'm still trying to get hold of the first in the series Heads You Lose, but nothing by her has come my way.

I love Brand and have read almost all of her books. Green for Danger and Death in High Heels are both fun, although very un-PC. She does have a detective who features in most of the books, but he does not really feature as a character.

Nicholas Blake (pen name for Cecil Day-Lewis) is also a great Golden age author.

Judy wrote: "Welcome to the group! Please introduce yourself and say a little about your favourite classic detectives, authors and series."

Hi, my name is Leslie & I am a big fan of Golden Age detective stories, especially the English ones! I grew up reading Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Josephine Tey and Ngaio Marsh. As an adult I discovered Patricia Wentworth, Christianna Brand, Nicholas Blake, Edmund Crispin and Anthony Berkeley. I am sure that there are others which I have forgotten to include!

I want to thank my friend Carol for letting me know about this group :)

Judy wrote: "Welcome, J! I've just read The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude which has an interesting introduction by Martin Edwards.

I haven't read any of Edw..."

The Lake District series is the best. I have also read the some of the Devlin books.

Thanks, Susan, for the invite. I clicked on Judy's link in another group and was surprised to see that I had been invited by Susan. Great idea for a group, Judy. I recently moved from Chicago-area to Western North Carolina. Just in time to hit the AAUW used book sale where I picked up a number of Ngaio Marsh books, including one I'd already read.

I love Sayers and Christie. Working my way through Allingham and Marsh. Just picked up my second Berkeley.

I thought of you, Jan, as you have nominated a few such books in the BYT vote. I have only read two Marsh novels and need to re-start the series if I intend to read on really.

Years ago someone at my office got me started on the Marsh books but I wasn't really able to get into her books back then. I'm enjoying them much more now.

Allingham is another author I've never really clicked with and I suspect that was because I read the first and then one much later in the series, so it made no sense. Part of the joy of these 'series' is to see how the characters grow, isn't it? They become so familiar that it really is comfort reading and if you meet them years later, it's jarring.

I think it is good to know what happened to the character between book 1 and book 10. If you just jump to Book 10 you don't know what brought him to that point.

Thanks for starting this group Judy - I've often thought a vintage British mysteries group would be welcomed as the other crme fiction groups tend to be fairly general.

My favourites include Patricia Wentworth and Nicholas Blake but I'm always looking for new authors to try.

Has anyone read Martin Edwards book on The Detection Club? Very enjoyable and informative.

I looked at the Allingham audio books & both are abridged. I'm even less keen on "reading" abridged than on audio in general.

I listened to Allingham's Black Plumes on audio cd and I don't believe that one was abridged. It was good. It was one of her standalones.

I've read it, Ruth, and thought it was very interesting. Good to hear you like Nigel Strangeways too :)

Hi, my name is Gary & I too love Golden Age detective stories. I have loved Agatha Christie for many years but recently have been trying other writers. I have also enjoyed Sayers, Allingham and Marsh and look forward to further expanding my horizons in this area.

Wow, it's great to have so many people joining.

Leslie, welcome - what a great list of authors you have recommended. I love several of those you have mentioned, but still need to try the works of Wentworth, Brand, Blake and Berkeley!

Jan, great to see you here - I know that, like Susan, you are an expert on classic crime and will be able to recommend plenty of authors.

Ruth, great to see you here too. I'd been looking around for a mystery group but couldn't find one that fitted my interests so decided to start one! I haven't read Martin Edwards' book on The Detection Club yet, but hope to do so soon.

Gary, many thanks for joining - I've never really got into Agatha Christie, but recently enjoyed her first 'Tommy and Tuppence' book, so must try more of those. I'm also looking forward to expanding my horizons!

J, thanks for the info on Martin Edwards - I am tempted by the sound of a series set in the Lake District. Although I have mainly read Golden Age crime, it's good to try some modern authors too and I will try the first in the series.

Carol, just realised I meant to answer you about P.D. James. Her Adam Dalgliesh series dates right back to 1962, so, although she came after the 'Golden Age' personally I think she is a classic writer and also she wrote very much in that tradition.

Must confess I haven't read many of her books (though I did enjoy her Austen-themed mystery Death Comes to Pemberley ) but I did love the TV adaptations starring Roy Marsden as Dalgliesh. What are your favourites by her?

I'm in the midst of moving and have very few brain cells with which to comment, but I'll be back when they return! Thanks to Carol for the invite! (Oh, and I just packed up Christie, Sayers, Wentworth, Allingham, Ellis Peters, Ngaio Marsh, Heyer and a few others..._

Judy wrote: "Carol, just realised I meant to answer you about P.D. James. Her Adam Dalgliesh series dates right back to 1962, so, although she came after the 'Golden Age' personally I think she is a classic wri..."

My favourites are the two with Cordelia Grey but I picked up the Murder Room at a book fair & someone in another group told me that was very good.

@Karlyne! So the Big Move is happening!

