Sun 3 Oct 2010
MY 100 BEST MYSTERIES, by JEFF MEYERSON.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists[11] Comments
by JEFF MEYERSON
Barry Gardner’s recent list has inspired me to do one of my own. I’ve tried to give a good variety by limiting myself to no more than two titles per author (or pseudonym). I’ve also tried to include books that impressed me greatly when read, even if it was twenty years ago and I’d probably not read that book today. On some heavily read authors (McBain, Simenon) titles were chosen nearly at random. Still, it’s a list that I can live with, and one you might find worth checking for titles to try.
Neil Albert, THE JANUARY CORPSE
Eric Ambler, A CORPSE FOR DIMITRIOS
Delano Ames, SHE SHALL HAVE MURDER
Linda Barnes, A TROUBLE OF FOOLS
Lawrence Block, WHEN THE SACRED GINMILL CLOSES
Christianna Brand, GREEN FOR DANGER
Jay Brandon, FADE THE HEAT
Herbert Brean, WILDERS WALK AWAY
Fredric Brown, THE FABULOUS CLIPJOINT
NIGHT OF THE JABBERWOCK
Paul Cain, FAST ONE
John Dickson Carr, THE THREE COFFINS
Raymond Chandler, FAREWELL, MY LOVELY
THE LADY IN THE LAKE
George C. Chesbro, BONE
Agatha Christie, AND THEN THERE WERE NONE
PARTNERS IN CRIME
Liza Cody, BUCKET NUT
Max Allan Collins, TRUE DETECTIVE
K. C. Constantine, THE MAN WHO LIKED SLOW TOMATOES
William J. Coughlin, DEATH PENALTY
Bill Crider, SHOTGUN SATURDAY NIGHT
James Crumley, THE LAST GOOD KISS
Peter Dickinson, KING & JOKER
Jerome Doolittle, BODY SCISSORS
Arthur Conan Doyle, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES
John Dunning, BOOKED TO DIE
Aaron Elkins, OLD BONES
James Ellroy, THE BLACK DAHLIA
Loren D. Estleman, SUGARTOWN
PEEPER
Michael Gilbert, DEATH IN CAPTIVITY
Joe Goes, HAMMETT
James W. Hall, UNDER COVER OF DAYLIGHT
Parnell Hall, DETECTIVE
Donald Hamilton, DEATH OF A CITIZEN
Dashiell Hammett, RED HARVEST
THE MALTESE FALCON
Joseph Hansen, A COUNTRY OF OLD MEN .
Thomas Harris, RED DRAGON
Carl Hiaasen, TOURIST SEASON
Tony Hillerman, DANCE HALL OF THE DEAD
A THIEF OF TIME
William Hjortsberg, FALLING ANGEL
P. D. James, SHROUD FOR A NIGHTINGALE
Faye Kellerman, DAY OF ATONEMENT
Jonathan Kellerman, WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS
Joseph Koenig, FLOATER
Jonathan Latimer, MURDER IN THE MADHOUSE
Elmore Leonard, CITY PRIMEVIL
Ira Levin, A KISS BEFORE DYING
Michael Z. Lewin, NIGHT COVER
Dick Lochte, SLEEPING DOG
Peter Lovesey, WOBBLE TO DEATH
THE FALSE INSPECTOR DEW
Arthur Lyons, CASTLES BURNING
Frank McAuliffe, OF ALL THE BLOODY CHEEK
Ed McBain, LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE DEAF MAN
Gregory Mcdonald, FLETCH
John D. MacDonald, THE END OF THE NIGHT
THE DREADFUL LEMON SKY
Ross Macdonald, THE GALTON CASE
THE CHILL
Dan J. Marlowe, THE NAME OF THE GAME IS DEATH
Margaret Maron, BOOTLEGGER’S DAUGHTER
Ngaio Marsh, ARTISTS IN CRIME
W. Somerset Maugham, ASHENDEN
Archer Mayor, OPEN SEASON
L. A. Morse, THE OLD DICK
Robert B. Parker, GOD SAVE THE CHILD
Marcia Muller, PENNIES ON A DEAD WOMAN’S EYES
Ridley Pearson, UNDERCURRENTS
Anthony Price, OTHER PATHS TO GLORY
Bill Pronzini, BONES
Ellery Queen, CALAMITY TOWN
CAT OF MANY TAILS
Barnaby Ross (Queen), THE TRAGEDY OF Y
Dorothy L. Sayers, MURDER MUST ADVERTISE
Laurence Shames, FLORIDA STRAITS
Richard Shattuck, THE WEDDING GUEST SAT ON A STONE
Georges Simenon, MAIGRET GOES HOME
Roger L. Simon, THE BIG FIX
Gerald Sinstadt, THE FIDELIO SCORE
Maj Sjowall/Per Wahloo, THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN
Julie Smith, NEW ORLEANS MOURNING
Richard Stark (Westlake), BUTCHER’S MOON
Rex Stout, TOO MANY COOKS
Grif Stockley, PROBABLE CAUSE
Josephine Tey, THE DAUGHTER OF TIME
Ross Thomas, THE FOOLS IN TOWN ARE ON OUR SIDE
CHINAMAN’S CHANCE
Jim Thompson, THE KILLER INSIDE ME
A HELL OF A WOMAN
Arthur W. Upfield, DEATH OF A LAKE
Donald E. Westlake, DANCING AZTECS
Teri White, FAULT LINES
Kate Wilhelm, O, SUSANNAH!
