I can recommend an Australia author called Kerry Greenwood. She is hugely sucessful with her 'Phryne Fisher' series set in Melbrourne in the 1920's. Very clever and witty, they are lovely lighthearted romps with twisty mysteries thrown in. They are my favourites aside from AC.

Has anyone read any of the Miss Silver books by Patricia Wentworth? They were recommended to me by the lady at Abbeys Bookshop in Sydney which specialises in crime fiction. I'd never heard of them, but she looks like she was certainly prolific.

BW Jill and Bundles, I've just finished 'Stong Poison' by Ms Sayers and I LOVED it.

I have and I really like Miss Silver. Obviously, she is compared with Miss Marple due to the fact that she is an elderly woman, but detection isn't something she gets caught up in due to finding herself involved in murders and mysterys. Miss Silver advertises herself as a detective and people bring their cases to her, more like Poirot. She had worked for many years as a governess and, again, like Miss Marple, knows a great deal about human nature.

They have a less cosy atmosphere than most of AC's work. But she writes really well and I find them a delight to read. Do give them a go if you can! She certainly was prolific! I love an author with a great big body of work to get myself lost in!! I wouldn't say they come up to the Christie standard but they are great fun.

Glad you loved Strong Poison! Going to give the other DLS novels a go?

Great idea for a topic, 3rdGirl!

And I'm glad you enjoyed, Strong Poison. I got halfway through it and decided not to read any more of it for a while. I like DLS's other Wimsey books but this one I just found boring. It took her longer than usual to relay things, imo.

Strong Poison is actually one of my favourites (my very favourite is Gaudy Night), because of the fascinating chemistry between Harriet Vane and Lord Peter. The only Sayers novel that I can truly say I disliked is Unnatural Death (Hey, the solution was obvious! I guessed it right away!), but even then, Sayers made the book a decent enough read.

Personally, I just finished John Dickson Carr's Till Death Do Us Part. It was so brilliant it made me want to kick myself. Plus, for sheer originality and ingenuity, there really are few books like it. The plot moves rapidly (Carr called the one "unforgiveable sin" in a mystery "being dull"), and the central conflict in the novel is that of a young lover who begins doubting his fiancee... I'm pretty confident AC fans would enjoy it. (But I recommend avoiding plot summaries; they can give so much away in order to sell copies...)

Till Death Do Us Part was the first John Dickson Carr book I read. And it was a great introduction to him and his writing. As i've said before, my only problem with him is the difficulty in actually getting ANY of this books. Mostly out of print, I guess. Still, it then allows me to spend ages poking around any second-hand bookshops I come across!

I would like to recommend Josephine Tey and her Alan Grant books. There aren't very many, but they are very interesting. The Daughter of Time is a wonderfully unique book. I know I should go into the plot, but it involves Grant (who is out of action laid up in hospital) trying to solve for himself a very well known (British) historical mystery.

I recently read An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson (a book published last year, I think) which uses Josephine Tey as a central figure in a murder mystery. I found it one of the best new book I had read in many a long year. She has just published a sequel (the name escapes me) which I am hoping a benevolent Santa will bring me.

Has anyone ever read any mystery books by Robin Paige? The name is actually a pseudonym name as the books are written by an American married couple. But I have read one of their books about a year ago called: Death at Daisy's Folly. Which is set in Victorian England. Their detectives in that book are Sir Charles Sheridan and his love interest Kate. They have a whole series of books w/ them in it as well.

I didn't like Unnatural Death either go-leafs. It was the first Sayers I read and it nearly put me off her! I shall read her Five Red Herrings next. I really like the characher of Parker and his friendship with Lord Peter. I find that now I've listened to a Lord Peter radio play on BBC7, I'm a bit better at imagining his voice and understanding the language they use a bit better as well, what?

MY Santa has been given a bit of a list as well Jill, I shall investigate the Carr, Paige and Upson books recommended.

