Reading the Detectives discussion

After starting this folder today, I was just wondering which more recent crime authors anybody thinks have some of that Golden Age flavour. Or just say who your favourites are?

P.D. James has already been mentioned, and I also wondered about Elizabeth George, though I must confess I've only read one of hers - but I did like the TV series based on her work and have been meaning to read more. I have also liked quite a few by Ruth Rendell, especially 'writing as Barbara Vine', though some of those are quite dark.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of mysteries which are too "cosy", ie wacky series involving cats or cup cake recipes (though I haven't read that many of those - are there any similar books with male heroes who are gardeners etc?)

And I also don't really like the very dark and grim ones with long descriptions of mortuaries. But I'm sure there are some good writers in both of those genres who I might enjoy if I overcome my preconceptions...

I like the Deborah Crombie books featuring Kincaid and Gemma James.

3 series I think may fit:
Maisie Dobbs J. Winspear
Inspector Rutledge Charles Todd
Bryant and May Christopher Fowler
Although these are admittedly period pieces, they have the charm of the Golden Age esp Bryant & May. Several other authors write about this period but I think they write with a more modern pace and eyte.

I think Rhys Bowen's Royal Spyness series is very well done and gives a flavour of the between the wars era. But the plots definitely don't have the intricacy of the GA standards. One of the things I love is that Wallis Simpson has become a recurring (minor) character and there are wonderful snide exchanges of insults between her and Lady Georgianna (WS can't stand Lady G. or her mother, the bolter.) Much better than Simon Brett's Blotto, Twinks series, which is very OTT IMO.

I also just read my first Boris Akunin, in his Fandorin series, where the MC is a brilliant oddball who serves as a special investigative advisor to the Czar and his family. These plots seem to follow the more deductive, GA detection approach.

Rhys Bowen
Boris Akunin

I would add M.M. Kaye's mysteries. They tend to have a specific location and small group of suspects and is of a similar publication date to PD James.

I have enjoyed some of the Bryant and May books I've read. Their stories start during WW2.


The Bryant and May books are by Christopher Fowler.

Click here to read the History Of Bryant & May on Christopher Fowler's website.

Click here to read my review of White Corridor

Click here to read my review of Bryant and May On The Loose

Nigeyb wrote: "I have enjoyed some of the Bryant and May books I've read. Their stories start during WW2.


The Bryant and May books are by Christopher Fowler.

Click here to read the History Of B..."

I love the Bryant and May books. I'm up to book 10 now but I've actually gone back to the beginning again to listen on audio because the narrator is so good.

I also recently discovered a google map showing landmarks from the first book in the series which is set in WW2 https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?...

^ Thanks Ruth - that map is really helpful. I really must get back to that series it is so enjoyable

Carola Dunn has a Daisy Dalrymple series and France's Brody a Kate Shackleton series that fit the vintage but new series description. I've just read one book of each series but not overly enthusiastic about either. I do enjoy the Maisie Dobbs series by Winspear though!

I quite enjoyed the Bryant and May book I read a couple of years ago too. That map sounds very interesting.

Miss M wrote: "I think Rhys Bowen's Royal Spyness series is very well done and gives a flavour of the between the wars era. But the plots definitely don't have the intricacy of the GA standards. One of the things..."
I love the Rhys Bowen series and I do like the Wallis Simpson addition.

I enjoy Bryant and May, Daisy Dalrymple and Maisie Dobbs. Bryant and May are so quirky. I think Dunn does a good job of capturing the periodbbetween the wars and her people show the effect the war had on that generation. Much like Sayers did, especially in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club.

Lots of great examples listed already - some I have read and some not. I can think of a couple of others though, which people may enjoy.

The Affair of the Blood-Stained Egg Cosy is the third in a trilogy of books which are fun homages to the period.

Of a later date, with that 'feel', I will list the first in each series:
Corridors of Death
The Killings at Badger's Drift
The Hunt for Sonya Dufrette

I am sure more will occur to all of us, but these are all series I started and never finished, even though I enjoyed the first books!

Jan, I like Maisie Dobbs too but wasn't as thrilled with her last one. Have you read it and did you like it?

