Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome, Walt.

Hi Walt - who are your favourite Golden Age authors?

HJ wrote: "Carrie wrote: "Hi! My name is Carrie and I live in the US. I am married, with three grown children and one still left at home.

I've been reading Golden Age mysteries for a long time now, starting..."

Leo Bruce is a new name to me too. Do let us know a title or two to start with!

Yay, another Edmund Crispin fan! Welcome, Carrie!

Susan wrote: "Hi Walt - who are your favourite Golden Age authors?"
Hi Susan, I'm new to these threads so I don't know the lingo but to me Golden Age is Hammett and Chandler and I'm not much for P.D.James & co. The one book I can name that did intrigue me was Josephine Tey's "A Daughter of Time." Modern (c 1950's?) Brit cop inverstigating the truth about Richard III.

I love Hammett and Chandler although I think they are considered more noir.

I lovedThe Daughter of Time. One of the few books I was ever assigned to read in school. Although I did have another teacher who assigned the watching of a Sherlock Holmes movie.

I have never read Leo Bruce either. Case for Three Detectives seems to be the first and it is in print, so one to try. It is also available on kindle, certainly in the UK.

Walt, we are far more P D James than Chandler I am afraid, but have a browse at the books we are reading and hopefully you will find something to interest you.

For all new members, please note that we have a poll to choose our book of the month, so do vote and also feel free to nominate books as well - they should be set within our period, although they do not necessarily need to be written then (for example, the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries would qualify).

Hi I'm Catherine, a recently retired college professor from the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland USA. I started reading murder mysteries 2-3 decades ago during my PhD program (needed something lighter at the end of the day). Went through Dorothy Sayers (my fave, liked the subtle feminism), Ngaio Marsh, Marjorie Allingham, Also like Tey, P.D.James, amd J. Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series. Not so much Agatha Christie or Georgette Hyer or Elizabeth George (the latter 2 too "romancy" for me ..). I read a lot of other stuff too, including world mysteries set in other cultures, but there's another GR group for that. :-)

Welcome, Catherine. I have relatives on the Shore. Lived for a short period in Baltimore County. Now I'm in North Carolina.

I like Sayers, Marsh, Allingham and Tey. Re-reading James and discovering that I may not have read all of them originally.

I am being pleasantly surprised by Heyer's Death in the Stocks. I didn't think I would like her at all because of the Regency books. I am finding her not so bad.

Welcome, Catherine - glad you've joined us.

A good selection of favourite authors there. I also love Sayers, Marsh and Allingham and keep meaning to read more Tey. Hope you enjoy the group.

The other Tey I remember liking was "Brat Farrer" ( though I may have spelled that wrong).

Welcome Catherine - I also love 'world' mysteries. Hope you enjoy the group.

Hi Catherine, I live on the western shore of the bay in Calvert County. This is a good group.

Catherine wrote: "Hi I'm Catherine, a recently retired college professor from the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland USA. I started reading murder mysteries 2-3 decades ago during my PhD program (needed..."

I pretty much agree with your likes and dislikes, except that I've never rad any Winspear (have just requested one from the library) and you left out Rex Stout, and absolute favorite of mine.

I know the Eastern Shore fairly well -- attended college in Annapolis and I used to go over the bridge and up 301 to get home to Philadelphia in preference to going through Baltimore an up 495. I also had some close friends in Easton I used to visit several times a year.

I started reading Sherlock Holmes as a teenager and discovered Lord Peter after I watched the miniseries on PBS in my 20's. Sayers is still my favorite Golden Age author. I have read many of the classic authors Tey, Christie, Marsh, Stout, Chesterton. Of the more modern authors I like Louise Penny, Jacqueline Winspear, Anne Perry, Elizabeth Peters, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Emma Lathen and I am also very fond of Dick Francis. I work in a middle school library so a YA series I really enjoyed was the Enola Holmes books by Nancy Springer. I grew up in Oklahoma but have lived in Mississippi, Oregon, Alaska, and Ohio. I have now been in Texas for 25 years.

Nice to see a mention of Ruth Dudley Edwards, Ellen. I love her Amiss mysteries, especially on audio. I have given people about to join the English Civil Service copies of Corridors of Death because it has such a helpful explanation of how it all works and what all the different job titles mean!

Thank you for the recommendation of an author new to me, Nancy Springer.

Welcome, Ellen. Great list of writers to discover - I'm currently reading my way through the Sherlock Holmes stories and also enjoying both the Wimsey books and the TV adaptations. I've read some of the others on your list, but not all of them by a long chalk!

I liked Corridors of Death, HJ. Another series I would like to continue. Perhaps I need to just pick one and read my way though it, although I am doing that with Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time this year (although not a mystery series) so had better finish that first.

Hi. My name's Adrian, I'm a semi-retired gardener originally from London, now living in the birth place of the Industrial revolution, Ironbridge in Shropshire.
I was brought up on Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers as my parents (mother especially) loved to read, and have always retained an interest in classic crime. I still have all the Christies (my mum's) in my library and joining this group is a good excuse to start reading them (and other crime novels) amongst all the other books I read (Yes sorry I do read other Genres ).
I look forward to taking part in group reads and related discussions with some of you. This looks like my kind of group.

Welcome, Adrian! Great that you've joined and are planning to join in the group reads. I'm reading a lot of Conan Doyle's stories at the moment and loving them.

Welcome to the group, Adrian. How lucky you are to have those original Christie's!

