Friday 12 November 2021

Crime Fiction

I've never had much to do with crime fact (thankfully the police haven't knocked on my door many times!) but crime fiction - that's a whole different thing. 
Perhaps Dixon of Dock Green would be the earliest introduction, way back in the 60's it was on TV every Saturday evening, then Z cars was the spin-off. Followed by Softly Softly.
 My first crime reading would have been Josephine Tey and Agatha Christie in the early 1970's just before I left school and started work as a library assistant - which opened up a whole new world of reading.
I didn't read much crime through the rest of the 70's as I was busy with Catherine Cookson, family sagas and other historical fiction but got back into crime fiction in the 80's, whenever I had time, between having 3 children and moving 3 times.
 
Many of the authors  read back then have long since passed away. I've looked through my book-of-books-read to pick out a few names - long forgotten.
 
Marion Babson was one of the first crime authors I read, writing from the late 70's, although her cat mystery stories were a genre I never got into.
John Wainwright - He wrote 80 crime stories between 1965 and 1992.
David Williams wrote two series from the mid 70's to 2003
Pauline Bell produced 14 books between 1990 and 2009. I've read most of them
Janie Bolitho wrote between 1993 and her death from breast cancer at just 52 years old in 2002
Robert Barnard was a very prolific author of crime fiction between 1978 - 2010 
John Buxton Hilton also writing  as John Greenwood through the 1970s and 80's wrote nearly 30 books before he died in 1986
Not forgetting authors such as Ellis Peters(AKA Edith Pargeter) whose brilliant Cadfael series began in 1977 and ended with her death in 1995 and   Edward Marston who has written an amazing 76 books since 1988 and is still going.

Then a few years ago someone realised that there were authors who'd written in the 1940's and 50's but, unlike Christie, had fallen out of favour and never been republished. The British Library re-published their first Crime Classic, Mystery in White in 2014 and the 100th will appear in the new year. Some of these authors definitely deserve a new audience (E.C.Lorac) others I've tried and failed with.
Just a couple of years later Agora Books started reprinting many of the George Bellairs Inspector Littlejohn  books written originally between 1942 and 1980. There are several dozen of these although many haven't been re-published yet.

More recently we  have brilliant authors like C.J.Sansom, Rory Clements, Anne Perry, Ellie Griffiths, Nicola Upson, Jacqueline Winspear and of course Ann Cleeves who wrote her first book in 1986 but really came to the fore when the Vera and Shetland series were made for TV.
I finished the new Ann Cleeves -  A Heron's Cry, the second in her North Devon series the other day and it was really good to watch the TV series of the first book just a few days before reading the second,  reminding me of  the previous story line because it's mentioned several times in the second book. 
 There is one author I've missed out reading over the last umpteen years.......P.D. James. I don't know why and don't even know if I ever tried any but with a new series of Dalgieish  being shown on TV there will be no need to try again.
 
 It doesn't look like I'll run out of crime fiction to read anytime soon with dozens of old books being re-published each year and new authors like Richard Osman leaping into crime writing and I have these two old series, collected years ago that I've not even started reading yet.
 
  


 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 


Back Tomorrow
Sue

40 comments:

  1. You must be a fully qualified detective by now, after reading about so much crime!
    Happy reading :)

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  2. May I recommend the Marion Todd books. She's a fairly new author and an online friend and I really enjoy her books.
    Best to read them in order, starting with See Them Run.
    xx

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    1. Someone I'd not heard of - so thank you for that idea

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  3. PD James is one of the best I think. I've read all of her books and I would particularly recommend Shroud for a nightingale, but all are high quality. And Ruth Rendell ! She wrote quite a lot and some are weaker than others, but Asta's Book and A Dark-adapted eye are splendid.
    Maguy

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    1. Shroud for a nightingale was on TV last week. I've also not read Ruth Rendell. Don't know why.
      But always plenty of reading even without those two

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  4. I love crime books preferably written in the third person.I am reading Edward Marston Rage of the Assassin at the moment Val x

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    1. I've rather given up on Edward Marston now - the railway detective series got so repetitive.I couldn't get into the Bow Street series

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  5. What about Ian Rankin? One of the few crime writers I have read.

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    1. Both Ian Rankin and Val Mcdermid have been tried but given up on for some reason

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    2. I have read all of Ian Rankin's books and have a number of them as audiobooks as well. Love his work! I have also read many of Ann Cleeves' books.

