Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to you both.

Jessica, I was also trying to read Christie in sequence, following a podcast, but fell behind along time ago. I have kept up with the short stories and just read The Mystery of the Blue Train to join in one of our group reads. Good luck with your challenge. If you do audio, there are also radio adaptions; I am about to listen to the BBC's radio version of Blue Train.

Mara, I completely sympathize with the multi-series joy / problem. I will never catch up! I left one with a pregnant wife and she will have carried the full nine months before I get back to them. I haven't tried any of the series you mention and almost dread finding more favorites.

Hi Maria and Jessica. Agatha Christie is my favourite author too, Jessica :) Maria, I also follow FAR too many series and, I agree, that Angela Marsons is fantastic - I have read all of her books.

Hi everyone! I'm fairly new to Goodreads and I really want to read more fiction (I'm a historian by day and write fiction under this name to keep my academic writing and publications separate!) I'm an aspiring indie author and I've been reading and writing ever since I learned how, I think. Classic mysteries are my favourite thing to read, and I'm excited to chat about them!!

Miss Marple was my role model through my early teens. I was hooked on Agatha Christie from the age of about 13/14, and that got me into Ngaio Marsh, Conan Doyle, and Dorothy Sayers. I also love Sheridan Le Fanu and the earlier gothic horror mysteries with the sensationalism and ladies in nighties fainting everywhere, and all the satires/pastiches they spawned...

I haven't been reading classics of the genre for aaages and I really really want to start reading them again. I've been reading the Fandorin series by Boris Akunin but not finished all of them yet! So looking forward to the reading challenges.

Hi C.M. Welcome to the group. We hope you join in with lots of the challenges too and enjoy re-discovering some classic GA authors.

If you write books you feel may interest the group, we have a thread at the bottom of the page where authors can promote their work:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

What is your specialist history period?

Thanks Susan!

My specialist period is c1066-1307, with a closer focus on c1199-c1307 (the long 13thC). Geographically I'm focused on Wales and the Welsh Marches. I've published under my own name there and I'm thinking of writing a popular history book on a 14thC murder in the midlands, outside my current focus but going back to a family I researched extensively for my PhD thesis! So I do go a bit later and look at England/Normandy too.

I think that's why I love the classic detectives so much though because being a historian is very similar in many ways, and also it is so nice to read things set during 19-20thC which I don't study--! I love the aesthetics and the style as much as the plots.

My son loves history, C.M. He is about to start 1066 as a GCSE topic for September.

I agree with you that being a historian is much like being a detective, so you should always be able to spot the murderer ;)

Ahh good for him! :-D all the best to him.

I do like guessing...! But it is also fun to go along for the ride especially when all the characters are so well sketched and the book is well written! :-)

Always able to spot the murderer? That's pressure C.M.!

Welcome to the group.

I can NEVER spot the murderer, so don't worry, C.M.!

Thanks both! Haha I find it realllllly hard with Christie especially. Though it is good practice for the modern detective fic / shows!! When you can spot the patterns writers use or look for tropes in modern detective writing (or even those heavily influenced by GA detective plots) it is much easier to guess right!! I would like a modern detective writer to fool me. I find modern stuff harder to get into though!

C. M. wrote: "I would like a modern detective writer to fool me...."
True- I don't find any modern (or sometimes even older writers') puzzles that throw me on the wring track or surprise me as much as Christie does.

I’m excited to delve into Marsh this year now I’ve found this group! I’m hoping I will enjoy the “being fooled” again!

Welcome, C.M., glad to hear you are joining in on Marsh. Great that you found the group!

Hello. I'm new here. Thanks for having me. I've got a lit degree so I've read much of "the canon" (at least American and British Lit) and I grew up loving science fiction so I can speak intelligently about that. I've also dabbled in westerns a bit. But crime and detective fiction? I'm pretty ignorant. I'll go on binges every once in a while, but these binges have been based on whims and accidental discoveries. Several years ago (while they were still out of print), I discovered Simenon's Maigret books and loved those. I read what I could find. A few years before that, I read through most of Michael Connelly's Bosch series. But mostly my mystery reading is pretty spotty. I read my first Agatha Christie book (Orient Express, of course) and loved it. I'm looking forward to being introduced to more classic crime fiction through this group. Cheers.