Judy & Susan, many thanks for the welcome. My Christies are all matching leather covered hardbacks , and treated with kid gloves, or my mother would be turning in her grave :) (But i do read them !!)
I need to look through the discussions now to catch up on what group reads you have ahead of you.

Adrian wrote: " amongst all the other books I read (Yes sorry I do read other Genres )."

I would hope so!

In my case, mysteries aren't my primary interest (classics are), but I enjoy intelligent mysteries as a sort of intellectual palate cleanser, an enjoyable break from more serious reading. Not that good mysteries (Sayers, Tey, Marsh, Allingham, Rex Stout, to name a few) aren't serious books, these were all highly educated authors writing excellently, but the genre isn't known for great philosophical or literary insights!

Hullo all! My name's Jem and I've just joined Goodreads - was delighted to find this group. I live in the Midlands in England, where I lecture at a university, and Dorothy L. Sayers is one of my absolute favourite authors. I've read a fair bit of Christie, some Marsh, a few Allingham, the odd Innes, and a friend recently introduced me to Tey - so I only have quite a haphazard sense of the genre. I'm particularly excited about the Sayers monthly reading group.

Welcome, Jem! Glad you found us.

Welcome to the group, Jem :)

Hi Jem! *waves*

Welcome Jem!

Jem wrote: "Hullo all! My name's Jem and I've just joined Goodreads - was delighted to find this group. I live in the Midlands in England, where I lecture at a university, and Dorothy L. Sayers is one of my ab..."

Welcome. What do you lecture in? Presumably not mystery novels? (Though in many US Universities that would probably be about average for intellectual content. Perhaps even football players could pass it with enough assistance. )

Thanks for all the welcoming messages - you're all v kind! My speciality is Renaissance drama, though I also teach a bit of medieval literature and even some modern prose when needed. But I prefer to spend my time between 1580 and 1680.

Within that era I mostly work on John Webster, Shakespeare and the Bible. (I hope it's not out of order to mention that I write books on those topics - I don't mean it as self-promotion!) I'm really interested in the later adaptations and uses of those texts - my doctoral research was a study of the different productions and adaptations of Webster's The Duchess of Malfi', across the four centuries since it was first performed. I also research the ways in which Shakespeare and the Bible area treated as 'sacred texts' in modern culture - how they're interpreted, quoted and performed in ways that don't apply to other texts.

That sounds a little more demanding than mystery novels, Jem, but entirely fascinating :)

It's certainly lots of fun - and gives me a good excuse to regard lots of entirely undisciplined reading as potentially useful (given the number of people who quote either Shakespeare or the Bible.) Though that really is just an excuse...

As a reading mentor, I am firmly of the belief that NO reading is wasted, Jem and, don't worry, you don't need an excuse to indulge yourself in mysteries here.

Thanks Susan! What does being a reading mentor involve? That sounds v interesting.

I volunteer, helping children who struggle with reading. It is very rewarding and I enjoy it a lot.

Came across this group while browsing on goodreads. I enjoy detective fiction so I though why not join? At the moment, my favorite detective has to be Sherlock, but what got me started in detective fiction was reading Nancy Drew when I was younger. I've been hooked since then.

Welcome to the group, Rebecca :)

Welcome, Rebecca - Holmes is my favourite at the moment too, as I'm deep in a read of all the stories! Glad you found us.

Welcome Rebecca!

welcome Jem & Rebecca!

Well, I thought I had posted a little quick bio about myself on here but I cannot locate it. So, anyway, I am a Veteran married to another Veteran. Reading has always been my favorite thing to do. I grew up in a very poor, bad neighborhood with 3 sisters and one brother who died in December '71 'Nam as well as my BIL who died Feb '71. Pop was Army, Richie was Marines and my sister and I as well as both of our hubbies are Air Force. All my siblings are older than me, as I was the baby. We had a very hard life. I basically left home at 13. Books provided me with escapism which I needed, all of us did. I grew up loving mysteries and ghost stories. My favorite genre right now is still mysteries but mostly British female authors. For a change, I will read Christian fiction/non-fiction, pioneering women, the Yukon gold rush, true accounts of cops, sheriffs, mounties, constables and those in Law Enforcement and I read a new Study Bible every year starting usually in January and finishing by December 31st or earlier. Study Bibles are so much better as they help to explain, go in-depth and elaborate on events, people and what was said.
I do not post on here much but I do read a little of the emails and postings. Sorry about that; guess I'm more of a lurker. I am also a member of Paperbackswap.com. Nice meeting you all and thanks for accepting me despite the fact I have not read any Lord Peter books.

Welcome, MsCozy - glad to have you with us!

MsCozy -- how lucky you are to have all the Lord Peter books before you! Since you like British female mystery authors I hope you'll love them.

Welcome MSCOZY - glad you posted.

Welcome Mscozy!

Hi all,glad to be here!
I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie of course,but my favourite author is John Dickson Carr.He is American of course,but his novels are so quintessentially English!I'm currently reading or re-reading his entire output,i just love a locked room.
In answer to Susan above,i would suggest Carr's The Hollow Man,probably his finest work.It's also a strong indicator of his writing style.

Welcome, Colin, glad you found us! Thanks for the Carr suggestion, I'll give The Hollow Man a try.

Hi Colin - glad you found us. I am a HUGE Christie fan :)

Colin wrote: "Hi all,glad to be here!
I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie of course,but my favourite author is John Dickson Carr.He is American of course,but his novels are so quintessentially English!I'm currently..."

Also known as The Three Coffins. I recently read it. Big Carr fan here.

Welcome.

Peter Lovesey in his Diamond series has an homage to Carr in Bloodhounds.