60s spy/crime/detective novels?
Spies: Ian Fleming's James Bond books The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John Le Carre Our Man In Havana by Graham Greene The Ipcress File by Len Deighton Day Of The Jackal by Frederick Forsyth Detective and crime: The Saint series by Leslie Charteris The Ripley series by Patricia Highsmith The later Perry Mason novels by Erle Stanley Gardner
Who are some of the best detective novel authors?
1. Agatha Christie, author of Hercuile Poirot seriesPersonal favorites of the author:1.1 Man in the Brown Coat1.2 Dead Man's Folly1.3 Murder on the Orient Express1.4 ABC Murders2.Erle Stanley Gardener, author of Perry Mason seriesPersonal favorites of the author:2.1 Two Clues2.2 Case of the Careless Cupid2.3 Case of the Shoplifter's shoe3.Arthur Conan Doyle, author of The Case Book, Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes(one of the best authors of this genre, IMO)Personal favorites of the author:3.1. A study in scarlet3.2.The Hound of the Baskervilles3.3 A scandal in Bohemia3.4.Adventure of the three students3.5 The adventure of the Empty house3.6 The Boscombe Valley Mystery3.7 The adventure of the Beryl Coronet3.8 Silver Blaze3.9 The adventure of the solitary cyclist3.10 The adventure of the six Napoleons3.11 The Adventure of Charle Augustus Milverton3.12 The Naval Treaty3.13 The adventure of Priory School3.14 The adventure of Black Peter3.15 The disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax4.Carolyn Keene, author of Nancy Drew series 5. Franklin W. Dixon, author of the Hardy Boys series6.Enid Blyton, author of Famous-Five, Secret Seven and Five Find-Outers and Dog:Personal favorites of this author:6.1. Five run away together6.2.Five go off in a caravan6.3.The Mystery of the Pantomime cat7. John GrishamPersonal favorite of this author:7.1 The Pelican Brief
What is a good plan for a first chapter of a detective novel?
Once upon a time there was a plot wheel. It was invented and patented by Edgar Wallace. It was used by Erle Stanley Gardner, who wrote 82 Perry Mason novels. I think you may have heard of those.Now, there is nothing preventing you from using similar methods yourself. You want a detector? Why not write down all the characteristics you can come up with for a detector (most novelists refer to these as “detectives”), such as clever, confident, cunning, calculating, charming…any you can think of. You should end up with a lot. Then find a method of selecting 3 at random. The easiest way could be to write them on pieces of paper, shuffle them up and pick 3 out.You can do the same for your murder weapon: knife, brick, poison, snakebite etc. - a bit like advanced Cleudo, really.And the same for your setting - house, forest, beach…And the same for all your other characters, scenes and so on.The hook is just a difficulty that arises, or a puzzle which intervenes and prevents your detective from immediately saying “The butler did it!”It is rather a good idea to put a hook in the first sentence.Or you could just make your own plot/character/setting/motive wheels.Have fun!
What was the first detective mystery story and who wrote it?
When you defined the book as this: a crime was committed and one looks for the murderer, the western world started to enjoy such stories in the 19th century.in the US: Edgar Poe, 1841in Italy: Francesco Mastriani 1852in France: Gaboriau 1863in the UK: Wilkie Collins 1868However, it came much earlier to the Chinese: I take this from Wikipedia; “The Judge Dee character is based on the historical figure Di Renjie (c. 630–c. 700), magistrate and statesman of the Tang court. During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) in China, a "folk novel" was written set in former times, but filled with anachronisms. Van Gulik found in the 18th century Di Gong An (Chinese:狄公案 Pinyin: dí gōng àn, lit. "Cases of Judge Dee") an original tale dealing with three cases simultaneously, and, which was unusual among Chinese mystery tales, a plot that for the most part lacked an overbearing supernatural element which could alienate Western readers.”Van Gulik was a Dutch diplomat and a law expert and an orientalist (sinologue), musician, painter and a good man. He is one of my favorite authors.
What's the best P.I./Gumshoe/Detective novel of the 20th century?