Susan wrote: "Jan, I like Maisie Dobbs too but wasn't as thrilled with her last one. Have you read it and did you like it?"

I received it as a giveaway but put it aside when I moved. I had to skip several books to read it. It was hard for me to figure out what was going on. But I will have to get back to it. Once I remember where it is.

I am always mis-laying books, Jan. To be honest, I sometimes can't even find them on my kindle! I either forget the author or the title, have too many to scroll through, and the kindle search feature is pretty useless unless you actually go onto the Amazon 'manage your content' page and do it from there.

Thanks for all the suggestions in this thread - many new discoveries here to enjoy.

Jan, Deborah Crombie looks good, I did look at a couple of her books in my local library yesterday, but would prefer to start with the first one in the series, so I'll hope to get hold of that once I've finished one or two books!

Arpita, I've tried the first in the Frances Brody Kate Shackleton series but it wasn't really to my taste either - an awful lot of detail about everything everyone did which got me rather bogged down!

I think I read a Deborah Crombie, but a long while ago. Judy if you do get to the first one, then maybe you could post it here and I would enjoy reading along.

That also goes for anyone else who intends to start a series from the beginning. I am hoping this group will get me trying out more authors and perhaps reading a whole series, rather than stalling in the middle...

Will do, Susan. I also like the idea of reading a whole series right through, though I have often stalled in the middle too.

I rather like the Daisy Dalrymple stories, which are very light - the dialogue sometimes reminds me a bit of Jeeves and Wooster!

Must admit I didn't much care for the first Maisie Dobbs book, which seemed to be too full of adoration for the aristocracy, but I get the feeling the series must have got better later, so maybe I'll try another one.

I've got the first Deborah Crombie lurking about somewhere so would be interested in starting that series. I think I also have Kate Ellis's first book and Still Life that are series that I still want to start. (I counted a while ago and I had something like 30 series underway, it's a ridiculous way to increase the TBR pile).

I'd be up for the Crombie too. I've read the series up to date but been so long I'd appreciate going back to the beginning. (Not good gonna count up my series--that's info I really don't wanna know! :p)

I just finished An Uncommon Murder
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Published in 1992, this is a good, traditional mystery and I think it has something of a Golden Age style about it.

I forgot to mention Murder at the Brightwell

Author, Ashley Weaver, has a new book out this month, which I am really looking forward to: Death Wears a Mask: A Mystery

I just had some Audible credits to use, so I treated myself to the first M.M. Kaye book, Death in Kashmir - thanks for the recommendation, Carolien. This one is actually from the 1950s so pretty much Golden Age in my book!



I also picked up one by an author I hadn't previously heard of, G.M. Malliet, Wicked Autumn - this looks like a witty modern-day take on Golden Age mysteries. Also I liked the narrator's voice. :)

They both look good, Judy. More for the TBR list - sigh! :)

I know what you mean, Susan. This group is going to make those lists ever longer!

I've started listening to Wicked Autumn, while doing some housework today, but although I'm enjoying the story I now don't like the narrator's voice so much... this is a problem for me with audiobooks, I often seem to get fed up with the reader for no good reason.

Ashley Weaver's, "Death Wears a Mask," is out today, if anyone is interested. I also came across this, through a review of Damaskcat's The Jazz Files, which I think looks great - if you like crime novels set in this period, following Damaskcat's reviews is a very good idea in my opinion :)

The Jazz Files sounds fab, Susan and Damaskcat - I will definitely look forward to reading it. Thanks for the recommendation.

I also like the sound of the two Ashley Weaver books - sigh, I'll need a few more hours in the day to catch up with all of the wonderful books being mentioned here...

Oh, the first Ashley Weaver book was excellent. I am looking forward to reading the second in the series - just need to find time :)

Ann wrote: "The Lake District Mysteries by Martin Edwards have a golden age feel to them."

I've read his book on Golden Age Detective Writers and I also read his blog sometimes but I haven't tried any of his novels yet, Ann. Where do they fall on the cosy to gritty scale do you think?