Hello all! I just joined this week. I've been a mystery fan for years, starting with Agatha Christie, who is my favorite. Other favorites, Conan Doyle, Ellis Peters, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, a bit of Margery Allingham, P.D. James, and others.
I enjoy shopping for old books, especially when I find an obscure mystery and an author I haven't read before.
I'm a mild-mannered writer and book editor by day and a voracious reader all the time!

C. M. wrote: "Thanks both! Haha I find it realllllly hard with Christie especially. Though it is good practice for the modern detective fic / shows!! When you can spot the patterns writers use or look for tropes..."

Susan wrote: "Hi C.M. Welcome to the group. We hope you join in with lots of the challenges too and enjoy re-discovering some classic GA authors. If you write books you feel may interest the group, we have a t..."


C.M. -- Have you read any of the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters? Mysteries set in Shrewsbury, Shropshire and environs in the 1100s. Might be interesting, considering your field of study (or might be too much like work!) If you're looking for a modern writer in the GA style and one to possibly fool you, have you read Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz?

Terri wrote: "C. M. wrote: "Thanks both! Haha I find it realllllly hard with Christie especially. Though it is good practice for the modern detective fic / shows!! When you can spot the patterns writers use or l..."

I love the Cadfael books and Magpie is waiting on my TBR!

Welcome Oedipuss, good to meet you! I've only read a couple of Maigret books so far but have enjoyed them and intend to carry on with the series. I haven't read any of the Michael Connelly books but will look out for them.

Christie is a favourite with many members and one of our members is leading reads of the Poirot books, if you are tempted to read more of those.

Welcome, Terri, glad you've joined! That's a great list of favourite authors - you have probably spotted that we have a Ngaio Marsh challenge.

I've been saying for ages that I will try a Cadfael book, but haven't done so as yet!

P.S. Meant to add that I really enjoyed Magpie Murders and the plot twists certainly fooled (and infuriated!) me - but I will say no more to avoid spoilers! I'd like to read more by Horowitz.

Welcome to the group, both Oedipuss and Terri. Hope you both find lots to interest you :)

I agree Judy, I loved Magpie Murders

Oedipuss wrote: "Hello. I'm new here. Thanks for having me. I've got a lit degree so I've read much of "the canon" (at least American and British Lit) and I grew up loving science fiction so I can speak intelligent..."

I've watched the Bosch series on Amazon and really enjoyed it. Have you seen it? I wonder how close it is to the books, and if its worth delving into the book series.

I loved Magpie Murders and The Word is Murder.

Judy wrote: "Welcome, Terri, glad you've joined! That's a great list of favourite authors - you have probably spotted that we have a Ngaio Marsh challenge.

I've been saying for ages that I will try a Cadfael ..."

Thank you! I did see the challenge, and Death at the Bar is one I have not read yet, so I might jump in! (Overture to Death is among my Marsh favorites, so I enjoyed the discussions there.)
If you want to try Cadfael, you can read them chronologically, but I've heard some people say they were put off by the first in the series A Morbid Taste for Bones. The first one I read was The Leper of St. Giles, and I thought it was great and went on to read the whole series. I could go on (and on ...) but I should save it for the Ellis Peters thread :)

I like Ellis Peters, but you need to space them out as, like many series, the similarities become too apparent, if you read them together. I did enjoy them though and probably need to do a re-read.

Tara wrote: "Oedipuss wrote: "Hello. I'm new here. Thanks for having me. I've got a lit degree so I've read much of "the canon" (at least American and British Lit) and I grew up loving science fiction so I can ..."

Sorry, Tara. I haven't watched any of the Amazon Bosch series so can't comment on its worth. I've heard good things about it from a couple of friends who hadn't read any of the books. I haven't talked with anyone who has both read the books and seen the TV series.

Oedipuss wrote: "Tara wrote: "Oedipuss wrote: "Hello. I'm new here. Thanks for having me. I've got a lit degree so I've read much of "the canon" (at least American and British Lit) and I grew up loving science fict..."

Sounds like a project Oedipuss! My general experience is that the books are almost always better that the TV/film version (with some minor exceptions), so I would be interested in reading a book or two in the series to test that theory.

Hello! Just joined today. I lurked around a bit and found lots of authors I had never heard of before and I thought "This is the group for me!"

I'm a grandma, part-time business manager, and a volunteer. I'm semi-retired, emphasis on the semi! I'm an eclectic reader; the only genre I don't usually enjoy much is horror.