I mentioned this book in another post somewhere, but I'll mention it again. I read A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch recently and really enjoyed it. I think he's written three books about Charles Lenox set in Victorian London and I loved the relationship between him and his childhood friend Lady Grey. It was nominated for an Agatha Award in 2007.

Unnatural Death does come over as very dry and lacks a little in the exciting plot line, but still a good read. I must admit, 3rdGirl, I struggled with Five Red Herrings when I first read it as it is so packed full of facts and figures. DLS wrote it around a real railway timetable and I thought it a bit bewildering at the first attempt. But I grew to love it (and it is set in Scotland which always gets me interestd!). Plus I missed Parker - my favourite, favourite DLS character - as he appears for such a small time. I've collected most of the Radio plays on audio tape but the are currently breaking on me if I play them, so I am trying to replace them, finances permitting.

Thanks for the tip about Charles Finch. I'll look out for his books.

I loved The Five Red Herrings, which I found rather similar to Five Little Pigs. The only flaw really is Sayers putting down on paper the Scottish pronunciation of words, where she could've easily just written how she normally does. Deciphering certain phrases got frustrating.

If I'm not mistaken, though, Have His Carcase had a plot that circled around real places and real times, while The Five Red Herrings has a fictional setting with a fictional time table. I get confused between the two in that regard.

No, it's the other way around. Five Red Herrings is set in Dumfries and Galloway and DLS used the existing time table to build her story (or should I say alibis) around. Have His Carcase used the fictional seaside resort of Wilvercombe and an imaginary tide timetable.

They are the next two DLS books on the list so I'll let you know how I go. So many books, so little time!

Bundle_

Has anyone ever read any mystery books by Robin Paige? The name is actually a pseudonym name as the books are written by an American married couple. But I have read one of their books about a year ago called: Death at Daisy's Folly. Which is set in Victorian England. Their detectives in that book are Sir Charles Sheridan and his love interest Kate. They have a whole series of books w/ them in it as well.

I've not heard of these ones at all Bundles, so I'll have a look out for them. I's quite mindboggling how many series there are out there.

Bundles if you like the 1920's flappers, I think you would LOVE the books from my first post. Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher is just fabulous. The first book Cocaine Blues is good fun. and I've read all of them. The Hon Phryne Fisher is bored and goes back to Melbourne from the UK seeking adventures. She's a champagne swilling, gun toting, extremely rich bon vivant sleuth. They are funny and very light hearted. My favourites are Murder in Montparnasse and Death by Water. http://www.phrynefisher.com/

Yes, I've already added Kerry Greenwood on my must read list, 3rdGirl. Thank you! And give Robin Page a try, they're not my favorite authors ever but they are good read every now and then.

I shall also read a John Dickinson Carr book too. Which one should I start w/ go leafs?

First one I read was Until Death Us Do Part. Really great introdution to such a great author.

I'd recommend a bunch, but his first book, It Walks by Night, is a nice introduction to his work. It features the satanic Bencolin as the detective, and it's rather ingenious. But it isn't even close to being one of Carr's best; the sequel, The Lost Gallows, is his first true masterpiece; I still recommend reading It Walks by Night before it though, as it makes the entire book that much more rich an experience.

Till Death Do Us Part is an ingenious book, but I'd hardly recommend it for starters. Dr. Fell is best introduced by reading Hag's Nook or The Mad Hatter Mystery, the first being rather Poesque, the second very Chestertonian.

Sir Henry Merrivale is Carr's other "main" detective, and he features in plenty of books. One of the most ingenious is The Peacock Feather Murders, as well as The Judas Window (which is a narrative tour-de-force).

The general recommendation is to read books in a "series" in as chronological an order as can be managed. I did this with the Bencolins and enjoyed them tremendously.

Carr also wrote plenty of historical mysteries, particularly during his later years an an author. I'm currently reading The Devil in Velvet and it is spectacular.

The rant is over; it's safe to come out.

