The Mystery List*

[elspethsheir]

*A companion to The Passion List

Comments

[petzipellepingo]

Boy, that's a loaded question... Here's 590 for a start. And 90% of this list are personal favorites.

There are some questions no one should ever ask me.

[elspethsheir]

Oooo - thank you! The Serpent's Tale! Caroline Graham!

I might spend hours perusing...

[soniag]

Okay, here's just a few to start. I'll try to come back with more:

Dorothy Sayers -- I love all the Peter & Harriet Books, but especially Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, and Gaudy Night.

Josephine Tey -- The Franchise Affair and Daughter of Time

Minette Walters -- love almost all of hers, but especially The Ice House and Scold's Bridle.

Most of this would qualify as cozy, right? Walters is pretty gritty, though.

I love Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse, but I'm not sure which is my favorite. And I used to be the BIGGEST Dick Francis fan. I remember loving Banker in particular.

More later . . .

[elspethsheir]

Excellent suggestions - now added!

[de23]

I recommend the Julian Kestrel mysteries by Kate Ross. Unfortunately, there's only 4, as Kate Ross died early.

I just finished reading The Devil in Music, the fourth book. I thought it started dreadfully slowly, but when I finished it I wanted to go back and read the "slow" beginning again to see all the clues. But I would recommend reading these in order, as Kestrel is something of a mystery revealed in bits. He's sort of Wimsey-ish, except a bit darker and in the Regency period. More here: http://iwillfollow.com/kjr/

I hope you get a lot of great ideas!

[elspethsheir]

Thank you so much for this rec - I just requested her first book from the library. How truly tragic that she passed away - from reading through the archives at your link, it seems that this was a promising series.

[petzipellepingo]

I'd add Dick Francis'Hot Money & The Edge (set in Canada) to that list.

[elspethsheir]

Finally, finally, added!

[lavidaessueno]

I really enjoy Donna Leon's Brunetti series, set in Venice. I think most of them are finally available in the U.S.

[elspethsheir]

Oooo - I've seen these here in Canada. Gorgeous cover art.

Thank you for the suggestion! (Also, do you find that they should be read in order? Some series, I read as I can get my hands on them, and I've noticed that more than a few writers refer to earlier cases and killers and then I spoil it all for myself!)

[lavidaessueno]

With these, I don't think you need to read them in order. I have been, and occasionally a character will show up from a previous book, but there aren't recaps or anything like that.