Mystery authors.....

[grannieannie]

I'm a bit of a book freak....I love, love, love, reading. Up till recently I've always read non-fiction. In the last couple of weeks I've read some Ruth Rendell short stories and have really enjoyed them, but she's really the only fiction author I know.

Could some of you other reading nuts give me the names of some really good fiction mystery writers so I can check them out for future reference. A murder with a bit of a twist perhaps....like you don't know what's happened till right at the end and then it's totally not what you expect.........you get what I mean.

Thanks guys,

GA

 

[jessb]

Stieg Larssen (sp?) is a Swedish crime author whose trilogy is a bsetseller atm. V. good.
Elizabeth George is pretty traditional crime fiction - similar to Ruth Rendell
Minette Walters - also similar to RR
Agatha Christie - the original and the best detective fiction. Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of the classics of the genre
Paul Auster writes postmodern detective fiction. I struggled with his stuff but some people love him. Douglas Adams also writes in that style - his Dirk Gently detective novels are good fun.
Patricia Cornwell - forensic crime fiction. First few in the Kay Scarpetta series are good but they go a bit off the rails after a while
Lisa Gardiner - modern take on the traditional crime/suspense


There you go, that should keep you going for a while!

 

[Dragon1]

I usualy read fantsy, but my mum loves Penny Vincenzi.

 

[LadySnake]

Marion Babson

 

[Jessica_lee]

kathy reichs really is the best ever crime/mystery author.

she s fantastic!

 

[grannieannie]

gee thanks guys....keep em coming...I'm making a list. thank God for libraries...lol

 

[sarah_m]

Patricia Cornwell - forensic crime fiction. First few in the Kay Scarpetta series are good but they go a bit off the rails after a while

Was going to say the same.
Really enjoyed her books until Black Notice or The Final Precinct, I cant remember which was the last one I read, which got a bit dark and depressing for my tastes.
But the first few in particular were great, just make sure you read them in order, I didnt and it made keeping up with the story so much harder!

Also I really like Mary Higgins-Clarke. Generally crime/mystery stories with a twist and awsome endings. Have seen her books for a couple of $ each in second hand book stores.

 

[fritzi2009]

patrick ness <3 love love love him. okay so he doesnt really write murder mystery. actually. there is murder involved. and it is mysterious. but its also quite weird. he has a triology called 'chaos walking' ive read the first two books and waiting for the 3rd to be published next year:cry:

 

[grannieannie]

All sounds great people...thank you.

 

[MrHappy]

Dean Koontz - as long as you're okay with some 'out there' stuff. I must say "Relentless" made me laugh a fair bit (still a mystery), but I was hoping it wouldn't end the way I thought it might, and it did.

 

[derekm]

If you want to try something a little different, but still pretty much within the specs you listed, check out the "Night Watch" novels in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. They are, in order, "Guards, Guards", "Men at Arms", "Feet of Clay", "Jingo", "The Fifth Elephant", "Night Watch" & "Thud". "The Truth" and "Monstrous Regiment" are also Discworld novels with a "mystery/twist" element. You may also enjoy Lee Child's "Jack Reacher" series of books.

 

[Elapidae1]

Not crime or mystery but Bryce Courtenay and Wilbur Smith books are my favourite lot of fact but fictional characters i have read one Kathy Reichs and enjoyed it but couldn't get into the next. Bryce Courtenays books - Jessica, The Potato Factory trilogy and Four Fires, are all about Australia. Conn Iguldens Rome series is brilliant and also his book Wolf Of The Plains wich is about Ghengis Khan is excellent reading. Hope this helps.

Steve

 

[grannieannie]

Hey guys, thank you all soooooo much, I've got more than a dozen writers names now...lol. I think that will keep me going for a long, long time. Your response has been fantastic.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx GA

 

[Kersten]

If you're in the mood for mysteries that are a little different to the norm (as in not police/forensic) then you can't go past Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman mysteries, there's only four of them but they're pretty awesome. Also by Kerry Greenwood, the Phryne Fisher mysteries, set in the 20s and 30s. I also don't mind the Lily Bard books by Charlaine Harris (the same woman who writes the Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood books). And Anne Perry has two brilliant period mystery series, the Inspector Pitt novels and William Monk novels.

However, my favourite mystery writer by far is John Connolly, his Charlie Parker series is brilliant.

 

[grannieannie]

If you're in the mood for mysteries that are a little different to the norm (as in not police/forensic) then you can't go past Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman mysteries, there's only four of them but they're pretty awesome. Also by Kerry Greenwood, the Phryne Fisher mysteries, set in the 20s and 30s. I also don't mind the Lily Bard books by Charlaine Harris (the same woman who writes the Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood books). And Anne Perry has two brilliant period mystery series, the Inspector Pitt novels and William Monk novels.

However, my favourite mystery writer by far is John Connolly, his Charlie Parker series is brilliant.

Oh I do like the thought of stuff set in the 20s and 30s....thanks for those ideas.

 

[Bob2]

Not crime or mystery but Bryce Courtenay and Wilbur Smith books are my favourite lot of fact but fictional characters i have read one Kathy Reichs and enjoyed it but couldn't get into the next. Bryce Courtenays books - Jessica, The Potato Factory trilogy and Four Fires, are all about Australia. Conn Iguldens Rome series is brilliant and also his book Wolf Of The Plains wich is about Ghengis Khan is excellent reading. Hope this helps.

Steve

I can't remember the name of the book but a workmate gave me a Bryce Courtenay book that was a true story about his son with haemophelia ( don't ping me on spelling, it's late) that was fantastic. It had a crappy ending, was really hard to bother continuing reading at timesand was a real tear jerker at the same time. Otherwise there is always the Tom Clancy stuff that keeps you waiting 'til the end.

 

[Kersten]

I can't remember the name of the book but a workmate gave me a Bryce Courtenay book that was a true story about his son with haemophelia ( don't ping me on spelling, it's late) that was fantastic. It had a crappy ending, was really hard to bother continuing reading at timesand was a real tear jerker at the same time. Otherwise there is always the Tom Clancy stuff that keeps you waiting 'til the end.

The name of the book is April Fool's Day.

No worries Annie, the Phryne books are wickedly funny. Those Anne Perry books are also period mysteries, but they're Victorian era. Nice for something a little different than forensic mumbo jumbo lol. Although I do like Kathy Reiches' books, her detail isn't as tedious as some.

 

[bongie555]

grannie... ive got the perfect novelist for you and my all time favourite . if you like non fiction but enjoy a good story with historical value then go and get a James Michener novel. A Pulitzer prize winner most of his novels arent light reading and tend to be huge epics that are full of historical and cultural references.
A master storyteller that one of his books was the basis for the Broadway and film musical South Pacific by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Do yourself a favour Michener fills you up like no non fiction novels can.

 

[grannieannie]

It is just so good to see that there are so many avid readers here. I've always been particularly into non fiction about the wars...WW2....in particular. I had an uncle who died in the war so that started my interest. I've read all sorts of things about the Nazis, Holocust survivors, U Boats, Aviation heros, Borneo, New Guinea, Singapore, The London Blitz (which my husband personally remembers) but recently decided....a few months ago, to get into fiction and was lost when it came to authors....but you good people have certainly given me potentially years of reading to think about. Thank you all so much.

 

[Kris]

Oh well if you're into war related stories, Anne Perry also has a series that's based in the first world war. I think the first book is called No Graves As Yet.

Oops sorry, it's Kersten