Another one that popped into my head just now is one of Carr's finest masterpieces, The Burning Court. I highly, highly recommend it.

I've written all of those down and I'm off to the library shortly. It's always good to read a series in order I think. You don't miss out on anything.

Thank you, go leafs. I think I'll read The Burning Court first because if that's one of his best then I'd rather start off w/ a more exciting one for an author am I not familiar w/. It doesn't really bother me when I don't read books in chronological order.

To be honest, I have yet to read a Carr I dislike. Not one of his books commits that "unforgiveable sin" of being dull. Enjoy The Burning Court; unlike most of Carr's books during this period, it is set in America, in 1929. It is one of Carr's best books; the solution so shocked me, I read no other books for three weeks! I just spent that time rereading the ending and mulling over it.

However, I still highly recommend reading series in as chronological order as can be managed. This didn't bother me, either, until I did this with the Bencolins. I enjoyed them tremendously, as I watched them "evolve" more and more. Certainly, there's no NEED to read them in chronological order (although several of the H.M.s are best read in order; The Cavalier's Cup and Night at the Mocking Widow make major allusions to The Curse of the Bronze Lamp, and several murderers are named in another); the experience is just that much better if you do.

And by the way, The Burning Court is a very appropriate read for Hallowe'en. Anyone who has read it knows what I'm talking about.

The first detective stories I read were written by Christie, so they've always represented the true and ideal mystery books to me. The atmosphere in Dame Agatha's stories is not to be found in books of other authors.

Nevertheless, Sherlock Holmes -books are great - though Holmes appears quite supernaturally talented. Conan Doyle hardly gives you clues that any mortal human can use to figure out the murderer.

John Dickson Carr wrote fine stories with elaborate plots and "fair play" towards the reader. I like how he acknowledges that a detective book is a race between the author and the reader; the author hands out the sufficient clues and then attemps to end the story before the reader succeeds to deduce who did it. Especially in The Nine Wrong Answers Carr challenges the reader to a duel of intellect.

I'd recommend Carr for anyone who loves Christie's mysteries.

Enoch_Arden

Nevertheless, Sherlock Holmes -books are great - though Holmes appears quite supernaturally talented. Conan Doyle hardly gives you clues that any mortal human can use to figure out the murderer.

I heavily contest that notion. True, the murderer is quite often a character that has not been introduced, but Conan Doyle plays extremely fair with the clues. Sherlock Holmes gives them all to the reader, but in as maddening a way as possible (Such as the curious actions of the dog at night in Silver Blaze. What were these actions? That the dog did nothing.) This is simply a great device for presenting clues.

Enoch_Arden

John Dickson Carr wrote fine stories with elaborate plots and "fair play" towards the reader. I like how he acknowledges that a detective book is a race between the author and the reader; the author hands out the sufficient clues and then attemps to end the story before the reader succeeds to deduce who did it. Especially in The Nine Wrong Answers Carr challenges the reader to a duel of intellect.

Carr's essay The Grandest Game in the World gives a great insight on his opinions as to mysteries; the same can be said of that masterful chapter in The Hollow Man entitled "The Locked Room-Lecture". [I particularly enjoyed Carr's summing up of typical mysteries back in the 20s (and the hard-boiled story in the 30s), using hilarious names (naming his chess-puzzle detective Reginald du Kink and a police officer in the hard-boiled story Captain Hooligan of Homicide Division). He also hinged the solution on the colour of Dagmar Doubledick's tie, buried in the recesses of Chapter Six.]

{CONTINUED}

I have yet to read The Nine Wrong Answers, actually, but Carr did so love using his footnotes, to emphasize fair play all while misdirecting attention. An example of this is found in The Reader is Warned. He'd also enjoy adding in that "so-and-so" spoke the absolute truth in the narrative itself.

And of course, who can forget that wonderful moment when Dr. Fell cheerfully admits he is in a detective story?

I went to the library and every single Carr book was checked out! He must be good!