I've been a mystery reader, off and on, for years, but never enough to read all the way through anyone's entire works. Well, except for maybe Robert Parker's Spenser books, which I read a LOT of back in the day.

After lurking here last week, I found a recommendation for the Inspector Littlejohn series by George Bellairs and was able to access The Case of the Famished Parson via Kindle Unlimited. I'm almost finished and I think I am hooked!

Looking forward to the monthly reads - especially the Inspector Barnaby read. We've watched the TV series, but I've never tried one of the books.

Here's to a lot of good reading!

Hi Terry! Looking forward to discussing books with you!

Hi Terry. This group has certainly introduced me to a lot of authors I didn't know before, and we have enjoyed a lot of old favourites Welcome.

Welcome Terry, glad you joined, and interesting to hear you are enjoying George Bellairs - I've only read one of those so far but hope to read more!

The Inspector Barnaby read is getting under way - here is a link to the non-spoiler thread:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Glad you've joined us Terry. I am currently reading all of Inspector Littlejohn series and enjoying them immensely. The mods of this group are AMAZING, keep things interesting and have also helped me to expand my TBR list with interesting authors and series. You will enjoy it here.

Thank you, S Dizzy - on behalf of all the mods, very kind of you to say so. :)

Thanks for the welcome, y'all! I can't wait to read along!

Welcome to the group, Terry and yes, thank you, S Dizzy, for your very kind comment.

Hello everyone! I'm a 19 year old university student from Greece. I grew up watching Agatha Christie's stories on tv and quite recently I started reading her books. Except mystery and crime novels, I really enjoy fantasy and historical fiction.
This group seems really interesting and I'm looking forward to exploring more authors.

Hi Anastasia - welcome to the group! Hope you find lots of new authors to explore with us :)

Welcome Anastasia, glad you have joined. There are lots of Christie fans here. :)

Welcome Anastasia. I loved all the tv versions of Christie and have only concentrated reading the books recently. They are a joy. I also read a lot of historical fiction, mainly mysteries. My latest passion is the Falco series byLindsey Davis, set in first century Rome.

Hello Anastasia
I'm a Christie fan & spent several years collecting all her books which I've read several times each.
I also enjoy Historical Fiction particularly C J Sansom & S J Parris's Tudor era mysteries

Hi! I'm Juan, i'm 30 years old and I'm from Argentina. I am a big fan of Christie (I've read all of her books) and I love Golden Age Detection. My favorite autors are Marsh, Allingham, Innes, Blake, Dickson Carr, Wentworth, Lorac, Gilbert and Crispin. I am currently reading Gladys Mitchell, and I find her amazing.

Welcome Juan! You have a long list of favorites, two of which I haven't heard of and will have to investigate.

Hi Juan - welcome to the group! Your favourite authors many of our readers and we have read many of them together. I am sure you will find lots to interest you here :)

Welcome Juan! Great list of favourites - I keep meaning to try Gladys Mitchell.

Juan wrote: "Hi! I'm Juan, i'm 30 years old and I'm from Argentina. I am a big fan of Christie (I've read all of her books) and I love Golden Age Detection. My favorite autors are Marsh, Allingham, Innes, Blake..."

Hello Juan
I too like many of the authors you mention
I read some Gladys Mitchell last year & enjoyed it

Welcome Juan. I’m adding some Gladys Mitchell to my list!!

Thanks to all of you! I'm currently reading "Artist in Crime" by Marsh. I will try to catch up to the Ngaio Marsh challenge!

Hello, I’m Erin, and I recently got back into recreational reading after graduating university a year ago. I was always a big fan of anything murder mystery, and a personal favorite was always “and then there were none”.

I have seen every episode of murder she wrote at least 3 times, I loved Murdoch mysteries, father brown, etc for TV.

I recently finished the entire Poirot series, I’ve read the miss Marple series, and with the exception of her short stories, just about every other Agatha Christie book out there.

I have been searching for a new series to read of The Who-dunnit detective murder mystery fiction, and am having trouble finding another good series/detective to read.

I see some good suggestions on the threads, but if anyone has any specific recommendations for me on authors or series most similar to the Poirot series to help with my withdrawls I would be most grateful.

Erin

Hello, Erin and welcome to the group. I am sure you will find lots of great suggestions here. We are currently reading Ngaio Marsh as our challenge, and have lots of other books/authors running as Buddy Reads, including Poirot, if you fancy a re-read :)