Detective novel recommendations
 

Been watching a lot of CSI lately. I also just saw the Illusionist. I really enjoyed them, but I just know there's got to be something better out there. I haven't read Conan Doyle's works, and I assume they're great - I shall get to those.

Any mystery novel buff out there that could give me some titles? Something on the darker side perhaps? I'm sure I'll get lots of opinions here, and I welcome them. What are your favourites?

Dark side and cops collide in Michael Slade's novels, especially the earlier ones. Lots of twists and turns. I wouldn't call them traditional detective novels a la Sherlock Holmes, however.

The Fletch series. Very different than the movies but fantastic.

If you want Conan Doyle, I recommend starting off with some sort of collection of works. Most of the Sherlock Holmes stories are very short indeed (some are only a couple of pages).

James Patterson writes some good page turners, but they would never be considered great literature. There are also some plot holes here and there that never quite get smoothed over to my liking (but that's me).

If you want really good stuff, try some Agatha Christie. She was the all-time master, IMO.

Dashiell Hammett has written great detective fiction. His books are classics:
Red Harvest
The Dain Curse
The Maltese Falcon
The Glass Key
The Thin Man

Mickey Spillane novels are great too. The Mike Hammer stories are very entertaining.

A few years ago I read The Alienist by Caleb Carr. I enjoyed that as well.

What, are you too good for Encyclopedia Brown? :D

I don't read a lot of mystery novels but I've read a few. I always found Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot to be a good read.

I will also second Hightheif's suggestion of Michael Slade's books. I think Ghoul was the first in the series of cops chasing down serial killers. The cool thing is that it is set in Canada with Canadians. It's fun to read about the RCMP and Vancouver.

And Encyclopedia Brown rocks.

Amazon does a "list mania" thing that might be useful.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/lis...Fencoding=UTF8

The older Robin Cook novels were a good read for the "doctor turns detective" type mysteries. Grisham's earlier "attorney turns detective" novels a worth a look, too.

Are you interested in True Crime novels? "The Onion Field," "In Cold Blood," and "Hocus Pocus" are chilling because they are true.

I read Lehane's first book (Mystic River) and really liked it. Haven't read the second yet.

I have a compilation of the Sherlock Holmes stories and the book is great if you are just wanting a pick up/put down distraction for the moment.

I third the Agatha Christie novels as good reading. I have yet to guess the bad guy even with (or because of) all of the "clues" she drops.

Happy reading. :)

There's a nasty little thriller by Joe R. Lansdale titled "Savage Season" that you should check out.

A dectective novel that I thought was a lot of fun is:
The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin
A serial killer is murdering nursery rhyme characters and only one man can stop him!

That sounds an awful lot like a Jasper Fforde book, which I guess now that I've mentioned it--in the very loosest of terms--could be called a detective novel. :lol:

I would certainly recommend Christie, Doyle, Hammet and add Raymond Chandler to the list (I can't believe no one has mentioned him yet...).

On the medical/forensic/whatthefuckever front, Patricia Cornwell's early stuff isn't too bad and I enjoyed Kathy Reichs first few novels, but most of their new stuff is...well, it isn't that good. (Although I hear good things about Break No Bones. Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books are usually pretty good.

Encyclopedia Brown?!? The Hardy Boys were where it's at. :lol:

Have you read any Patricia Cornwell? (the Kay Scarpetta books) I love her books because it goes in the the "forensic" side of thing

Anything by James Lee Burke. Try hitting your local public library and start with his first book. Very addictive reading. If you just read one make it "Caddilac Cowboy".

Try anything by Dashiel Hammett or James Ellroy. Ellroy has had a few of his books turned into movies: LA Confidential and the upcoming The Black Dalhia. But whatever you do, stay clear of The Cold Six Thousand. I made the mistake of buying it from the library, and then I realize why they were trying to get rid of it.

Also, William Gibson's Pattern Recognition reads a lot like a detective novel. Check it out.

Reichs was my Anthropology teacher in University. Nice lady, but I can't get into her books.

Deaver wasn't bad - something with a darker edge is Preston and Child's work involving Agent Pendergast. Relic, Still Life With Crows, etc - as much horror as detective novel, however.

Also, anything by Martin Cruz Smith and his Arkady Renko character, Gorky Park, Polar Star, Havanna - all gold. Renko is about the best fictional detective I ever read.

i am not really a regular detective novel reader, but i like more cynical noir stuff: jim thompson (the grifters, population 1280--pretty much anything); charles willeford, raymond chandler (of course--despite the detective-as-entrepreneur thing), chester himes (very interesting political stuff in his 40s hardboiled novels)...i'd second james elroy--i'd read his stuff in more or less chronological order, tho, because he strips his style down more and more as his work unfolded.
pete dexter's "paris trout" is very cool and kinda in a thompson mode.
best thing about these books is that they take about 2 hrs to read.