I cannot really contribute to any discussion about Sherlock Holmes as I really just don't enjoy them. I feel like a traitor to the crime genre by admitting that! 

3rdGirl

I cannot really contribute to any discussion about Sherlock Holmes as I really just don't enjoy them. I feel like a traitor to the crime genre by admitting that! 

You are not alone: I feel the same way...And I find the books too gory.

No one here is obliged to enjoy Sherlock Holmes, 3rdGirl and Bundle. I find Holmes mysteries entertainig, although not as good as Christie's and Carr's works.

It seems to me like Conan Doyle never seriously meant the reader to compete with Sherlock, but to merely marvel at his skills (which I truly have done!). The concept of the detective novel was new and undeveloped in the late 19th century so I don't blame Conan Doyle; on the contrary, he indeed earns my respect for the pioneering work in the field of crime mysteries.

Carr, as said, does let the reader to compete, but the problem is I'm too lazy to keep on browsing back the pages seeking for clues and checking who said what (quite a personal problem, I'm not blaming the author here either).

So... Now we come to one of the advantages of Christie's books: They're simply easy to read. You don't have to do a whole lot of checking, reasoning and speculating. As you make acquaintance of the characters, you can often guess who could absolutely not be the murderer and who possibly could. And I'm saying this after reading several dozens of her novels, of course it's a lot harder for a beginner. I don't mean to say that I always gueass the murderer before the last chapter, but when I do (in less than every other book I read) I sure feel like a master detective for a tiny moment. :)

I don't feel so bad about not caring for Holmes books now, Enoch :0). Thank you!

I've read a little bit about John Dickson Carr online and I have to say that he was really adamant about his craft. It seems like he never put out a book that he wouldn't be proud of. And even when he had a stroke he continued to write, which is truly admirable! It's evident that he enjoyed writing.

I also read a bit about one of his detectives Sir Henry Merrivale and he sounds like a very interesting character; I can tell he is clever even from not reading the books!

And I was reading a little bit about The Burning Court not from wikipedia as I know they give the solution away but I still ended up finding out who the culprit(s) is/are, so I'll have to read another one of his books instead. The Judas Window looked really good.

I DID issue a warning... The twist in The Burning Court is one of Carr's most ingenious. Having it spoiled without ever reading a Carr is quite disappointing. I stay away from summaries of all sorts when reading Carr; I want the plot to stay as much of a surprise as possible, and I don't want hints of any sort, even the misleading ones.

Sir Henry Merrivale starts out his series very intelligent, Usually, he partakes in some sort of antic in a book. Some of these moments are genuinely funny. But by his last two books, he becomes a buffoon. I was quite surprised he even got to the solution in The Cavalier's Cup- the book is filled with spiteful comments on the Labour Party, very poorly drawn out characters, and general silliness. But if you want to know what H.M. is like in full glory, look no further than Charles Laughton in Witness for the Prosecution, who is wonderfully Merrivalian.

Of the H.M.s, I highly recommend Night at the Mocking Widow, which is very much in the style of The Moving Finger, and has one of the most precious comic moments in the H.M. canon. The Judas Window is a wonderful tour-de-force, which takes place mostly in a courtoom. Sounds boring? Carr never makes it so. Another great H.M. novel is set during WWII: Nine and Death Makes Ten, and it is wonderful to say the very least.

[Continued]

Carr's other great detective is Dr. Gideon Fell. In Hag's Nook, his first outing, the tale is rather Poesque: chilling, creepy, disturbing, terrifying. In The Mad Hatter Mystery, Fell becomes cheerfully more comic in a Chestertonian tale. Subsequent books saw Carr test Fell between sombre tones and comic ones, from The Eight of Swords to Death-Watch. Fell got less comic and more sombre as time went on, though The Case of the Constant Suicides is one of Carr's best, while keeping with the comic touch. It perfectly intergrates an intriguing puzzle (why a sudden epidemic of suicides?) with humour, and takes place in Scotland during WWII.

