Who is your favorite murder mystery writer, and why ?

Question

I enjoy mostly those by Patricia Cornwell, and would like to hear form others. I want to read more good novels including true stories. I am looking forward to your responsis.
Do not answer with snide, rude or out of the line comments.
I prefer to hear from serious readers only... Thank You.

Answer 1

What a good question! I don't know of any other writers who, like Patricia Cornwell, have medical examiners as their main characters, but if you like mysteries that have realistic, very human detectives and that teach you something about their way of life, there are several you might consider.

If you are interested in history, you might enjoy the Brother Cadfael novels, by Ellis Peters, set in the time of the Crusades. There are twenty of them featuring a Benedictine monk who is also an herbalist and was, at one time, a soldier and sailor in the First Crusade. Ellis Peters is just one of the pseudonyms of the late Edith Pargeter of Shropshire, England.

If you are interested in literature (or in college life), you might enjoy the fourteen Kate Fansler mysteries by Amanda Cross. Fansler is a somewhat eccentric, very independent literature professsor and feminist in a New York university (as was the author), and the mysteries she becomes engaged in usually involve a student or professor. Amanda Cross is the pseudonym and alter ego of the late Carolyn Heilbruner, a scholar with nonfiction works on womanhood, literature, and her own ageing as well as a biography of Gloria Steinem. To protect her academic reputation, she kept her mystery writing a secret until a "detective" uncovered the copyright records.

Like Cornwell, both these authors specialize in the mental acumen of their characters, more than action adventure or physical pursuits. Their characters are fully well-rounded human beings with flaws as well as virtues.

My personal favorite, however, is Tony Hillerman, who writes about the work of Navajo tribal policemen, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, in the Four Corners area, especially New Mexico and Arizona. Hillerman had a full career as a journalist and as a professor at the University of New Mexico before his novels brought him fame and fortune. I like his books, first, because they are just darn good mysteries, but also because his two characters are very human. They grow and change during their career (from novel to novel). Leaphorn is an old-fashioned lawman, who does not believe in Navajo religous ways, but can use them to interpret clues. Chee, his younger and more volatile colleague, is a staunch believer in the Navajo culture, who is also in training to become a tribal healer. Leaphorn suffers the death of his beloved wife Emma (between novels); Chee has gone through three different courtships so far, all with women who accept his Navajo ways to different degrees.

You never read a Hillerman mystery without learning more about the terrain of the Four Corners and, especially, the Navajo ways. He is the only mystery writer whose works I like to re-read (after a few years) because I always learn something new with each reading. Hillerman says himself, "I never start one of these books . . . without being motivated by a desire to give those who read them at least some insight into the culture of a people who deserve to be much better understood." He has also written nonfiction about true crime, the West (especially New Mexico), and a memoir; he has done collections of works by other mystery writers; and he has composed the text for books of photography.

Answer 2

I like James Lee Burke as a detetective novelist. I have read the following:

In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead
Black Cherry Blues
A Morning for Flamingos
The Neon Rain
Cadillac Jukebox

Here's an interview with Burke:

http://www.powells.com/authors/burke.html

By the way: Have you read Patricia Cornwall's Case Closed. She gives a name for the Jack the Ripper killer.

Answer 3

I enjoy the novels by Dame Agatha Christie and namely those starring her most famous characters, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Her novels always have a nice twist and good character development, with a nice touch of the depiction of the lifestyle in England during the post world war 2 time.

Answer 4

I haven't tried Patricia Cornwell, though I have been eyeing her books lately.

I love Agatha Christie. I know its old school, but, I still think she is the best.

I also enjoy Lisa Gardner.

The Prey series by John Sandford is really good as well.

Its all good.

Answer 5

I don't read too much in the way of murder mysteries but these two by Rennie Airth grabbed me. River Of Darkness and The Blood Dimmed Tide are great murder mysteries. Be sure to read them in that order. DI John Madden of Scotland Yard is on the case.

Answer 6

Poe comes to mind first with his story "Murders at Rue Morgue" and of course Dame Agatha Christie. Anne Perry and her Victorian era mysteries give a good picture of life and the problems in Victorian times as well as wonderful suspenceful plots with twists and unexpected turns.

Answer 7

I'm a fan of the classics...being Agatha Christie's Hercule Periot. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries are also always good reads even if they are short.

Answer 8

Dorothy L. Sayers wrote a series of articulate, erudite murder mysteries in the 1920's and 1930's featuring a charming upper class sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey.
Her academic background, (honours, Oxford 1915), strongly influences her work.

Answer 9

Agatha Christie. Her novels are very clever. The plot is so exciting and you can never guess the end! Really great.

Answer 10

I loved Mary Higgins Clark, too bad she isn't writting anymore. Now I read anything that looks good... lately I have read Tom clancey, John Grisham, etc.

Good Luck & Enjoy your reading