100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century as picked by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association
I found this under the 'About the Genre' listing over at The Rap Sheet and as you probably know by now, I love lists! (The original list seems to have been compiled in 2009, but I'm assuming nothing's changed.) So I've reprinted the 100 titles here. The ones I've read are in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS.
So, how about you? How many have you read? (Between you and me, I thought I'd read more.)
I'm not saying I agree with all the choices, but still, it's fun to see what you have and haven't read. There are plenty of other titles I could have substituted instead, but nobody asked me. Truth to tell, some of these books, I never heard of. Some of them, I began reading, but couldn't get with the program. And by the way, how is TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD included on a 'mystery' list? Just sayin'.
- Allingham, Margery / The Tiger in the Smoke
- Ambler, Eric / A Coffin for Dimitrios
- Armstrong, Charlotte / A Dram of Poison
- Atherton, Nancy / Aunt Dimity's Death
- Ball, John / In the Heat of the Night
- Barnard, Robert / Death By Sheer Torture
- Barr, Nevada / Track of the Cat
- Blake, Nicholas / The Beast Must Die
- Block, Lawrence / When the Sacred Ginmill Closes
- Brand, Christianna / Green for Danger
- Brown, Frederic / The Fabulous Clipjoint
- BUCHAN, JOHN / THE 39 STEPS
- BURKE, JAMES LEE / BLACK CHERRY BLUES
- Cain, James M. / The Postman Always Rings Twice
- Cannell, Dorothy / The Thin Woman
- CARR, JOHN DICKSON / THE THREE COFFINS
- Caudwell, Sarah / Thus Was Adonis Murdered
- CHANDLER, RAYMOND / THE BIG SLEEP
- CHRISTIE, AGATHA / THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD
- CONNELLY, MICHAEL / THE CONCRETE BLONDE
- Constantine, K.C. / The Man Who Liked Slow Tomatoes
- CRAIS, ROBERT / THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT
- Crispin, Edmund / The Moving Toyshop
- Crombie, Deborah / Dreaming of the Bones
- Crumley, James / The Last Good Kiss
- Dickinson, Peter / The Yellow Room Conspiracy
- DOYLE, ARTHUR CONAN / THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES
- DuMAURIER, DAPHNE / REBECCA
- DUNNING, JOHN / BOOKED TO DIE
- ELKINS, AARON / OLD BONES
- EVANOVICH, JANET / ONE FOR THE MONEY
- FINNEY, JACK / TIME AND AGAIN
- FORD, G.M. / WHO IN HELL IS WANDA FUCA?
- FRANCIS, DICK / WHIP HAND
- Fremlin, Celia / The Hours Before Dawn
- GEORGE, ELIZABETH / A GREAT DELIVERANCE
- Gilbert, Michael / Smallbone Diseased
- Grafton, Sue / A Is For Alibi
- Graham, Caroline / The Killings at Badger's Drift
- GRIMES, MARTHA / THE MAN WITH A LOAD OF MISCHIEF
- HAMMETT, DASHIELL / THE MALTESE FALCON
- Hare, Cyril / An English Murder
- Harris, Thomas / The Silence of the Lambs
- Hiaasen, Carl / Tourist Season
- Highsmith, Patricia / The Talented Mr. Ripley
- Hill, Reginald / On Beulah Height
- Hillerman, Tony / A Thief of Time
- Himes, Chester / Cotton Comes to Harlem
- Innes, Michael / Hamlet, Revenge
- James, P.D. / An Unsuitable Job for A Woman
- KELLERMAN, FAYE / THE RITUAL BATH
- KELLERMAN, JONATHAN / WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS
- KING, LAURIE / THE BEEKEEPER'S APPRENTICE
- Langton, Jane / Dark Nantucket Noon
- leCarre, John / The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
- LEE, HARPER / TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
- LEHANE, DENNIS / DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND
- Leonard, Elmore / Get Shorty
- Lochte, Dick / Sleeping Dog
- Lovesey, Peter / Rough Cider
- MacDonald, John D. / The Deep Blue Goodbye
- MACDONALD, PHILIP / THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER
- MACDONALD, ROSS / THE CHILL
- Maron, Margaret / Bootlegger's Daughter
- MARSH, NGAIO / DEATH OF A PEER
- McBain, Ed / Sadie When She Died
- McClure, James / The Sunday Hangman
