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Whodunnits?

fluffy bunny

fluffy bunny

Member
Can anyone recommend some decent whodunnits (was it Martin, the Wabbit in black, the alien, Phil, the American broad, the eccentic Scottish lady or the butler that did the deed)? Decent ones are hard to come by.

I'm after well written ones with plenty of clues, leading to a decent 'parlour scene' where the detective goes over the clues and how they obviously point to the murderer when you look at the clues in a certain light (ie not one where the murder suddenly comes out of left field, cheapening the experience for the reader).

Any suggestions?
 
Martin said:
Sherlock Holmes?

Cheers, Martin :D
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To be honest, I'm not entirely convinced by ol' Sherlock. Agatha Christie wrote some really good ones, but I'm trying to find a few gems from other authors out there.
 
I have read some good ones by Ellery Queen and I also enjoyed Perry Mason books where the parlour scene is substituted by a courtroom scene.
 
For Dorothy L. Sayers:

Murder Must Advertise, The Five Red Herrings, and Strong Poison are all worth reading (others are good, as well, but its best to start with one of these three).
 
I think I may have mentioned this on another post Fluffy Bunny but here goes. Sue Henry wrote a series of something like 10-11 books that take place in Alaska. They are centered around the love interest of a state cop and a female dog musher (if that's the right term). The first book of the series is called Murder on the Iditarod Trail. I've read the first 4 of the series and have the others on my shelf awaiting me.
A note of caution. Unless you are a serious collector I would recommend looking for the first book either at the library or in paperback as the hardback is a little salty. I think I paid about $100 for it.
Hope that helps,

RaVeN
 
Bunny,
Here are c ouple of ideas:
Some Buried Caeser by Rex Stout (though the entire Nero Wolfe canon is good)
Booked to Die and The Bookman's Wake by John Dunning (very good biblio-mysteries) Technically, not drawing room dramas, but they're about books!
 
I would recommend the following authors, that have not already been mentioned:

Ngaio Marsh
Elizabeth George
Maria Lang (Swedish)

They are very good, classic, whodunnits.

Hobitten
 
I loved the Dunning books! One of them focuses on a Poe book, of which I'm a big fan and he centers some of his work in Denver, where I lived for 5 years so the books really felt like good friends to me.

RaVeN
 
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. A medieval murder mystery that also finds the time to pay homage to Sherlock Holmes.
 
The Inspector Morse series by Colin Dexter is worth a look. I really enjoyed them, although I didn't like the TV series. I would find it hard to recommend a particular one because I liked them all. Maybe it would be an idea to start from the first one, but I'm not sure which one that was. Sorry I haven't been more helpful.
 
Boris Akunin's "Erast Fandorin's adventures" series is what I've recently read from this genre. Worth having a look at. They are not very typical "whodunnits" books, but that makes them even more interesting.
 
Raven,
I have recently been reading lots of "biblio-mysteries" and have yet to read any that measure up to the Dunning books. I am very happy to see that he is finally releasing a third in the series.
Also, a word to Bunny about Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe. I think you really should give them a try. Wolfe says that he never leaves his home (which he does rarely enough), so the books almost always end with an assemblage of all the characters (usually in Wolfe's large office) so that he can name the guilty party.
 
Funes, I think Dunning is so good because he writes what he knows about. (being an old bookscout, living in Denver, etc). I too look forward to the latest.
I had read that the reason it's taken him so long to write it was because of a disease/illness and his concentration level is shot to hell. (that's not a quote but you get the idea)
He also wrote a very good mystery in another area that he's an expert in, old radio shows. The book is called Two O'Clock Eastern Wartime and is set durring WWII. I liked it quite a bit.

RaVeN
 
RaVen,
Thanks for the recommendation. I knew about his other mystery, I just didn't know if it would be any good.
 
Here we go again...another series of books to become interested in...argh! :D

The Dunning books sound extremely interesting...definitely going to have to look into them.
 
funes said:
RaVen,
Thanks for the recommendation. I knew about his other mystery, I just didn't know if it would be any good.
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This may or may not depend upon your age. I was born soon after that era and didn't really experience the glory days of radio but heard enogh about it growing up that I could associate with the book.
A "younger generation" may find it quite boring though. It's your call.

RaVeN
 
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