Reading with Style discussion

Here is a place to share/discuss authors and time periods.

Early 20th century, you might try looking at Anna Katharine Green. She also wrote in the late 19th century.

Also, Mary Roberts Rinehart. You'll have to pick and choose for her, because she also wrote romances.

Oh good. I'm glad you put this thread up, because I thought something like this would be useful.

A good variety of Golden Age authors here (UK + US):
https://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/boo...

https://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/boo...

The Hound of the Baskervilles = 1901

The whole website, in general, seems to be a good resource:
https://www.sldirectory.com/mystery.html

My list overlaps Bryony's, so I'll add:

Alexander McCall Smith
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency 1998 to present

Dick Francis
mostly stand alones (and even the 'series' can be read as singles) 1962 - 2010

Jo Nesbø
Harry Hole series 1997 to present

Ian Hamilton
Ava Lee series 2011 to present

Louise Penny
Chief Inspector Gamache 2005 to present

Jussi Adler-Olsen
Department Q series 2007 to present

Elly Griffiths
Ruth Galloway series 2010 to present

Walter Mosley
He's written a lot, but I am familiar with:
Easy Rawlins series 1990 - 2016
Fearless Jones trilogy 2001 - 2006

My mystery tastes run the gamut, as you can probably tell, so I can't forget to mention a cozy:
Lilian Jackson Braun
The Cat Who series 1966 - 2007

also, Bryony listed Agatha Raisin (who I love!), but don't forget the Hamish McBeth series 1985 - 2020 by MC Beaton

This is a list of some mystery series I’m reading which may work for this challenge.

Raymond Chandler
Philip Marlowe series (1939-1953)

Agatha Christie
Poirot (1920-1975)
Miss Marple (1930-1976)

Georges Simenon
Inspector Maigret series (1931-1976)

Ngaio Marsh
Roderick Alleyn series (1934-1982)

Dorothy L. Sayers
Lord Peter Wimsey series (1923-1937)

P.D. James
Adam Dalgliesh series (1962-2008)

Henning Mankell
Wallander series (1991-2009)

Ian Rankin
Rebus series (1987-2018)

Robert Galbraith
Cormoran Strike series (2013-2020)

Kate Atkinson
Jackson Brodie series (2004-2019)

M.C. Beaton
Agatha Raisin series (1993-2019)

Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie Dobbs series (2003-2019)

Alexander McCall Smith
No 1 Ladies Detective Agency (1998-2020)
Isabel Dalhousie (2004-2020)

Another place to look for/at authors from the early part of the 20th Century is at the GADetection page. Here is their authors link:

http://gadetection.pbworks.com/w/page...

There is an indication at this site that you may edit, but I don't think that is so.

Another page(s) that might be helpful is about the Detection Club. Martin Edwards, who has edited some early detective fiction has his own page about it.

http://www.martinedwardsbooks.com/det...

Wikipedia has a list of members:

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

In another group I was reminded that Isaac Asimov has a sci-fi/mystery series I, Robot. It's probably not my thing, but good to keep in mind anyway.

The Haycraft-Queen Definitive Library of Crime, Detective and Mystery Fiction is found on the GR Listopia at

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...

which reminded me of the website:

http://www.classiccrimefiction.com/

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but how do we decide if a book is a mystery? Does it need to be on the genre list on the book page, or in a library classification, or is it up to us?

Rosemary wrote: "Does it need to be on the genre list on the book page, or in a library classification, or is it up to us?"

This is for you to challenge yourself. I will probably be using the GR genre section because that will be easiest guide for me. But you may find another way - especially when it comes to filling in the harder to fill years.

Thanks, Elizabeth. That's good. I'll normally use the GR genre section too, but some of the books I read don't have enough ratings to get a genre section, so it's good to know I can still count them!

I'll post this here because we will continue to have tasks that have nothing to do with the Mysteries Challenge. As we all know, if you're creative enough, you can find something - a mystery - that will fit almost any task we write. So, for the internationally inclined is

Crime Fiction in Translation: Mysteries & Thrillers 2018

Because this was from Publisher's Weekly, it includes the names of several publishers and/or imprints. I could probably lose a lot of time looking at the listings of those imprints. Just saying ...

Further on that theme

Bookriot's 100 Must Read Mystery & Crime Novels Around the World

Our Favourite Crime Novels in Translation

The top 10 crime novels in translation

Thanks to Elizabeth noting that The Blue Diamond by Annie Haynes was .99 US for the kindle on Amazon, I was able to get it for $1.49 Cdn! This mystery is a stand-alone.

As well, I was able to get both her series (one of 3, and one of 4) in a collection for .75 Cdn. Ultimate Collection of Golden Age Murder Mysteries: Complete Inspector Furnival & Inspector Stoddart Series.

These books will cover 1923 to 1930, if you have openings there!

Oooh, Valerie! Nice find! Unfortunately neither Kindle edition is available in the US just now. I did notice others by her are available for 99 cents. I guess it's no use trying to whittle down my number of books on hand.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Oooh, Valerie! Nice find! Unfortunately neither Kindle edition is available in the US just now. I did notice others by her are available for 99 cents. I guess it's no use trying to whittle down my ..."

Yes, well.... there's that. ha, ha....

I guess the benefit of the kindle is the books on hand are 'hidden'. Less obvious to the partner who questions the piles on the floor in front of the book shelves!

Thanks Valerie! I looked and found a set of 8 of her books for 49p on Amazon UK, which is an incredible deal. I suppose they are out of copyright. But I will have to wait until September to start reading them, due to the "before 1st June" clause in the current season...

Many of us won't need such lists, but they can be fun anyway.

