Ok, let's see how I do with this list from Bloomsbury of the top 100 must-read crime novels that I just found via google.
If it's crossed out, it means I've read it:
Of the one hundred books listed I've only read eight of them! That is woeful.Asesinato en el Comitè Centralby Manuel Vázquez MontalbánBeast in View by Margaret Millar The Beast Must Die by Nicholas Blake The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler Black and Blueby Ian RankinThe Black Dahlia by James Ellroy The Black Echo by Michael Connelly The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale The Bridge Wore Black by Cornell Woolrich The Case of the Terrified Typist by Erle Stanley Gardner The Choirboysby Joseph WambaughCome away, death by Gladys Mitchell Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters Dark Passage (Film Ink Series) by David Goodis Dead Calm by Charles Williams Dead Cert by Dick Francis Dead Lagoon by Michael Dibdin The Dead of Jericho by Colin Dexter The Deadly Percheron by John Franklin Bardin Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon The Deep Blue Good-by by John D. MacDonald Devil in a Blue Dressby Walter MosleyThe Devil's Home on Leave (Factory 2) by Derek Raymond Dialogues of the Dead by Reginald Hill Double Indemnity by James M. Cain Downriver (The Amos Walker Series #9) by Loren D. Estleman The Fabulous Clipjoint by Fredric Brown The Face on the Cutting Room Floor (Classic Crime) by Cameron McCabe Fadeout by Joseph Hansen Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler Fast One by Paul Cain A Fatal Inversion by Ruth Rendell A Firing Offenseby George P. PelecanosFlinch by Robert Ferrigno The Fools in Town Are on Our Side by Ross Thomas Four Corners of Night by Craig Holden The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins The Glass Keyby Dashiell HammettGod Save the Child by Robert B. Parker Gone, No Forwarding by Joe Gores Hamlet, revenge! by Michael Innes The Hunter by Richard Stark The Ice House by Minette Walters In a Dry Season by Peter Robinson Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton A Is for Alibi by Sue Grafton The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson Kiss Me, Deadly by Mickey Spillane LaBrava by Elmore Leonard The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley Laura by Vera Caspary The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout Maigret Sets a Trap by Georges Simenon Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles The Man Who Liked to Look at Himself by K. C. Constantine The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Miami Blues by Charles Willeford The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie Murder on the Yellow Brick Road by Stuart M. Kaminsky The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume The Mystery Of The Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux Mystic River by Dennis Lehane The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase Off With His Head by Ngaio Marsh One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes Red Dragon by Thomas Harris Roman Blood by Steven Saylor Sadie When She Died by Ed McBain Sidetracked by Henning Mankell The Sign of Fourby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleSmallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe A Taste for Death by P. D. James Tell No One by Harlan Coben A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman The Three Coffins by John Dickson Carr A Three-Pipe Problem by Julian Symons The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham Tourist Seasonby Carl HiaasenTrent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley Uncivil Seasons by Michael Malone Under Cover of Daylight by James W. Hall Under the Bright Lights by Daniel Woodrell An Unkindness of Ravens by Ruth Rendell When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block When the Wind Blows by Cyril Hare Who in Hell Is Wanda Fuca? by G. M. Ford
I didn't look at the list prior to scrolling down it and scoring through those books that I've read. I thought there would be at least twenty books on the list that I've read. Blogging life was so much simpler with 365Watch.
*ONGOING UPDATE*
A Three-Pipe Problem by Julian SymonsMiami Blues by Charles WillefordLaBrava by Elmore LeonardDark Passage (Film Ink Series) by David GoodisThe Mask of Dimitrios by Eric AmblerThe Killer Inside Me by Jim ThompsonMurder on the Yellow Brick Road by Stuart M. KaminskyMaigret Sets a Trap by Georges Simenon One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters
10 comments:
Hey, I've read nine! Yippee. Phew, almost 10%.
But it's a crap list. Only one Rankin, one JLB, shocking ;>)
I guess - like me - you've read other books by the authors listed; e.g. Lehane, you've mentioned, (I read his earlier ones).
Dead of Jericho and Dialogues of the Dead both well worth a read. The fact that Dialogues is on the list impresses me, as most teccy fans I knew hated it. (For all the wrong reasons.)
However, the lack of anything at all by the recently deceased Gregory Macdonald is a major lacuna. Fletch or, perhaps even better, Confess Fletch should be on, and don't give me any drivel about the films with Chevy Chase which were an abomination. (His reportage published as The Education of Gregory Macdonald, and recently reissued as Scenes from a Blown World is pretty impressive too.)
Its Souvenirs of a Blown World. And the best Staincliffe to start with is Bitter Blue as its the best thing I've read by her.
I can't believe its two years since Gregory Macdonald died. What a writer.
It's 8 more than me Big Fella! I only need to score zero on one more of your book lists and I've got the hat-trick!
You are missing out on a lot of great books. I've read 48. The Nine Tailors and The Moving Toyshop would be my first recommendations. My preference is older classic mysteries, so I like this list. I have read many of the newer ones, though. The Black Dahlia would be my choice for people who prefer something more contemporary.
@Robert
Yep, there are nine writers on the list who I've read but who don't happen to have that particular novel - or in Hill and Lehane's case, novels - listed.
@Mikeovswinton
Never really looked out for any Dexter novels. I think it's because I was never much taken by the Morse tv series. I'll definitely look out for Dialogues of the Dead. You can't go wrong with Reg Hill. (I could swear I first heard of Reg Hill via a profile/interview in Tribune. I only used to buy it for the Phil Evans cartoons.)
Kevin Smith has been threatening for years to remake Fletch. I wonder if he's a fan of the movies or the books?
Cheers for the tip about Staincliffe. I'll look out for her books next time I'm in Barnes and Noble.
@Highlander
But you've read all the poetry. That's probably why you're scoring in the zeroes in the book lists.
Don't worry about next time; I'll have a search for a Top 100 Anarcho-Communist Goth Books list and cut and paste it on the blog.
@JoLynn
48 books?
If I had a hat handy I would doff it to you.
Thanks for the recommendations. I like the look of The Moving Toyshop. I'll definitely look out for it.
I have read a couple of Ellroy novels, Brown's Requiem and LA Confidential. Of the two, I preferred Brown's Requiem.
Oh dear, only four: Two Sherlock Holmes, Raymond Chandler, Poe. So many books, so little time...
Stuart,
but are you a crime fiction type? I'm guessing if I posted up a Top 100 Twentieth Century Classics list, you'd be well ahead of the rest of us.
I'm not, but only because there's only so many hours in the day! I loved Chandler.
Now it's 9/100.
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