Features and articles

[Bionic Jean]

Have you just read a feature online which you think would interest us? Why not share a link to it here?

[Bionic Jean]

This is an interesting feature by Celadon Books, called "What is a Mystery?"

LINK HERE

[Werner]

Bionic Jean wrote: "This is an interesting feature by Celadon Books, called "What is a Mystery?"

LINK HERE"

Jean, I just finished reading this; thanks for the link! It's a good, solid introduction to the genre for any reader who's new to it.

[Bionic Jean]

Someone requested a thread for clerical mysteries, which we now have. I thought this blog LINK HERE listing mystery novels with a religious theme, might be useful.

[Ruth]

Bionic Jean wrote: "Someone requested a thread for clerical mysteries, which we now have. I thought this blog LINK HERE listing mystery novels with a religious theme, might be useful."

Thanks Jean. I'll have fun going through that list.

[Bionic Jean]

Quite a few were unfamiliar to me.

[Cynda]

Bionic Jean wrote: "This is an interesting feature by Celadon Books, called "What is a Mystery?"

LINK HERE"

Thanks Jean. Just the type of resource I would like to have.

[Mary]

Werner wrote: "Bionic Jean wrote: "This is an interesting feature by Celadon Books, called "What is a Mystery?"

LINK HERE"

Jean, I just finished reading this; thanks for the link! It's a good, solid introductio..."

I agree! And, of course, I love that my favorites Holmes and Poirot get special mention. I would make a distinction between detective fiction that has eccentric amateur sleuths, or sleuths working outside the police force (like Holmes and Poirot), which often portrays the authorities and conventional crime-solving methods in a rather dismissive light, versus procedurals like P.D. James's Dalgleish, where the police are the heroes. Or more heroic, even if they are imperfect people.

I guess the hardboiled private detective of questionable morals is another subgenre (since in more traditional amateur sleuth and procedural mysteries, there is some assurance the detective is on the side of justice).

[Bionic Jean]

I think I like a smattering of both amateur detective and police procedurals, and definitely like those novels which break the mould :) I don't like "hard-boiled" though, and don't know of many that would fit this group i.e. English.

Interesting observation, thanks Mary!

[Mary]

Bionic Jean wrote: "I think I like a smattering of both amateur detective and police procedurals, and definitely like those novels which break the mould :) I don't like "hard-boiled" though, and don't know of many tha..."

I agree, the Raymond Chandler style not my favorite, either--oddly enough, I do like the film The Maltese Falcon, but the book made no impression upon me. That's an interesting question if there are any British parallels to the American "hardboiled detective." I've heard of Brighton Rock called a British noir-style thriller in the American tradition, but there's no real detective.

[Cynda]

Orestes as mystery I will have to think about, figure out how it is a mystery. The huge problem to recognizing anything in the ancient stories is that they are already known to us, not mysterious--either through familiarity or through pre-reading.

[Bionic Jean]

Mary wrote: "That's an interesting question if there are any British parallels to the American "hardboiled detective ..."

I really don't think there are, no. But other English (or Scottish or Welsh or Northern Irish, since you say British) people may know of someone and disagree.

Brighton Rock is more of a novel about gang culture. Graham Greene wrote across the genres, but even his thrillers are more like (very well-written!) spy stories. Perhaps A Gun for Sale? Though I haven't read that one.

[Werner]

I'm not British; but being a librarian, I read library trade journals that include book reviews. So I've run across the term "Tartan Noir" at times. That's a style much in vogue in contemporary Scottish crime fiction, and very greatly influenced by American "hard-boiled" or noir crime fiction (which we can think of as the really cynical, gritty and gory end of the "American style" spectrum). Ian Rankin has been dubbed the "king" of the school, but it has other practitioners as well. Wikipedia has a write-up on it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartan_... . (Not being a fan of that sort of American-style mystery, I haven't read any of the Scots imitators myself.)

[Bionic Jean]

Fascinating! Thanks Werner.

Yes, I've read a couple of Inspector Rebus novels by Ian Rankin, and they are certainly quite gritty. But then I think saw a dramatisation of one by Val McDermid (can't remember the title), and thought that owed more to the Ruth Rendell and P.D. James's influence - with quite a lot of psychological content. On the other hand, so did Ian Rankin's The Falls, which I've read, had as an abridged book (a gift) and saw a dramatisation of! (I've no idea why, as I didn't really like it ...)

Time will tell if it's a true genre or just a marketing strategy, I guess. And anyway it's outside the remit of this group really. Scottish authors just have a separate thread.

[Thomas]

Werner wrote: "I'm not British; but being a librarian, I read library trade journals that include book reviews. So I've run across the term "Tartan Noir" at times. That's a style much in vogue in contemporary Sco..."

I like Scots authors, especially Ian Rankin. I have also read 1 by Stuart MacBride.

[Pamela]

Werner wrote: "I'm not British; but being a librarian, I read library trade journals that include book reviews. So I've run across the term "Tartan Noir" at times. That's a style much in vogue in contemporary Sco..."

Fascinating! Thank you Werner! I've read Rankin's first 17 books in his Rebus series and enjoyed them a lot. I've never heard of them described as hard-boiled or noir but now that you mention it, there are definitely similarities. Will have to check out 'Tartan Noir.'

[Susan]

I love Val McDermid novels.

[Dorothy]

Bionic Jean wrote: "Fascinating! Thanks Werner.

Yes, I've read a couple of Inspector Rebus novels by Ian Rankin, and they are certainly quite gritty. But then I think saw a dramatisation of one by [au..."

Thomas wrote: "Werner wrote: "I'm not British; but being a librarian, I read library trade journals that include book reviews. So I've run across the term "Tartan Noir" at times. That's a style much in vogue in c..."

I also like Denise Mina. I happened to see her on Tv lately, doing a tour of Scotland following the steps of Boswell and Johnson,

[Thomas]

I found an interesting article about "The Poison Lady." See https://www.thedailybeast.com/when-yo...

[Dorothy]

I'm just about to start 'Conviction', Denise Mina's latest.

[Bionic Jean]

Denise Mina looks good! I hope you'll post about her in our Scottish authors thread too, Dorothy :)

[Barbara]

Here is. a link to "Mystery Lists By Topic", has categories like "murderous occupations", Christmas mysteries, historical mysteries, as well as links to a few other sites that curate mystery books and authors by topic.
https://sldirectory.com/libsf/booksf/...

[Bionic Jean]

What a useful list! Thanks Barbara :)