Can't pick just one: Meh...professor, I'm thinking you'll probably be looking for Dashiell Hammet's Sam Spade "The Maltese Falcon" or Ray Chandler's Philip Marlowe in "The Lady in the Lake" or John D MacDonald's Travis McGee, I read all the Travis McGee stories and bawled when I read "The Lonely Silver Rain" because that was the end of Travis McGee. I also like Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone stories, I can't pick just one favorite book but she's a great PI and Grafton writes a pretty good story. Personal preference, I have to go with Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child, they wrote in the 80s and 90s so I guess they count. EDIT- Women aren't very well represented in the 20th century, but then again, there aren't too many women gumshoes except above Kinsey Milhone and Sarah Paretsky's VI Warshawsky, she's pretty hardboiled.
What the best selling detective/mystery novels?
Well good question.Many detective writers have been popping up ever since Wilkie Collins wrote the first ever mystery book the world saw: The Woman in White in 1859. Today, the most selling mystery/detective books are:The Sherlock Holmes SeriesAgatha Christie collection. This is also why she is known as the “queen of crime”.Stieg Larsson trilogyJo Nesbo’s Harry Hole series which consists of 11 books
Who is a good author that writes a first person detective series?
I am very fond of the Spenser novels by the late Robert Parker. Less taken with the continuations of the franchise by Ace Atkins, since Parker died.Dashiell Hammett wrote in first person, in The Thin Man, The Maltese Falcon, the Continental Op stories and the Op’s novel, Red Harvest.I think Raymond Chandler wrote the Philip Marlowe novels in first person.The Holmes novels and stories are of course in the first person, but from Watson’s point of view.Agatha Christie famously wrote one of her novels (title omitted to avoid spoilers) in the first person, and managed to have the plot twist that the narrator is in fact the killer., which is not revealed until the last chapter.Dick Francis is another excellent mystery writer who writes in first person. Several of his main characters (SId Halley and Kit Fielding) have more then one novel, so might constitute a series.
What is the name of the author of a series of detective novels featuring an Indian detective, set in (I think) Delhi?
The Case of the Missing Servant: From the Files of Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator (Vish Puri Mysteries): Tarquin Hall: Amazon.com: Books
Why do scholars think Edgar Allan Poe invented the detective novel?
I typed edgar allan poe detective into the Yahoo! search box and, among the many, found this site that should answer the question. I don't know if Poe did invent the detective novel, but he did have a detective (Dupin) in two or three stories, a side-kick narrator, a puzzle, clues and a solution that involved brain work, not super-natural intervention. Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and other detective novelists followed the template of his stories and paid tribute to him as 'the first'.
Who is a better detective fiction writer: Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?
That's actually a really good question.They both have their strengths. Conan Doyle created one of the great characters of all time. There's a reason why people keep making movies about Holmes and can enjoy updating him and playing around with the archetype. He's a magnificent creation and Christie never had a character who could match him. Sadly the Sherlock Holmes stories haven't aged that well because they're very much of their era. The incredible observations that Holmes makes are all very much grounded in Victorian era London an involve a culture and technology that we can't appreciate at all. Christie's characters generally weren't as good and she stayed grounded in fairly firm stereotypes. She was only interested in upper class English society and rarely strayed away from the area that she was familiar with. Her novels do tend to develop a fairly standard setting after a while and the more you read the more contrived and repetitive they become. Having said that if you limit yourself to her best work there is no doubting she's a master of the genre and can put together some brilliant plots. Her best works are genuine page turners and leave you admiring her skill when you finish the last page.If I had to chose one or the other I'd choose Conan Doyle for the simple reason that the more you read of him the more you wanted to read. Holmes is a fascinating character and Watson is more than just a sidekick. The other characters that populate the world are all fun as well and thee is no doubt Conan Doyle writes some very readable prose. His sentences are just fun to read. The more Christie you read the more you start to tire of her style and repetitive nature. She mastered plotting but her prose isn't as enjoyable as Conan Doyle's and you can understand why there are people who read the complete Holmes over and over again while only the most ardent Christie fan has read every single one of her books.