World Mysteries and Thrillers discussion

Can you recall the first mystery story you ever read? Did it become your favorite? Is it still your favorite? Do you still re-read it occasionally?

What was the first classic mystery you ever read? (Was it a British mystery or something else?)

What was the first mystery you read from your own country?

What was the first mystery you read from a far-off nation, from somewhere else far away around the other side of the world?

Far away nation, Laos The Coroner's Lunch
Don't remember the others

Like Thomas, I do not recall my very first mystery novel, which I read in my teens, but I do recall my first mystery from a far-off country: Points and Lines from Japan.

My first mystery was The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov, but I was soon into everything. I'm a wee bit restricted because too many mysteries and thrillers now are beyond my budget limitations. Aren't ebooks supposed to be less expensive than print versions?
r/Steve

I do remember reading Father Brown mysteries in the late 50s

Must have been a Hardy boys mystery, followed closely by The Saint

"Aren't ebooks supposed to be less expensive than print versions?"

Ha. Maybe in the next recession, boyo...!

:D

Feliks wrote: "Can you recall the first mystery story you ever read? Did it become your favorite? Is it still your favorite? Do you still re-read it occasionally?

What was the first classic mystery you ever read..."

The Mysterious Affair At Styles, Death on the Nile, Curtain and Murder on the Orient Express. Christine may have been despised by Raymond Chandler who viciously denounced her in a article he wrote, but she is one of the pioneers of modern mystery fiction tropes and no contemporary crime thriller has ever come close to hers.

Samuel, I discovered La Grande Dame Agatha later than Asimov (probably unusual, but I was first into sci-fi), but Death on the Nile was my first British mystery. I'm waiting for And Then There was None to be made into a movie. A recent novel of mine was an homage to Christie and her two sleuths, Marple and Poirot.
Thomas, somewhere back in those tween/teen years I read Father Brown. Both Asimov and Chesterton showed me that an author can excel in many genres. Obvious today...not so obvious back then!
r/Steve

I don't remember my first, but I just finished `Tinker tailor soldier spy` hoping that it would help enlighten the movie, which I love. it did enlighten it ever so subtley, but what a brain f*#k.

Chandler denounced Christie? That seems remarkably petty and short-sighted of him. Still, I suppose I can understand why he might have done so. Put it down to the infighting that arises from opposing camps.

What I can't currently understand is why they ever made a 'theatrical release' of Tinker-Tailor when the BBC version with Guinness, is the definitive version, and had always stood unquestioned as such since it was made. Its incomprehensible; like Affleck & Madonna considering remaking 'Casablanca'. I simply can't fathom it. What audience is left for such an idea? Either case. I can't comprehend why it was even suggested as a project, nor how they rationalized it as they went along. What audience did they imagine they were appeasing by re-doing one of the epitomes of BBC drama? Just speaking rhetorically here.

Sorry, I know I'm a moderator but I have my private opinions as well.

Steven wrote: " I'm waiting for And Then There was None to be made into a movie. ..."

Well apparently there's a resurgence of interest in Christie as they're just re-make (another jaw-dropper, just as above) 'Orient'. I can only put this down to the current manic pop-culture obsession with celebs. Again (just as above) I can't imagine where they'd be able to find competent actors, director, or production. Its a story from a different world, not just a different movie-making era.

Perhaps the only thing which has remained 'efficient' is the sphere ruled by producers. Excel, Quickbooks, and all the other latest cost-tracking tools assist those pinheaded leeches do their job of interfering with performers enormously better, I'm sure.

Steve: No need to wait ... "And Then There Was None" was already made in to a movie in 1945.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_T...

And Then There Were None (TV Mini-Series 2015)

www.imdb.com/title/tt3581932/

So no need for a new version again.

Christophe, Guess I missed that...of course, I wasn't around in 1945. I'll have to find it on some cable TV channel. And don't get me started on those mini-series, Mark. They're generally bad.
Here's some general thoughts for today: as readers, we exercise our imaginations by taking words and translating them into mental images of plots, characters, and settings. When a movie is made based on a good book, are we watering down that imagination that defines our humanity? The other side of that coin: a movie that's NOT based on a good book, just a screenplay, often written by some Hollywood team, seems to be lacking something....
Thoughts spurred by cabin fever with 0 degrees outside here in NJ....
r/Steve

Reception[edit]

And Then There Were None received critical acclaim and was a ratings success for the BBC, with the first episode netting over 6 million viewers and becoming the second most watched programme on Boxing Day. Each of the two subsequent episodes netted over 5 million viewers.

Despite criticism ahead of the programme's launch from the Daily Mail that the production deviated from Agatha Christie's source material, And Then There Were None received critical acclaim. Ben Dowell of the Radio Times gave a positive review. Jasper Reese for The Daily Telegraph gave the first episode 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "pitch-black psychological thriller as teasing murder mystery" and "spiffingly watchable".

Reviewing the first episode, UK daily newspaper The Guardian's Sam Wollaston noted, "[...] it also manages to be loyal, not just in plot but in spirit as well. I think the queen of crime would approve. I certainly do. Mass murder rarely gets as fun as this." Reviewing the final episode for The Daily Telegraph, Tim Martin gave it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "class act", and praising the adaptation for highlighting the darkness of Christie's novel, which he claimed no previous adaptation had attempted.

Mark, I now recall that I'd heard it deviated from AC's source material, which is probably why I put it out of mind. Maybe it's a bit like the movie Dunkirk not using the Branagh character's real name? Making a mountain out of a molehill?
I'll check it out. Thanks for the info!
r/Steve

Have fun, I quite enjoyed the BBC miniseries.

First American children's Mystery has to be Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys Bobbsey Twins etc.
Teen has to be Ellery Queen although I have no idea what the title was. It was a locked room mystery and I proudly solved it before the end. I discovered Christie and progressed.
Adult American Ed McBain. I think I read at least 30 of his 50+ series
International: I have no idea. I started a World Mystery Book Challenge over 6 years ago and have not stopped. The original challenge was to read a mystery metal book set in a original IN Country. I went overboard and am doing Every World Country and their territories. I also discovered a enormous listing of mystery genre books and their counties in Library Thing. I am on my kindle, so will come back and add a link.

I hit Asia first, so Flint Shamini allowed me to go to Malaysia, Bali, Singapore, Cambodia and India. Tarquin Hall got me to India and Pakistan. I proceeded to search, find and read a book from almost all of Asia.

I proceeded to Scotland and hit her mainland as well as Orkney, Shetlands, etc., ( Peter May, Ann Cleeves, Peggy Blair,.

I just kept going. If the book did not depict the country well in culture etc. or I did not finish it, I did not include it in my Challenge.
95% of my reading is Library books makes it harder to complete.