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  6. After reading the "Random Jottings" blog posts on detective fiction I took several of the Bill Slider books by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles out of the library. I can wholeheartedly recommend them - great characterisation, very witty dialogue, and move at a brisk pace. She's up to number 23. What I do like is that having binge-read them it's nice to see that they are not formulaic - each stands alone with different plot devices. Well worth a look.

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    1. Thank you, will check her out. Not keen on her historical stuff

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  7. I enjoy crime fiction too - lots of authors I've never come across in your listings.

    Val McDermid I enjoy, Edward Marsdon (SO prolific - he must have piles from sitting all day long writing!), P D James, Ann Cleeves I enjoy most, but I've yet to read her books set in N. Devon. On my Kindle I see I have LOTS to read - a set of 3 Nikki Galena books by Joy Ellis, a couple by Cheryl Rees-Price, and a few J R Ellis & J M Dalgliesh. I bought one called Murder in the Valleys by Pippa McCathie. Couldn't get on with her style of writing.

    So, I think we both have plenty to keep us quiet on wet winter days.

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    1. Yes even without authors who I don't like for various reasons there's still enough to last me forever!

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  8. You really are an insatiable reader Sue - when I think of your energy cycling round the countryside, seeing your grandchildren, gardening - I am full of admiration for how much you do I read quite a bit but not crime I'm afraid - now that I live alone I don't care to read about anything that might give me nightmares.

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    1. Even living alone up the end of the lane didn't bother me and crime reading never gives me nightmares

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  9. You might want to try Louise Penny. She has a series about a Canadian chief inspector set in a Montreal and the small town of Three Pines. I love this series and I'm completely caught up, impatiently waiting for the next one. Happy reading.

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    1. Tried her lots of times with no success - don't know why

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  10. I am captivated by crime fiction. A well woven story around "who did it" makes a good read.

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    1. With crime fiction you know there will always be a proper ending which is not always so with general fiction

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  11. I enjoy crime fiction too, Elly Griffiths, M C Beaton, L J Ross and Alexander McCall Smith are my favourites.

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    1. I tried M C Beaton's Agatha series but found them too silly! Just read the latest Number 1 Ladies detective agency - a lovely read as always

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  12. I enjoy many of those authors. Very nice collection of books! --Elise

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  13. Two modern English crime writers you might like - Lisa Jewell and Alice Feeney.

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  14. A couple of other English authors I especially love are Dick Francis and Lee Child. A long forgotten American crime writer who is really good is Ross MacDonald.

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    1. Those names are familiar but not authors I've read

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  15. Dick Francis and Lee Child are always great. A long forgotten American good author is Ross Macdonald. There is nothing like finding a mystery series you love.

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  16. True crime podcasts are my guilty secret. Tim hates 'em.

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  17. I'm glad you mentioned Josephine Tey, a pseudonym - not many have read her. She is a distant relative of mine (we have a relative in common, her grandmother, my great-grandmother) but I have forgotten her real name. Something to research!

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    1. I love that now we have Nicola Upson writing books using Josephine Tey as the main character

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  18. I love crime fiction. I'm glad you said you found Heron's Cry to be a good read. I shall give it a try now. I did watch the first one on television and really enjoyed it. I must admit that I really enjoy Shetland too and am looking forward to the new series that they are showing here on Britbox week by week. I love the stories, but I love to see the scenery too. I would really love to photograph it someday.

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    1. I hope Ann Cleeves writes more in the North Devon series. I'm glad you are able to get to see them over there

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  19. I just finished "binge reading" all the Ruth Galloway books by Elly Griffith. You gave me a lot of ideas for new to me authors. My favourite authors are mostly women, PD James, Elizabeth George, Ellis Peters, Ann Cleeves,Dorothy L Sayers, Martha Grimes, LOuise Penny. There are even some which I have read twice because after ten ore more years I don´t really remember the plot.
    As I read them in English,it takes me much longer but I feel this is not a bad thing, They are so well written that I enjoy the story and not only want to know whodunnit.
    Sadly, there are no German authors of crime fiction that I like. I try it now and again, always from the library, but so far I have always been disappointed. The big thing here at the moment are the regional crime stories. Of course it is fun to find your town or region as the place of action, but without a good plot it is not enough.

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    1. There is an author here writing books set in real local areas but they are so badly written that I couldn't finish the first one I tried

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  20. Mysteries are my favorite. Not thrillers. I love the British Classic Library series so much. Bellairs, Lorac and so many others feel like old friends now and I wonder why they fell out of favor. I do enjoy James -- she's deep, but good -- and am enjoying the series.

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