Carolien wrote: "I would add M.M. Kaye's mysteries. They tend to have a specific location and small group of suspects and is of a similar publication date to PD James."

I agree that these have a Golden Age feel. They are also excellent books!

Susan wrote: "Of a later date, with that 'feel', I will list the first in each series:
Corridors of Death
The Killings at Badger's Drift
The Hunt for Sonya Dufrette ..."

I love the Ruth Dudley Edwards Amis series, and the audiobooks are particularly good. I think one reason why they feel older is that the main character, Robert Amiss, is a civil servant and so does things properly! I also liked The Killings at Badgers Drift, which I read ages ago, but didn't read the others. I see that they were the basis for the TV series, Midsomer Murders. I do hope that she is being paid per episode!

James Anderson has written a short but fun traditional "country house" series: The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy/The Affair of the Mutilated Mink/The Affair of the Thirthy-Nine Cufflinks: An Omnibus Edition

Ann wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Ann wrote: "The Lake District Mysteries by Martin Edwards have a golden age feel to them."

I've read his book on Golden Age Detective Writers and I also read his blog sometimes but I ..."

Thanks Ann.

M.M. Kaye looks good - I haven't read those. My TBR list grows every longer!

I think I've read all the Lake District Mysteries. Very entertaining.

Susan wrote: "I think I've read all the Lake District Mysteries. Very entertaining."

But would you say they have that Golden Age feel?

Probably not but try out the Lord James Harrington series by Lynn Florkirwicz

I've forgotten about Elizabeth Lemarchand's Pollard and Toye series. They definitely fall in the Golden Age feel category.

Oh, Carolien, I haven't read Elizabeth Lemarchand and they look good! Many thanks for the recommendation.

Sadly, Elizabeth Lemarchand is not on kindle, but I just ordered the first one from the USA.

I loved the series and only have one book on my shelf. Should add her to my secondhand book list to try and find some when I go hunting.

Susan, thanks for mentioning the Lord James Harrington books - I see they are on Kindle and look as if they are quite similar to the Daisy Dalrymple stories.

Susan wrote: "Probably not but try out the Lord James Harrington series by Lynn Florkirwicz"

Thanks -- I'd never heard of these but am giving the first one a go!

Yes, the Lord Harrington books look good too and they are also on kindle, which is excellent.

It's been a while, but I remember being impressed with Amy Myers' Auguste Didier mysteries; I only read three, I think: "Murder in the Limelight", and I forget the other two. I haven't read the first in the series, "Murder in Pug's Parlour", but I imagine that it would have even more of the "golden age" feel about it than the others.

I'm reading Anne Perry's "Ashworth Hall" right now. It's my first Anne Perry, and I'll report on its adherence to the fair play puzzle aspect (the "make or break" for me, when it comes to detective stories) when I'm done.

I wasn't aware of many modern authors with a "golden age" feel, until I found this place. I admit I got a little impatient with the too-cute antics in the samplings I found on the mystery shelf at the bookstores, and wound up deciding to write my own. Of course, it would be only after I was done writing that someone pointed me here!

Carolien wrote: "I would add M.M. Kaye's mysteries. They tend to have a specific location and small group of suspects and is of a similar publication date to PD James."

I've been meaning to try those. I have read her Far Pavillions which I liked but haven't tried any of the mysteries so far.

Lady Clementina wrote: "Carolien wrote: "I would add M.M. Kaye's mysteries. They tend to have a specific location and small group of suspects and is of a similar publication date to PD James." ..."

MM Kaye's mysteries (Death in ...) are excellent -- very atmospheric and well set in time and place. I think they're earlier than PD James. They remind me more of Mary Stewart in terms of date, and always feature a likeable heroine.

HJ wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "Carolien wrote: "I would add M.M. Kaye's mysteries. They tend to have a specific location and small group of suspects and is of a similar publication date t..."

I must read one sometime.

I would suggest Paul Halter,an author I've recently discovered.His writing style is a homage to the locked room mysteries of Dickson Carr.Written originally in French,I think ten have been translated into English.Available as ebooks and physical from Amazon and hugely enjoyable!