The Most Popular Mysteries on Goodreads

What makes the list valuable are the links to other mystery lists - Agatha, Edgar, by century, sub-genre, and the decades of the 60s thru the present.

Just wondering, would people consider spy novels (for instance authors like John le Carré or Ian Fleming) acceptable for this challenge? I tend to think of mysteries as detective stories or books about an amateur sleuth, but I’m not sure if my definition is too narrow. Any thoughts?

Bryony wrote: "Just wondering, would people consider spy novels (for instance authors like John le Carré or Ian Fleming) acceptable for this challenge? I tend to think of mysteries ..."

This is your challenge and you'll have to define "mystery" for yourself. None of us will question your decision as to what to include as you make your way. You might feel pretty good about those authors anyway. Many Goodreads users have shelved books by those authors as Mystery.

What she says.... ha, ha....

Either way both are good fun - and listed by many GR readers as mystery, so why not!

I just finished a 'western' The Trail to Seven Pines which, as I was reading it I thought 'this is a mystery'; however no-one has shelved it as such. I would say, as Elizabeth did, use your judgement. In this case, no-one shelved it as such so I let it slide (plus I am pretty sure I can pick up an acknowledged mystery for that year) but if it had been a harder year to fill I would pushed the point.

I enjoyed reading the comments about which books should "count." I hope everyone just has fun and doesn't worry about being questioned about their choices. But I do understand having questions. Already I have read three books that I intended to claim, but then had second thoughts.

The House in the Mist by Anna Katharine Green (MPE 116 pages) felt like a short story, which I am trying to avoid using. I did enjoy it and will try something novel length by this author.

The Confession by Mary Roberts Rinehart has an MPE of 80 pages. Since we have a task this season that allows under-100-page books, I decided to count it, because it felt like a legitimate novella, not a short story.

The Uttermost Farthing by R. Austin Freeman has 9 shelvings as "mystery." But, two or three reviewers said it is "not a mystery." I totally disagree! Freeman, a medical doctor, wrote a series of Dr. Thorndyke detective novels, and maybe people were disappointed that he is not in the book. But it is a mystery--and a very bizarre, grotesque one. The narrator's wife was killed during a burglary, we are told that at the beginning, and the rest of the book is his attempt to find her killer. That sounds like a mystery to me. I think I've talked myself into claiming it. (There is a free Kindle version on Amazon, also free on gutenberg.)

I am trying to read for the earlier years this season, while the oldies points are available. I'd also like to finish this by the end of 2021, but that might not be realistic.

Agree I just hope everyone has fun. It seems all of the mystery books I read now and over the next few months will qualify. The challenge will come when I start duplicating years and then begin to look closer at my shelves. Too, I have so many books on hand, and have been picking up quite a few mysteries at bargain prices, that it will provide satisfaction in moving those along.

G.K. Chesterton should be looked at for the early years.

Thank you Elizabeth and Valerie. I think I’ll allow myself to include them then. It will be good to have an incentive to read some of the many John le Carré books I’ve picked up on Kindle’s 99p deals over the last few years!

I have found another author who published in the very early years. E. Phillips Oppenheim. I haven't read anything by him so cannot attest to his readability, but there are lots of titles from which to choose. Wikipedia's bio says "a prolific writer of best-selling genre fiction, featuring glamorous characters, international intrigue and fast action. Notably easy to read, they were viewed as popular entertainments. " Wiki lists more than 100 titles.

I checked the database and he's there with one entry, but a group search doesn't turn up which member claimed him. I can tell it was pretty early in our history, so maybe search (that was broken earlier this year) doesn't go back that far.

I have downloaded The Black Box, though, like everything else, I'm not sure when I'll get to it. Still, I'm glad to know there are options.

I'm going to chime in with Aussie Authors ;)

Arthur W. Upfield
Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte (1929-1966)

Peter Corris
Cliff Hardy (1982-2017)

Robert G. Barrett
Les Norton (1985-1996)
also many stand alones

Shane Maloney
Murray Whelan (1994-2007 but big gaps in between books)

Peter Temple
a couple of series & stand alone and most are award winning (1996-2005)

Kerry Greenwood
Phryne Fisher (this series will fit right in this season's task, 20.2 Jazz) (1989-current though big gap between 2013 to 2020)

Sulari Gentill
Rowland Sinclair (the first 4 books will fit in this season's task, 20.2 Jazz) (2010-current)

Candice Fox
2014-current: a few series + stand alones

Jane Harper
2016-current: her first book is coming out as a movie in a few weeks' time

Barry Maitland
1994-current

Thanks, Tien. I have read one installment of Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte and only because I have so many other books have not gone looking further in that series.

Your others are for the later years that inexplicably I will need to work at filling in.

There's a whole slew of new upcoming crime/mystery authors in Australia - a new thing with outback crime sort of 'genre' but I've only included 1 in my list above...

I did read Jane Harper's The Dry. And it would definitely qualify for this season's 10.7 La Nina and 10.3 Winter.

I want to bump Valerie's mention of the website

https://www.sldirectory.com/mystery.html

It is a terrific resource!

Stop, You're Killing Me!

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/ind...

I got to this via the sldirectory website as she had links to a number of articles. There are lists of all sorts at this website. On the left panel see: Location Index, Job Index, Historical Index, Diversity Index, Genre Index.

I'm so impressed with the work done here! Have not had time to explore fully, that's for sure!

Oh good! I'm glad it's been useful!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Stop, You're Killing Me!

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/ind...

I got to this via the sldirectory website as she had links to a number of articles. There are lists of all sorts at this webs..."

I’d been posting this website every time we’ve had a challenge involving mysteries, locations, jobs or whatever ! Which is about every other challenge! I’ve been recommending this site ever since I joined this group! It’s fantastic!