Fav. Mystery/Thriller Books

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 4:13pm

I am going to the bookstore today to buy a book and I am really interested in reading a good mystery, or CSI type book. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Any would be appreciated.

[Weez]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 6:15pm

I'm quite into Swedes at the moment. If you've read or are put off by the Stieg Larssons, look for Henning Mankell. I love him better, although he does occasionally go off on ABSOLUTELY MENTAL tangents (see: The White Lioness XD).

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 9:07pm

I'm a big fan of the Nursery Crime series. There's two, "The Big Over Easy" and "The Fourth Bear." They're written by Jasper Fforde, and have all sorts of fantastic allusions to other nursery rhymes.

[jasonf]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 9:19pm

I recently read a couple of Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - both with GREAT twist endings.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 10:14pm

Jasper Fforde also has a series about "literary crime". The first book is called the Eyre Affair.

The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel

Updated On: 8/9/10 at 10:14 PM

[[tos]fan999]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 10:30pm

And Then There Were None...a true classic.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 11:55pm

Eris-
I <3 the first 4 Thursday Next books. The 5th one skipped so much.

I didn't reccomend them, simply b/c I consider them more sci-fi than Mystery/Thriller, although I think technically it's a cross-genre with heavy crime drama overtones.

[jasonf]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 11:59pm

I agree with you husk - the first four books were fantastic! I was so let down with the latest one, and I haven't been able to get into any of his other books. Shades of Grey was one of the most tedious things I'd ever picked up and put it down after about 50 pages. The other books just didn't really do it for me either.

Another kind of cool sci-fi/mystery author is Robert Rankin. I remember really liking The Hollow Chocolate Bunny of the Apocolypse. Yeah, with a title like that, how could you not?

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 7:40am

If you're looking for CSI-like themes, look at Jeffrey Deaver's books, featuring criminologist Lincoln Rhyme.

[silversurfer2]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 8:12am

TELL NO ONE by Harlan Cobin...anything by him, his novels are terrific, with many twists and turns along the way. He is my favorite mystery author.

[MotorTink]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 8:22am

My dad just finished a bunch by Harlan Cobin. He enjoyed them.

I loved the Alex Cross series by James Patterson.

Speak of the Devil: A Novel of Suspense by Richard Hawke was really good for his first novel.

[silversurfer2]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 8:28am

The Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Series by Anne Perry. I would start with The Cater Street Hangman. You will become addicted.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 8:46am

If you dig the Swedes, try the Martin Beck series by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, which have just all come back into print. One caveat: they should be read in order, starting with ROSEANNA. They're good quick and short little police procedurals.

They were apparently conceived at the outset as a series, showing Martin Beck's gradual politicization. Don't be afraid of that, though, they're good rattling stories.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 10:30am

There's the genius Ruth Rendell...and then there's everyone else.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 10:56am

There's also Patricia Highsmith, well worth a look. There's a lot more to her than the Ripley stories.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 11:03am

Booker winner John Banville has written a pseudonymous mystery series under the name Benjamin Black: CHRISTINE FALLS, THE SILVER SWAN, and ELEGY FOR APRIL.

They're set in Dublin in the 1950s and feature a hard-drinking pathologist named Quirke. Really wonderful.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 11:15am

I'll agree with the Thursday Next books, very clever.

I also have read all of the Sue Grafton series. The second one "B is for Burglar" is the best of the series. Very fun read.

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 1:28pm

I agree with Tell No One by Harlan Coben. A friend recommended it to me for my vacation at the beach and I couldn't put it down. Very well done.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 1:39pm

I also love Jasper Fforde's work. I'm also partial to Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series.

[Weez]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 2:41pm

frogs_fan: are they actually any good? Every time I read a blurb and am reminded that the guy is a spy, assassin, AND art restorer, I just start laughing my ass off and never get as far as actually reading one.

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 2:50pm

I enjoy the Gabriel Allon books by Daniel Silva. If you like Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series, I think you like them, too, although Allon is actually closer to Clancy's John Clark character. The books do build on one another, so although you could read any one, I'd recommend starting from the first book.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 3:07pm

I know it seems incongruous, but it works for the character. The newest book resolves around a missing Rembrandt.

I agree with madbrian, start with The Kill Artist, because the books definitely build on one another, especially when it comes to the structure of The Office.