Posted on 01/02/2002 2:56:05 PM PST by Temple Owl
The Best Mystery Writers Of All Time
I just left our dinner table where we enjoyed a lively discussion about mystery writers. I argued that Raymond Chandler was the best of all. Well maybe in a tie with Ross Macdonald.
Noooo, said my son, the best was John D. MacDonald. He agreed on Raymond Chandler.
My wife likes Agatha Christie, Mary Higgins Clark and Sue Grafton. What does she know?
Here is a list of my favorites:
Raymond Chandler
Ross Macdonald
John D. MacDonald
Mickey Spillane
Ed McBain
Robert Parker
Lawrence Sanders
Dick Francis
Tony Hillerman
Robert Crais
I'll add Erle Stanley Gardner and Arthur Conan Doyle for the purists, but forget about Dashiell Hammett. No commies allowed.
But seriously though, it would be hard to disagree with your list, although I'm curious to hear about some "undiscovered" authors. I guess, to get back to my initial point, those would be the real mystery writers.
Modern: Tony Hillerman
As for Doyle, he was not just someone for purists. Most of the others are simply aping his techniques in one way or another, including the idea that a great detective should be an eccentric.
The thing about Doyle and Poe is that they were also both Conservatives in terms of Social and Political issues--although Poe considered it a cardinal sin to promote any sort of agenda through his art.
Wilkie Collins' best asset, other than his ability to construct a fascinating plot, was that he was better at depicting a variety of female personalities, than most of his contemporaries. (He obviously was more skilled at seduction, one suspects, than his friend Dickens; and the result is some very interesting characters. In Armadale, he creates perhaps the most interesting female villain in Victorian literature.)
Another rather Conservative mystery writer would be Baroness Orczy, who is of course better known for the Scarlet Pimpernel novels.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
Stephen Hunter
Elizabeth George
Eric Ambler
Martha Grimes was great until she lost it.
Jeffery Deavers is one of my all time favorites.
Raymond Chandler is the best; Ross Macdonald is his heir (so to speak) but labored and pretentious (as opposed to Chandler's preposterous flair).
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