Who is the greatest mystery writer?

Answer 1

It's practically impossible to pick one since mystery writers are great in their own way, that's what makes them so popular.
I have a long list of favorite mystery writers:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Agatha Christie
Lilian Jackson Braun
Carole Nelson Douglas
Susan Wittig Albert
P. D. James
Margaret Truman
Harry Kemelman
Ellery Queen
Camille Minichino

Answer 2

When one thinks of a literary character who is adept at solving mysteries they almost certainly think of a Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was created by the greatest myster writer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Answer 3

Easy.
The best mystery I've ever read is Dorothy Dunnett's "The Disorderly Knights", part of her Crawford of Lymond early Renaissance series.

But for sustained ability at writing, I'd have to vote for Josephine Tey, for plotting Lindsey Davis and for power Stephen Saylor--with a nod for comedy to the creator of Rumpole of the Old Bailey, John Mortimer.

Answer 4

Mary Higgins Clarck

Answer 5

J.A. Jance and Jonathan Kellerman are two of my favorites.

J.A. Jance has two series going, the first takes place in Seattle, WA and the main character is a homicide detective.

The second series takes place in Cochise County, Arizona and the main character is a female county sheriff. What makes Jance's writing fun is that you never know who die during the course of a story. Lots of twists and turns and because she isn't afraid of murder, you never know who will be safe.

Kellerman's main character is Psychologist Alex Delaware and his best friend is Milo Sturgis, a gay Homicide Detective in LA. Whenever Milo needs some psychological forensics work done, he asks Delaware to volunteer his time. Great plots with twists and turns.

I really recommend starting with the first of each of these series since the characters mature and go through some changes as they age.

Answer 6

Raymond Chandler

Answer 7

I don't think that this question can be answered truthfuly. The answer would vary in the eye of the beholder.

Though if it were up to me I would say Greg Iles, Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, or Tom Clancy. They are all great and like I said it varies in the eye of the beholder.

Answer 8

Very difficult to answer because there are so many different kinds of mysteries, but you couldn't go wrong with Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler

Answer 9

This topic is sure to be debated, but some of the legends include:

Agatha Christie
P.D. James
Arthur Conan Doyle
Edgar Allen Poe
Dorothy Sayers

Answer 10

Dorothy Gilman