I recommend reading series in as chronological an order as possible, as you get to see the evolution of the detectives, and you avoid reading the solutions to other works.

Great idea to share other authors.  Having read all of Mrs Christie's books  I have been searching for other authors of the same genre, such as Sayer & Marsh.   By far the most enjoyable I have found is Georgette Heyer.  Set during the same period as Christies early works, her 12 murder mystery novels are wonderful.  Witty and believeable characters and clever plots make them a highly enjoyable read.  I particulary recommend "Behold Here's Poison".  

AA Milne also wrote one murder mystery and it is a good read too.

I've got a few of the Georgette Heyer books too. Never read any of her 'romance' books but I really love her murder mysteries. Just a shame there aren't more!

And go leafs, my friend, I shall be thinking of you on your shopping expedition tomorrow! Enjoy!!

It is very good isn't it ADELE? I read it years ago, I also have a couple of Georgette Heyer books but haven't read them yet, I had more but had a clear out about 4 years ago but kept 2 which I intend to read soon

My invasion of the local bookstore was a smashing success. The opposition was crushed as I looted the store of nine books total. Of these, one will replace my copy of Till Death Do Us Part (due to my negligence, I dented my old copy), and eight are new titles to my bookshelf. Instead of The Problem of the Wire Cage, I sacked The Blind Barber, which I enjoyed more and which was in a fun Collier edition.

I was wondering if anyone would mention A.A. Milne's mystery. It was great, along with Gaston Leroux's The Mystery of the Yellow Room (which has a brilliant solution and fantastic writing- if your French is sharp enough, read it in the original language).

My French DEFINATELY wouldn't be good enough, I'm afraid so I would have to settle for the English translation! However, as I still need to get my mitts on a copy of The Mystery of the Yellow Room, the point is academic!! It will go on my Christmas wish-list along with A.A. Milne's The Red House Mystery. I still kick myself about the Milne book as I saw it in a bookshop not too long ago but didn't buy it. Stupid me.

Glad to hear the day has been a success, go leafs!! It sounds as if your shelves will be groaning under all the extra weight! I seem to remember you said once how tidy you were and how organised you kept your collections. If this is true and you feel a burning desire to rid yourself of some old favourites due to aquiring precious new volumes then send them on to me!! I never turn down charity!! And I am a very worthy cause!!

Enjoy your new books, my friend!

go_leafs_nation

My invasion of the local bookstore was a smashing success. The opposition was crushed as I looted the store of nine books total. Of these, one will replace my copy of Till Death Do Us Part (due to my negligence, I dented my old copy), and eight are new titles to my bookshelf. Instead of The Problem of the Wire Cage, I sacked The Blind Barber, which I enjoyed more and which was in a fun Collier edition.

Go Leafs you are too funny. You are like a little terrier who's just discovered the biggest brontosaurus bone in the bottom of the garden. So chuffed with yourself! Well done. There's NOTHING like a fantastic bookshop expedition is there?

Bundles, I've read The Winter Garden Mystery and it's a good romp indeed. I liked it very much and I liked Daisy as well. Very authentic and well paced, though I did guess the culprit which is so unlike me. I'm one of those people who read them for the characters and settings and don't really look for the clues. So thank you for that recommendation!

Welcome Adele, I'm intrigues about the AA Milne book. I shall look it up after I've finished on the forum.

I'm glad you enjoyed The Winter Garden Mystery 3rdGirl. I didn't guess the culprit I just suspected everyone :0), so I wasn't too surprised at who did it. But I did think that there was a lot of in-depth investigation that took place for such an uncomplex reason as to why to culprit(s) did it. But is was a fun read and I enjoyed it and will read more of her books again.

And happy reading, go leafs! I love going book shopping as well! It's like being a kid in a candy store!

I will enjoy my new books; I'm still getting through The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but once I get through that and The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey, I'm free to read what I wish!