50 crime writers to read before you die

I have mixed feelings, something missing here and I hoped to be surprised or reminded of 'lost' crime writers. Perhaps the list was compiled to represent different categories of crime novel, a historical overview and a nod to the Scandinavians and Europe.

One obscure writer who is very good from the 1950s through to the 1970s is Helen MacInnes, espionage novels of the early Cold War, good on place and character even though I disliked her politics (well, it was that era).

My own favourites would include Val McDermid, Umberto Eco, Donna Leon, Patricia Cornwell, PD James, Jo Nesbo, Sara Paretsky, Karon Slaughter, Josephine Tey, Amanda Cross -- I read a lot of crime when I'm on holiday and over weekends, most of the popular and possibly scorned authors -- Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, go back to the odd racing thriller from Dick Francis. Faye and Jonathan Kellerman. The other week I found Anne Perry (herself a murderer who served her time for killing a friend's mother while in her teens) at the library.

I like eclectic and broad reading in crime fiction --

Among several other changes I would make to the list, I would have included Émile Gaboriau and removed Steig Larsson.

These things are always a judgement call and arbitrary. Why stop at fifty, why not one-hundred.

I note that the list said that The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo had only just been published in the UK, so it would have been coloured by the various different hypes and trends around at the time.

If it had been done just after The Da Vinci Code was published, before it became fashionable to knock Dan Brown, he might well have made the list.

No-one's ever going to agree on lists like these, but they can be a fun way to introduce people to new authors.

Just a comment (not to start an argument). Ten years ago I would have definitely have put P. D. James on the list. I probably still would, but not with as much conviction. Too often her stories seem a bit flat to me nowadays.

Hmmm.... I also noticed that most of the snark in the list went to the female authors.......

To be fair, PDJ is in her nineties.....

mirandashell said:

To be fair, PDJ is in her nineties.....

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Even when rereading some of her earlier works, I felt the same.

I did see a good interview with her in The Strand magazine two or three years ago. She has some interesting observations.

Alleycat, you may be right on PD James -- I find there are fascinating premises in some of her novels but then it goes flat.

I read book/author lists quite often and sometimes the inclusion of overlooked writers and new writers really inspires me -- some sci-fi lists and recommendations have been like a shot of caffeine and sent me dashing off to order or find certain books. This wasn't that zingy a list.

I love PD James, even when I hate her.

That said, if there's a problem with this list, it's that it should contain a bunch more writers. But I do think any mystery writer should read at least part of what this fifty has written. In one way or another, all fifty have influenced the genre, and too many of them are overlooked.

Fifty is not a large number, and reading at least a novel or two from each is not that much of an investment. Though I think writers should read everything some of these writers have available.

Marya said:

Alleycat, you may be right on PD James -- I find there are fascinating premises in some of her novels but then it goes flat.

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Not keen on PDJ and find Adam Dalgleish an utter bore, but people seem to like 'em.

Here are thirty or so of my favourites (inevitable crossover with the Telegraph list, I'm afraid, but a few not on theirs.)

I do seem to have a strong male bias in this list, eh? Only four women (although they are four of the very best.)

Agatha Christie
Margery Allingham
Raymond Chandler
John Dickson Carr
Ian Fleming
Thomas Harris
Patricia Highsmith
Elmore Leonard
George Pelecanos
Ngaio Marsh
Lawrence Block
Edmund Crispin
John Sandford
Michael Connelly
Robert B Parker
John D MacDonald
James Ellroy
Michael Dibdin
Kyril Bonfiglioli
Carl Hiaasen
Anthony Boucher
Dennis Lehane
Donald Westlake
Scott Turow
Arthur Conan Doyle
James M Cain
George V Higgins
Daniel Pennac
James Hadley Chase
Cyril Hare
Christopher Brookmyre
Lee Child
Harlan Coben

I agree on some of these authors do belong on this list, and some of them I have never heard of or read their work (I will have to put some of these authors on my reading list). I feel one author is missing and that is Dean Koontz. He crosses the lines over too many genres but he excels when it comes to mystery.

No Rex Stout? No Dashiell Hammett?

caw

Though I'm unfamiliar with a few of the authors in that list, overall it's a pretty good starting point if you want to get a good feel for where mystery started and where it's gone.

My all-time faves (the ones I learned the most from and enjoyed the most) would definitely start with:

Chandler
Ross MacDonald
James Cain
Elmore Leonard
James Ellroy

A few of the more current writers I would add include:

John Sandford
Lawrence Block
Michael Connelly
Carl Hiaasen
Steig Larsson
John Grisham

I'm sure the second I hit "submit reply" to this post several more names will blast into mind.

blacbird said:

No Rex Stout? No Dashiell Hammett?

caw

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I don't like Rex Stout all that much. His plots feel as fussy as his sleuth.