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Who are your favorite mystery writers?

I love Chandler and Simenon too, but for a new young (actually I'm only assuming that he is young but I haven't heard of him before) try Nick Holland.
I have just finished reading his novel, The Girl On The Bus, for the third time - and believe me coming from me that is some recommendation!
This book has noir hallmarks but transported into the 21st Century and set in Yorkshire instead of LA. As a Yorkshireman myself it was great to read about locations that I had actually been to and I found that it worked really well.
I would recommend this book to everybody who likes their thrillers with a hint of the supernatural to them, it is so fast paced that I found it almost impossible to put down.
It starts with the hero taking a bus ride to work and being captibated by a silent young woman on the bus, within a week he is being chased by gangsters and police alike and the bodies start mounting up around him - I loved it and despite the plot being quite complicated, in the best Chandler style, it is all brought perfectly together in a thrilling last chapter.
It's got a couple of good reviews on Amazon but has anybody else read this book? If so I'd love to hear what you think!
 
I recently reread "A Study in Scarlet" and "The sign of four", both Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Authur Conan Doyle and enjoyed them as much as I did the first time I read them. For me this series is hard to beat.
 
muggle said:
nighthawk, I am anxiously waiting to see if you have read James Lee Burke's latest, "Crusader'S Cross. I would like your reaction and comments on the book. He is one of my favorite authors.
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Good read , quite up to the standard of the rest of his work , which is of course saying something. But then I'll read anything Burke writes , just as I'll read anything J.A. Jance , Lee Child , Block or myriad others write.

If you're from the areas of the country his novels are set in you'll find them richly evocative , texturally complex and very well researched.




B.
 
Dakota Spirit said:
. I would really like to try some Michael Connolly though...he's supposed to be pretty good from what I've heard.
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Michael Connelly is very good , Concrete Blonde might be a good starting point , and for what it's worth Harry Bosch ( Hieronymous) is a both Heroic and comic figure , but he always does the right thing , even at times with considerable cost to himself.



B.
 
I absolutely love John Connolly's books, I have read most of his books and have just recently finished his new book, The Lovers which was fab....

Although I think John Connolly is the best author right now I have recently discovered a new upcoming Irish author, John Kane. I am just about finished his first novel, The Final Sacrament and i have to say i can hardly put the thing down it is soo exciting.
 
Patricia Cornwell is probably my favorite... Though she's nowhere near as good as she used to be. I still read each new book hoping she'll recapture the magic. The early Scarpetta books are the best!

I also like Tami Hoag, Robert B. Parker, John Grisham and Lisa Jackson. I used to like Iris Johansen; her books were the first adult suspense novels I started reading in high school, but I soon realized that all of her books are pretty much the same.

I like Julie Garwood's series about the Buchanan brothers and their friends and relatives, though they could probably fall under romance. She does have some pretty good mysteries thrown in along the way though.
 
Dakota Spirit said:
James Patterson - Some of his stuff, I'll admit, isn't the best...but overall I tend to really enjoy his reading. I particularly enjoy the Alex Cross books and have read a few from the Women's Murder Club. They were enjoyable as well. Most of his books are pretty quick reads (You can just whip through those short chapters ;)) but worth it.
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I agree about Patterson. I like him sometimes, and his books are easy to read. I have read a lot of the Alex Cross books, and a couple of the Women's Murder Club... But I think my favorite book of his was the mystery of the pregnant virgin (I can't think of what it was called).
 
Sleepy said:
Patricia Cornwell up until Blow Fly from the Kay Scarpetta series. I think the series cracked when her death boyfriend suddenly reappeared. I read the Andy Brazil series and wouldn't say it was that great but not bad either. The new series, I was hoping there won't be a continuation, Win Ganaro sucks.
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That was when my disappointment set in with Cornwell too. I didn't mind about Benton Wesley coming back, but I just didn't like the third-person, present-tense style in which she started writing the books at that point. The latest book, Scarpetta, was probably better than any of her books since Blow Fly. Maybe she'll back to the style of old school Scarpetta soon.

I liked the Andy Brazil series and I would like to see another installment of it. They weren't the greatest mysteries I've ever read, but they were funny. I laughed and laughed when I read Isle of Dogs, in particular.

As for Win Ganaro, you're right - he sucks.
 
I read a lot of mysteries. My favorite authors are Arthur Conan Doyle, Rex Stout, and Dorothy Sayers. Sayers' The Nine Tailors is probably the individual mystery I like best. I can't say what grabbed me most about it without spoiling the end, but I'll note that I found it unusually atmospheric.
 
Well I have to start with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock holmes, Raymon Chanler's Phillip Marlow, Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade. Ed McBain's 87th precinct series. Mustn't forget Ed Bunker. Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pasco series.
It was Wilkie Collins who started it all wilth his Woman In White novel, but Doyle who caught the publics imagination of the great detective with Sherlock Holmes.
Ian Rankin's Rebus...well I could go on and on, just love detective novels.
 
Harrishanka, you have reminded me it has been a long time since I have read an Edgar Wallace novel. He wrote lots of thrillers, he created J.G. Reeder.
Edgar Lustgarden featured in many black an white films of Edgar Wallace stories based on his novels I believe.
 
harishankar said:
Edgar Wallace, without a doubt. Anybody read his works?
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I've just finished his 'The Four Just Men' - wow, I wasn't expecting it. Interesting format (a simple narrative: a how-will-they-do it, with the final reveal on the very last page). Ingenious. I'll look for more of his work.:D
 
Gabrielle Ray said:
I've just finished his 'The Four Just Men' - wow, I wasn't expecting it. Interesting format (a simple narrative: a how-will-they-do it, with the final reveal on the very last page). Ingenious. I'll look for more of his work.:D
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Yes. That was one of his most famous ones. Made into a film.
 
Esther23 said:
I posted on this thread already, but would like to add one of my favorite authors whom I forgot to mention:

Dennis Lehane - all his books are good but my favorite is "Mystic River"


Esther
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You need to read Gone,Baby,Gone.
 
So many of the authors already mentioned in this reply are my favorites but here's my list:

I'm sure someone mentioned him but if not Harlan Coben and I love Lisa Gardner and all the rest of the following:

Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Michael Connelly, James Lee Burke, Allison Brennan, David Balducci, Sandra Brown, Beverly Connor, Patricia Cornwall, Jeffrey Deaver, Nelson DeMille, Eileen Dryer, Lisa Gardner, Tess Gerriten, Kay Hooper, Tami Hoag, Gregg Hurwitz, Greg Iles, Christine Heggan, both Jonathan and Faye Kellerman, Philip Margolin, Steve Martini, Christine McGuire, both James and Richard North Patterson, T. Jefferson Parker, Thom Racina, Kathy Reichs (if you like the "Bones" tv series, you'll love Reichs' books), Nancy Taylor Rosenberg, Lisa Scottoline, Taylor Smith, Erica Spindler, John Sandford, Tom Savage, Mariah Stewart, Stephen White and, last but certainly not least, Stuart Woods.

In my humble opinion, pick up a book by any of these authors and you will be pleased with your choice.
 
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