Crime / Mystery Books & Stories: Buy or Read Any Recently?

[MajorHoy]

Not sure if there's been a thread specifically for this genre, so I figured I'd start one.

Are there any books you've bought or read recently?

Are there any particular writer / series you tend to follow?

If you do read mysteries, do you prefer the "cozy" type of books, like ones that feature maybe a bed & breakfast, or a bookstore, or some other small town type of location? Or are you the type who prefers the rougher type of mysteries set in the big cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, New York City, or elsewhere? Maybe those with more of a historical setting, like 19th century England?

Whatever it might be, feel free to share.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I'm currently reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It's amazing reading.

[MajorHoy]

I'm currently reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It's amazing reading.

Been quite a while (maybe fifteen years?) since I read through collections like Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Also remember reading a couple of "Irene Adler Adventures" written by Carole Nelson Douglas.

[MajorHoy]

These days, I've been getting more into the hard-boiled type of mysteries by Hammett, Chandler, & Ross Macdonald.

Among my more recent acquisitions:

[MajorHoy]

Anybody read any of the Hard Case Crime books?

I've bought a few and enjoyed those I've read so far.


The Gutter and the Grave by Ed McBain
(Originally published as I'm Cannon-- For Hire by Curt Cannon (© 1958)/ this version by Hard Case Crime, 2005)



Blackmailer by George Axelrod
(orig. © 1952 / this version by Hard Case Crime, 2007)

I had also tried one of the Hard Case Crime comic book series a couple of years ago, but that one didn't really grab me.

[ed2962]

If we can count comics I can come up with a decent list, if it's strictly prose I've been slacking off for a long while.

The last proper crime book I started was The Judas Strain by James Rollins. I started it toward the end of the summer didn't get back to it. Not because, it was bad my personal routine changed and I kind of didn't get to it.

The last one I finished was Blood Vines by Erica Spindler.

I'll admit that I haven't read a ton of the classics of the genre. I tend to buy cheesy modern stuff win I'm at the thrift store.

[Lee Stone]

Anybody read any of the Hard Case Crime books?

I've bought a few and enjoyed those I've read so far.

I collected the Hard Case Crime books when they first came out, because they were readily available at our Wal-Mart at the time.
But when they stopped selling them, I had to quit buying them.

[The Darknight Detective]

Been quite a while (maybe fifteen years?) since I read through collections like Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

For me, it's more like 30 years since I read all of the Holmes stories.

[BeastieRunner]

Anybody read any of the Hard Case Crime books?

I've bought a few and enjoyed those I've read so far.

Get the Michael Crichton ones he wrote under his pen-name, John Lange!!! Drug of Choice, Binary, Scratch One, are my favorites. You get a neat glimpse into pre-famous Crichton. I think they have some early King ones, too.

[signalman112]

Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout and Robert Goldsborough.

[Powerboy]

Not sure if there's been a thread specifically for this genre, so I figured I'd start one.

Are there any books you've bought or read recently?

Are there any particular writer / series you tend to follow?

If you do read mysteries, do you prefer the "cozy" type of books, like ones that feature maybe a bed & breakfast, or a bookstore, or some other small town type of location? Or are you the type who prefers the rougher type of mysteries set in the big cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, New York City, or elsewhere? Maybe those with more of a historical setting, like 19th century England?

Whatever it might be, feel free to share.

I'm not big into mysteries but, over twenty years ago, I got on a kick and read all of Doyle's Holmes stories. I tried to read some other Holmes stuff but was pretty burned out by then. I read four Agatha Christie books. They were okay but I got tired of the one in a million coincidences. I also read two books by a woman whose name, I think, was Laura King. One was called "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" and, despite having some feeling of the main female character being a stand-in for the writer, I still thought it was very good.

Considering that my main interest was Holmes, I'd have to say 19th century England was my main interest. In fact, I played a character in a rpg soon after and I will say that, after reading all those stories, I felt quite comfy speaking with the vocabulary of 1880s London, at least the version of the vocabulary that was in Doyle's books.

[MajorHoy]

. . . Considering that my main interest was Holmes, I'd have to say 19th century England was my main interest.

An author that may be worth checking out is Anne Perry (who has quite a curious backstory herself!), who's written two series of mystery/detective novels that take place in 19th century England. Perry's first series features Inspector Thomas Pitt and his wife Charlotte, and those stories take place in the late 19th century.
Another series features Inspector William Monk, who is aided by former Crimean War nurse Hester Latterly. The Monk books are set during the mid-19th century.
Whether they may be your cup of tea or not I can't say. I read many of them quite a few years ago and enjoyed them. They were first published in the early 1980s, so you may still be able to easily find them in a library or at a bookstore if you want to check them out.