- McCrumb, Sharyn / If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy - O
- Miller, Margaret / Stranger In My Grave
- MOSLEY, WALTER / DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS
- Muller, Marcia / Edward of the Iron Shoes
- Neel, Janet / Death's Bright Angel
- O'Connell, Carol / Mallory's Oracle
- Padgett, Abigail / Child of Silence
- Paretsky, Sara / Deadlock
- PARKER, ROBERT / LOOKING FOR RACHEL WALLACE
- Perez-Reverte, Arturo / The Club Dumas
- PERRY, THOMAS / VANISHING ACT
- PETERS, ELIZABETH / CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK
- Peters, Ellis / One Corpse Too Many
- Pronzini, Bill / Blue Lonesome
- QUEEN, ELLERY / CAT OF MANY TAILS
- Rendell, Ruth / No More Dying Then
- Rice, Craig / The Wrong Murder
- RINEHART, MARY ROBERTS / THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE
- Robinson, Peter / Blood At the Root
- Rosen, Richard / Strike Three You're Dead
- Ross, Kate / A Broken Vessel
- Rozan, S.J. / Concourse
- SAYERS, DOROTHY L. / MURDER MUST ADVERTISE
- SJOWALL and WAHLOO / THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN
- STOUT, REX / SOME BURIED CAESAR
- TEY, JOSEPHINE / BRAT FARRAR
- THOMAS, ROSS / CHINAMAN'S CHANCE
- Todd, Charles / A Test of Wills
- Turow, Scott / Presumed Innocent
- Upfield, Arthur / The Sands of Windee
- Walters, Minette / The Ice House
- White, Randy Wayne / Sanibel Flats
- Woolrich / Cornell / I Married A Dead Man
I’ve read the following (personal favourites in block letters):
ReplyDeleteALLINGHAM, MARGERY: TIGER IN THE SMOKE
Buchan, John: The 39 Steps
Carr, John Dickinson: Three Coffins
Chandler, Raymond: The Big Sleep
CHRISTIE, AGATHA: THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD
Crispin, Edmund: The Moving Toyshop
Doyle, Arthur Canon: The Hound of the Baskervilles
DUMAURIER, DAPHNE: REBECCA
HAMMET, DASHIEL: THE MALTESE FALCON
Highsmith, Patricia: The Talented Mr. Ripley
INNES, MICHAEL: HAMLET, REVENGE!
JAMES, P.D.: AN UNSUITABLE JOB FOR A WOMAN
LEE, HARPER: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Rendell, Ruth: No More Dying Then
Tey, Josephine: Brat Farrar
Well, well, well, only 15! A poor show indeed.
Some of them, incidentally, have very intriguing titles:
Constantine, K.C.: The Man who liked Slow Tomatoes
Crais, Robert: The Monkey’s Raincoat
Crumley, James: The Last Good Kiss
Woolrich, Cornell: I Married a Dead Man
Would love to read these books.
Neer, I loved THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT by Robert Crais. It's the first in his Elvis Cole/Joe Pike L.A. detective series. GREAT series!
ReplyDeleteI am definitely going to get my hands on Michael Innes' HAMLET, REVENGE.
I thought I'd read 29 but had skipped over Dunnings 'Booked to Die'. So I've read 30.
ReplyDeleteI keep meaning to read 'The Beekeeper's Apprentice' because you speak so highly of it.
But I keep forgetting.
I'll make myself a note for when I finish "The Passage'.
Andy, 30 is good. If you'd said 50, I would have been crushed. Ha! But you know there are titles on this list I DON'T have any interest in reading so that's that. Yes, read THE BEEKEEPER'S APPRENTICE. (You know that is practically my favorite series of all.) How are you doing with THE PASSAGE, by the way?
ReplyDeleteDoing very well, if slow, with 'The Passage.'
ReplyDeleteI've sat it down and read a couple of others then came back to it. Currently on page 461.
It's such a dense book, I need a break every once in a while.
Yeah, well, I took a permanent break. Ha! But it's good, I suppose, that you're persevering.
ReplyDeleteHopefully it's not feeling too much like a chore. :(
I only managed eleven, just have to find those reading glasses. :) interesting to see Reginal Hill there. I must try him sometime.
ReplyDeleteHi Dave, thanks for posting. I've lately felt a lot of pressure to read even more than I do now, but I'm trying to fight this off. I HATE pressure!! Eleven is fine!
ReplyDelete