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sapiens · 05-31-2009, 07:08 PM

Over the course of the last month, my wife and I watched the first season of Foyle's War, a BBC series about a detective in England during WWII. We both enjoyed it, but my wife doesn’t like how everything comes together so perfectly at the end of an episode. I feel that's a characteristic of the detective/mystery genre as a whole.

I'm a fan of detective mysteries. Classics I have enjoyed include:

Dashiell Hammet books: I have a leather bound collection of Dashiell Hammet books that I found at a used book store. We almost named our son Dashiell. I like the name. The collection that I own includes Red Harvest, The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key, and The Thin Man. I enjoyed all of them. I highly recommend Dashiell Hammet.

Mickey Spillane books: The Mike Hammer books are classic pulp fiction. Lots of violence, lots of sexuality. They are entertaining. Start at the beginning with I, The Jury.

Raymond Chandler: Lots of great detective fiction. The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye, Farewell, My Lovely, etc. All of them are great. Many of them were made into movies later. The Big Sleep is a great, incoherent, film starring Humphrey Bogart as Phillip Marlowe.

More recent detective fiction I have enjoyed:

Walter Mosley: Easily Rawlins is a black detective during the 50s and 60s. The books are interesting. In addition to confronting the typical detective fiction villains (corrupt cops, immoral wealthy folk), Easy confronts racism and classism. Again, I would start at the beginning.

James Ellroy: Interesting Los Angeles based detective/mystery fiction. I particularly enjoyed the L.A. Quartet (The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz).

Jonathan Lethem: Motherless Brooklyn is a great detective/mystery story published in 1999. The protagonist has Tourette’s Syndrome. It’s a good read.[COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]

---------- Post added at 08:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:57 PM ----------

I forgot one other one:

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. A detective story set in an alternative history: Post WWII survivors of the holocaust were given a Jewish state in Alaska. A non-observant Jewish detective investigates a murder in Alaska. An interesting read. (However, if you are interested in Michael Chabon, start with The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay).

If anyone has any detective fiction recommendation, I would appreciate them.

05-31-2009, 07:08 PM	#8 (permalink)
sapiens Junkie Location: Some place windy	Over the course of the last month, my wife and I watched the first season of Foyle's War, a BBC series about a detective in England during WWII. We both enjoyed it, but my wife doesn’t like how everything comes together so perfectly at the end of an episode. I feel that's a characteristic of the detective/mystery genre as a whole. I'm a fan of detective mysteries. Classics I have enjoyed include: Dashiell Hammet books: I have a leather bound collection of Dashiell Hammet books that I found at a used book store. We almost named our son Dashiell. I like the name. The collection that I own includes Red Harvest, The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key, and The Thin Man. I enjoyed all of them. I highly recommend Dashiell Hammet. Mickey Spillane books: The Mike Hammer books are classic pulp fiction. Lots of violence, lots of sexuality. They are entertaining. Start at the beginning with I, The Jury. Raymond Chandler: Lots of great detective fiction. The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye, Farewell, My Lovely, etc. All of them are great. Many of them were made into movies later. The Big Sleep is a great, incoherent, film starring Humphrey Bogart as Phillip Marlowe. More recent detective fiction I have enjoyed: Walter Mosley: Easily Rawlins is a black detective during the 50s and 60s. The books are interesting. In addition to confronting the typical detective fiction villains (corrupt cops, immoral wealthy folk), Easy confronts racism and classism. Again, I would start at the beginning. James Ellroy: Interesting Los Angeles based detective/mystery fiction. I particularly enjoyed the L.A. Quartet (The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz). Jonathan Lethem: Motherless Brooklyn is a great detective/mystery story published in 1999. The protagonist has Tourette’s Syndrome. It’s a good read.[COLOR="DarkSlateGray"] ---------- Post added at 08:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:57 PM ---------- I forgot one other one: The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. A detective story set in an alternative history: Post WWII survivors of the holocaust were given a Jewish state in Alaska. A non-observant Jewish detective investigates a murder in Alaska. An interesting read. (However, if you are interested in Michael Chabon, start with The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay). If anyone has any detective fiction recommendation, I would appreciate them.