The 112 Best Literary Mysteries and Crime Novels > Likes and Comments
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I like that this isn't a recent books popularity contest type of rating. I've read 19 of them and I was pleasantly surprised to see Torquil MacLeod and Fred Vargas listed on it. I definitely enjoy their books
Interesting list. Of the eighteen I'm familiar with, I don't have many arguments with placement, though I wonder that Those Who Wish Me Dead and The Thirteenth Tale are ranked as high as they are. (Not to say I disliked them, just that I didn't think they were that great.) I assume others saw more in them than I did.I was pleased to see Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union included.
Try The Mahdi. A thinking man thriller set in Gaza.
I have read 18 of the 112 and seen a couple more movies/ shows. The Long Goodbye or Mystic River would be my #1. Would not 100 be a better round number for the list?Cons:
Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Tana French has one entry each while John Hart has 4 entries. Hart is okay but Chandler and Hammett turned pulp into poetry and French is the best literary mystery writer going around.
No Laura Lippman or James Lee Burke or Ross Macdonald or Jim Thompson. The list loses a lot of credibility with glaring misses like that. Burke has the best prose in crime fiction. How do you make a list like this and not include him?
White Jazz is the only James Ellroy book selected, it is widely considered the weakest entry in the LA Quartet.
Pros:
Dennis Lehane has 4 entries. He is one of the best so good to see him recognized as such.
Claire DeWitt gets a mention, it should be higher. It gets my vote for most underrated modern crime fiction series.
I've read 18 and am in the process of reading 5 others.I don't think it is that great of a list.
Based on curated lists from The Guardian, Book Riot and more, suggestions from readers on Goodreads and Library Thing, and picks from literary mystery authors like Mark Haddon, Jenny Milchman, Laurie R. King and Derek B. Miller, here is a roundup list of The 112 Best Literary Mysteries and Crime Novels.
Plus, download two special bonus features:
1. The favorite literary mysteries and crime novels from nine contemporary mystery and crime authors
2. A one-page PDF shopping guide to The Best Literary Mysteries and Crime Novels.
Happy reading!