The Secret Adversary discussion

This is one of my favorite books! I'm seeking more mysteries with a minimum of the bloody and gruesome--better yet if they aren't even murder mysteries--but still with very detailed characters and intricate plots. I'm not going for so much "fluff" as something like the Flower Shoppe mysteries. Any suggestions??? I'm on to Dorothy Sayers and have pretty much exhausted Christie. I like Kerry Greenwood thus far.

I have the same problem as not too much of a fan of blood and gore - have you tried Margery Allingham's Albert Campion books or Edmund Crispin's Gervase Fen ones? Most of them are murder mysteries but treated more as an intellectual problem like Agatha Christie's.

That is a great book! I totally agree that the intellectual mysteries rather than gruesome are the way to go. Have you read the classic Sherlock Holmes mysteries? They are really clever, short stories rather than novels. Also, you might like Alexander McCall Smith who writes Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency books. They are set in Africa, and most about the culture and story instead of blood and gore.

I don't like blood and gore either, so Christie has always been a favorite. I agree that Margery Allingham's Albert Campion books are excellent. Have you tried Josephine Tey? She's written some good ones reminiscent of Agatha Christie, her Inspector Grant is likable. There's also Charlotte Armstrong, an American mystery writer who wrote in a similar vein (maybe slightly more fluffy?)

I'll admit to bias, but let me recommend "the Return of the Nice Guy" by Samuel Ben White (available on Kindle). It is not exactly a murder mystery. In it, the murder took place two years ago, the culprit is in jail, and everyone is satisfied as to his guilt. What the widow has never been satisfied with is the motive. Private investigator Bat Garrett is hired to find the "why".

You might check out Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver mysteries, Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple, or a new favorite of mine, Alan Bradleys Flavia de Luce series. Also, I'm a big fan of Ngaio Marsh.

Good luck!

Another mystery author I really enjoy is Tony Hillerman. Great characters, well-crafted stories. They show the grim side of human nature (they are murder mysteries after all) but are never gory and there's always the light of the good people in the story.

I have three recommendations for you. (1) Queen of the Regency Romance Georgette Heyer, a contemporary of Agatha Christie, also wrote a dozen witty mysteries. "Death in the Stocks" is my favorite. (2) Emma Lathen produced a series featuring Wall Street banker John Putnam Thatcher that are fun, though they may be challenging to find. (3) The Homer Kelly novels of Jane Langton are literate without being the least bit stuffy. "The Transcendental Murders" is the first of the series.

I just read The New Deputy In Town by B. J. Daniels; I loved it and sounds like what you are looking for too. I have read most of Agatha Christies books and loved them as well.

What a pleasure to see fans of similiar favourites. I've just read "The Secret Adversary" and will review it later today. I love Charlotte Armstrong, although she's about odd adventures rather than convulted plots. I can't wait to try Margery Allingham but need prequels.

I too recommend Patricia Wentworth (cunning oldies). More recently, Lyn Hamilton archaeology mysteries. Plots themselves may not be intricate but the lengths & stages gone to solve whatever happened, are. She infuses impeccably-researched culture and lore.

I'm eager to try the Charlotte McLeod I've collected. From the 70s-90s, she was said to be hilarious but in very bizarre, sharply-plotted mysteries.

Forgive me if I suggest my own book. It's falls under romantic suspense, but I think it should be romantic mystery.

I'm a huge fan of Jane Austen and Agatha Christie, so tried to combine what I loved about both styles. Great, witty banter between the two man characters, and a mystery that will keep you guessing until the end.

I second the recommendation for the Miss Silver mysteries. Start with Grey Mask.

Hi fellow mystery lover, Don't forget the really early mystery writers late 1800's -early 1900's- such as Anna Katharine Green and Mary Roberts Rinehart. Their books are also available in public domain for ebooks if you can handle the typos and extra letters. Or, you can invest a little money in a edited book. Another fabulous early author I enjoy is Louis Tracy. He wrote under 2 other names Gordon Holmes and Robert Fraser. All of these writers wrote an amazing amount of books - so don't be overwhelmed. I recently posted a review of "Lady Molly of Scotland Yard" published in 1910 by Baroness Orczy (yes, a real baroness and great writer). I love this book! Let me know if anyone wants more info on any of these writers. Happy Reading! Joan

Second Heyer's mysteries, though my favorite is "No Wind of Blame." I also have enjoyed Tey's "Daughter of Time." For light reading (and, IIRC, not too much gore), there are "The Cat Who ..." mysteries by Lillian Jackson Braun. If you don't mind a little mystery with your romance, try the Eclipse Bay series by Jayne Ann Krentz. Other good ones by her are (this is a recommendation from my mother) the Stephanie Plum mysteries by Janet Evanovich (which I have not yet read). She says you have to read them in order to "get" them. Easy to do, as they're numbered. I also very much like Dorothy Gilman's mysteries; I was an avid reader of the Mrs. Pollifax series and "A Nun in the Closet." I have a friend who loves Lady Molly, which I haven't read yet. Carola Dunn’s Daisy Dalrymple series is pretty good. Read a few of those. The one I have to read the minute it comes out that are currently being written are the "Royal Spyness" mysteries; the main character is a relative of Queen Victoria, though impoverished, and doesn't want to marry for anything but love. And she finds herself in some of the most ridiculously funny situations as well as getting tied up in mysteries.

There's Dorothy Sayers and Alan Bradley.

I just read Brass Keys to Murder by L. Ron Hubbard today. It is a murder mystery, but not gory.

For a clever set of short stories that I don't recall being murder mysteries, try Four Faultless Felons by G. K. Chesterton.

The Zig Zag Girl, by Elly Griffiths. Post WWII England, a young cop and a magician team up together as they did in the war. I enjoy the series.