Charles Willeford, MIAMI BLUES
Stuart Woods, CHIEFS
Eric Wright, FINAL CUT
Editorial Comment: I have one more list like this one to post, and perhaps two. Yours would be welcome, if you’d like to do one. The ground rules are pretty much up to you; any restrictions or boundaries you’d like to place on it are yours to make and to abide by. If you’d care to come up with only a top 10, 15, or 50, that’s fine, too.
When he agreed to let me reprint this list, Jeff promised to give his reactions when he saw it again. He came up with this list of books and authors 17 years ago, and he hasn’t seen or thought about it since.
October 3rd, 2010 at 3:32 pm
I like Jeff’s list.
October 3rd, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Interesting list. It is hard to imagine anyone creating a Best Of list that any other reader would agree with one hundred percent. Some excellent reads listed in Jeff’s. The only one that really jumped out at me as missing the target, is the selection of Jonathan Latimer’s, MURDER IN THE MADHOUSE instead of the author’s SOLOMON’S VINEYARD. But, it’s all so subjective, so no criticism meant. The best thing about lists, though, is i usually discover some titles to pursue. And that holds here as well. Got a couple to check out.
October 3rd, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Quite a few of the same writers (different books sometimes) as my own list, and no disagreements with any of the choices, a few even that might have bumped something on my list if I had thought of them.
Even though this is from seventeen years ago, probably still more new titles than my list, but with both this and Barry’s it is nice to see no one feels they have to ‘show off’ by listing the obvious classics or critics choices — so far both lists read like honest appraisals of what was truly enjoyed and remembered fondly.
Still, even limiting myself to one book per author I could still have come up with a top 500 more easily than a top 100.
Among the writers who just missed my own list Delano Ames, Donald Westlake, Hjortsberg, Dan Marlowe, Ross Thomas, Jim Thompson, Hillerman, Parker, Tey, and Arthur Upfield who I somehow clean forgot whan doing my own list. If I were doing it today Upfield’s SANDS OF WINDLEE would certainly be on the list.
October 3rd, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Frank, thanks. I never did read SOLOMON’s VINEYARD, to answer that point.
Overall, I’m not unhappy with the list although it would undoubtedly be different now. Some of the authors would be represented by different books, some of the others I only remember vaguely, and still others made me think “oh yeah, I really did like that one and I haven’t thought of it in a long time.”
Still, I’m happy that I’m not embarrassed by it as I worried I might be. A lot of the books would still be on a list if I did one now.
Thanks for reprinting this, Steve. It was fun looking back at it. I must admit that most of my current mystery reading is of current rather than “classic” or Golden Age titles but that doesn’t change how I feel about the older books.
October 3rd, 2010 at 7:02 pm
It should come as no surprise that David’s list is one that’s waiting in the wings. I’ll post it here within the next couple of days.
My own comments on Jeff’s largely follow what’s already been said. Perhaps these are not all classics, but no one will go very wrong in reading any of them.
Having said that, there are some pleasant surprises in this list, like Richard Shattuck’s book, which someone else (Ellen Nehr?) once recommended to me, but which I’ve never read. It must truly fall into a category of “forgotten” mysteries.
I like the spread of years that’s encompassed by these books. Following Barry’s list, I suggested that most of the books I’d come up with, were I to make such a list, would consist of mostly older ones, the classics, rather than anything new.
Then I wondered, if I were to read some of the older books I might put on my list, ones that I remember so fondly, would I still enjoy them as much now as I remember them?
Perhaps not.
October 4th, 2010 at 8:01 am
I was very pleased to show up on Jeff’s list. I don’t think I knew about either his or Barry’s list, and I’m pleased to have been included. That they are both Nate Heller novels is especially gratifying, because I consider that my best work. If I hit a list in recent years, it would probably be a Quarry novel showing up, just because I think the more recent work has a better shot (unless you’re Hammett or Chandler or somebody). By the way, in August 2011, the first new Heller novel in a decade will appear — BYE BYE, BABY — about the death of Marilyn Monroe. Researching JFK currently.
October 4th, 2010 at 8:29 am
Steve, you’re right of course, it was Ellen who touted the Shattuck book to me, and she was right about that one.
I love the Quarry books, as you know, as well as the Nolans (the first of which I have a copy signed by Max Collins in ’83!) but the Heller books are (as they were intended to be) weightier. Still, you can rarely go wrong with any Collins book.
I was giving this list more thought overnight and was thinking of looking through my reading list of the past 17 years (don’t worry, it’s on a database) to update it on newer reads.
One thing that has changed is that I’ve read a lot more short story collections. I’ve made an effort to read one or more shorts a day (not all mysteries, by any means) since August of 1995. (Total collections read in that period: 613.)
I’ll see what I can do.
October 4th, 2010 at 10:37 am
Jeff
Looking forward to it!
— Steve
October 4th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
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