Do you re-read Whodunits?

[Diptanjan]

Do you re-read "whodunit" novels?
If yeah, why? You already know who did it and how he got caught!!
If nyah, then do you think this is where crime fiction as a genre lags behind genres like Fantasy or Horror because apparently books in those genres have a re-reading value?
Also, if you re-read "whodunit" novels, then name any one novel in the genre that you re-read frequently.
HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY THIS THREAD

[Jan C]

Sure, I reread some. Mostly Christie, Sayers, Stout, Gardner.

[Diana]

I own and reread the Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter books. Not so much for the mystery as for the relationships. Not just with Harriet but also his family. It is more about the character than the mystery. Sometimes I almost forget there is a mystery when reading these books. Most other mysteries I do not reread.

[Diptanjan]

Hmmm ok

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I reread the Sayers for the same reason as Jan C.

I reread Agatha Christies because I can't remember if I've read them!

[S.K.]

I reread mysteries for the same reason! I've read so many that I sometimes don't remember who the killer is anyway. Or, like Diana, I reread because I want to spend more time with characters I like.

[Tom]

Raymond Chandler, Dashiel Hammett, who I've re-read.

But there are just too many still to read to re-read any others.

I'm an optimist. I keep reading because I believe that one day I'll find a mystery as good as (or almost as good as) Chandler's The Long Goodbye - my personal all-time favorite mystery (and favorite American novel).

[Sylvie]

I don't reread or buy movies b/c for the most part I don't watch movies again either. I agree with Tom above, I have so many books in my to-be-read pile, who has the time!

[Diptanjan]

Okay .... Interesting opinions... :)

[Michele]

I'm the same - once I connect with the characters and the world, I will both read the whole series even if it gets repetitive or formulaic, and I will re-read to visit old friends, though I do wait a couple of years between usually.

I've re-read Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody books, Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael books, Laura Joh Rowland's Sano Ichiro books, Lawrence Block's Burglar Who books, and Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series.

[Donna, Co-Moderator]

Very rarely. Christie, Doyle, and Sayers maybe.

Way to many good books on my TBR list and not enough time - but maybe when I retire!

[L.L.]

If they're good, I do. I've reread Christie and Doyle and Mary Higgins Clark many times. It's not just older books, though. I've recently reread books by Dennis Lehane, Lawrence Block, Michael Z. Lewin, and Louise Penny. I think my fastest "reread" was Breakheart Hill by Thomas H. Cook (not exactly a whodunit, though). I read it in two days and the next day I started it again. And I've read it a time or two since then. Some stories just never get old.

[[deleted user]]

Another Sayers re-reader here. The mysteries are good, the writing is excellent, the characters are wonderful.

Besides, I can never remember who dunnit, so each time is like the first!

[Diptanjan]

I'm currently re reading The Cuckoo's Calling.
It's my first "whodunit" re read, and I find that I'm enjoying the book again, because I love the main characters and their relationship. I am even enjoying the detailed investigation process, even though I remember very well who "did it", because now it's like reading the book from an entirely different angle. The detective's conversations with the one who later turned out to be the killer are really intellectually provoking: now I can trace the very minute but certain clues they contain about the murderer's motive and guilt. I had missed these clues during my first read, I suspected a different man as the killer, so when I reached the ending it knocked me over.

[Gary]

I haven't yet. (It is amusing that this post is below one on the Cuckoo's Calling because I did reread the Harry Potter books.)

I have considered rereading the Deborah Crombie books. There are several reasons for this. It is just about the only series I didn't read in order and they have richer information on the locations than virtually any other mysteries I have read. I was disappointed in her most recently published book The Sound of Broken Glass because I thought the setting wasn't very interesting.

[Amanda]

Never! Once I have read I never go back and read again - I already know what's happened and so I just can't do it, it's like someone telling me the same story over again that I've already heard, it just bores me!...yes even books I love! Same with movies.