Hi I'm Arpita. Judy - a big thank you to you for setting up this group. I'm a big fan of older 'vintage' literature and crime fiction greatly appeals to me. I have not read very much but from the few titles I've read I have come to greatly appreciate the works of Marsh, Sayers, Blake, Crispin and Wentworth. I grew up reading a lot of Christie. Really want to read Mitchell, Allingham and Tey in future. I also am in love with the newly released British crime fiction series. I have a Freeman Wills Croft at home from the library from the series.

Hello.


I know Judy from the Bright Young Things goodreads group and she lured me in.

I love Agatha Christie whose books I devoured in my childhood and, whenever I return to them all these decades later, find they stand up very well.

I have recently discovered the joys of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe murder mysteries. I really enjoyed The Red Box which was well written, amusing, compelling, wry, deadpan, quirky and more. Lots to love. Click here to read my review

I was then inspired to read another Nero Wolfe book, Too Many Cooks, Click here to read my review.

I'm also very intrigued by Margery Allingham however have yet to read anything by her. I'll say a bit more about this in the dedicated Margery Allingham thread.

PS: If there's any interest I will set up a dedicated discussion thread for Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe murder mysteries in the favourite authors section.

Nigeyb wrote: "PS: If there's any interest I will set up a dedicated discussion thread for Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe murder mysteries in the favourite authors section."

I would be interested as I acquired a large number of Rex Stout books from my parents when they downsized -- I have read a few of them but would like sometime to read more.

Welcome, Karlyne and Arpita, thanks for joining!

Karlyne, hope the move goes well.

Arpita, I have only really read a few authors in the genre too, so am looking forward to discovering some more. I've never read anything by Wentworth or Mitchell out of those you mention, but hope to do so before too long.

Nigeyb, I'm glad I managed to lure you in - how nice to see you here. :)

Please do go ahead with the Rex Stout thread - while he isn't a Brit, I'm sure he will appeal to vintage mystery readers. Hoping we will soon have lots of favourite author threads.

Judy wrote: "Please do go ahead with the Rex Stout thread - while he isn't a Brit, I'm sure he will appeal to vintage mystery readers."

Ah! I hadn't noticed it was strictly "British mysteries from the Golden Age and beyond". I am stickler for the rules so please disregard by Rex Stout suggestion. Sorry Leslie.

I am intrigued by the "and beyond" part of the description. How far beyond did you have in mind?

I'm not that strict, Nigeyb. :) I've now added a line to the description to say we may include a few authors from other countries - I just wanted to make the focus mainly British.

Interesting question. I'm not sure how far beyond, but there are some authors who started in the Golden Age and went on writing many years later, and others who are more recent but have a similar style of writing, such as PD James, who has already been mentioned.

^ So those books and writers who retain a Golden Age sensibility - that makes a lot of sense.

You could consider a similar approach to those writers from outside the UK. So, that would mean, for example, the hardboiled style of detective books would fall outside the definition.

This is from the Wikipedia page on Golden Age...

Many of the authors of the Golden Age were British: Margery Allingham (1904–1966), Anthony Berkeley (aka Francis Iles, 1893–1971), Agatha Christie (1890–1976), Freeman Wills Crofts (1879–1957), R. Austin Freeman (1862–1943), Michael Innes (1906–1993), Philip MacDonald (1900–1980), Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957), Josephine Tey (1896–1952), Anne Hocking (1890–1966), Edmund Crispin (1921-1978), Cyril Hare (1900-1958), and many more. Ngaio Marsh (1895–1982) was from New Zealand, but her detective Roderick Alleyn was British. Georges Simenon was from Belgium and wrote in French. Some of them, such as John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen, and S. S. Van Dine, were American but had similar styles. Others, such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, had a more hard-boiled, American style.

Four, Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy L. Sayers are described as the "Queens of Crime"; all were British apart from New Zealander Ngaio Marsh who lived for some years in England where most of her novels are set.

So guessing that Ngaio Marsh and Georges Simenon, and some of the US writers mentioned, might be appropriate?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_...

Thanks for finding that quote, Nigeyb - I think it sums it up well. I wouldn't want to get too tied up in deciding who does or doesn't fit the criteria, but just to keep the focus mainly on the Golden Age sensibility, as you say. :)

Hi Nigeyb - great you joined! Hi to Arpita and Karlyne too.

I am a big fan ofJohn Dickson Carr, master of the locked room mystery. Although American, he did live and write for many years in England. He wrote under both his own name and multiple pseudonyms, including Carter Dickson. His main characters were Dr. Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale.

Hi Judy,
Congratulations on the new group, looks like you're off to a great start! I don't read a huge amount of Golden Age works, but I do appreciate relaxing with one every so often--actually, my copy of 'Silent Nights' from the British Library arrived today! Looking forward to maybe discovering some new authors here.

I have internet now! But I'm still looking for a few more brain cells...

I have never read John Dickson Carr, but would like to Jan. Perhaps you could nominate the first in a series at a later date?

Jan, I keep meaning to read some John Dickson Carr as he sounds really good from your recommendation, but I haven't got to him yet. Maybe this group will spur me on to do so. :)