For the past 30 years! I'm always just dying to read another good British mystery! Literary or not. First I read P.D. James, praised as a "literary" writer in a genre not known for that in the early 1980's. As an English major who had been put off mysteries when young partly by their lurid covers and snobbery, this characterization of "literary" quality was probably why I picked up one of her books in the first place. If it did not have a N. Y. Times review on it somewhere it was not going home with me. My reading tastes in college and for a couple of decades forward were, well, pretentious, I can now admit, but James was someone I could embrace. Later on I branched out and came to enjoy even those who could never be described as literary.
After reading James' novels by 1984 I was so intrigued that I attempted writing my own mystery, whereas before I only tried writing the "straight" or "serious" novel or short stories. Perhaps because James' novels got me back in touch with the fun of reading, the excitement, it made me want to write my own mystery. As a child I'd made up mystery stories on car trips. After three solid months of writing, when almost finished something rather devastating happened in my life with my former husband and even when things were better I still could never get back into the state of mind which allowed me to write that book. My mindset had been reordered. (Which is why if you are writing a novel you need to focus on that alone and get it done quickly!)
But the very next year P.D. James came to Boston and I was psyched! I signed up for her evening course in mysteries at B.U., a survey of the best mystery writers. It opened up a world of new writers to me. And I've been reading British mysteries ever since.
P. D. James: If you are unfamiliar with Baroness James, here's a bit of bio from WIKI:
Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL (born 3 August 1920), commonly known as P. D. James, is an English crime writer and Conservative life peer in the House of Lords, most famous for a series of detective novels starring policeman and poet Adam Dalgliesh.
A recent photo and list of her novels (with dates so they can be read in order if one desires)
here. Known for her "elegant" style, her settings are always wonderfully well drawn, and there are always a few words you might want to look up in the dictionary. Her detective Dalgliesh is always thoughtful, if not downright cerebral.
This quote, sounds just like her:
"The greatest mystery of all is the human heart, and that is the mystery with which all good novelists are concerned."
This reveals the detailed, scholarly approach she can take in talking about what she likes to call "detective fiction." You can also find her "Writing Lessons" on her website.
It was a joy to listen to her lectures and class discussions as she is very intelligent, knowledgeable, acquainted with other mystery novelists and did not take herself too seriously though she was conscientious about wanting to make it a good experience for the large class. A gentle and kindly woman, one would never suspect the devious, dastardly thoughts lurking in her razor sharp mind! She graciously offered to read up to 30 pages of any of our mystery writing attempts, and spent half an hour with me. She was complimentary enough, you may be wondering, so that I always tend to attribute her comments to her kindness. Her parting comment, asking me to send her a copy when it got published was a highlight of my writing efforts.
One thing she talked about in class and has written about in an autobiographical memoir I read parts of, [Time to Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography by P. D. James (2001), is why mysteries are of value, good to read, good to write (the moral value). Seems people ask her this a lot (and she likes the question I suspect).
So Many Great Mystery Writers! After reading scores of the books she recommended I was excited about having a lot of great, enjoyable reading years ahead of me, authors I'd possibly never have found without that list. Recently I read two of my earlier favorites on the list, both Americans who are awesome writers: Patricia Highsmith and Margaret Millar (see my next diary for more on these two) . This forcefully reminded me of why I've kept reading in this one genre, almost exclusively, with only a couple of re-reads. Boring me, my preference is still British mysteries.
A couple of my favorites from her reading list were Crispin's Moving Toyshop, Ambler's Coffin for Demetrios and Wilkie Collins' 1868 The Woman in White, which James presented as either the first, or one of the first mystery novels. But this article says different: The Case of the First Mystery NovelistPaul Collins reveals that the Notting Hill Mystery, serialized in 1862 and recently available, is believed to be the first. His research unearthed the author's long hidden identity: Charles Warren Adams (1833–1903).
The List Here's the reading list from the James' course. Susan asked if I might write a diary and include this, following a comment I made some weeks ago. The actual list may be deteriorating out in my shed with other old papers but I don't want to disturb the dust and/or critters, after all, this is Florida! This is an approximation as best as I can remember of the writers James considered to be the best representatives of the genre at that time. A few novels I'm pretty sure of from that list are included. Any obvious omissions? Please feel free to fill in any gaps, or argue with inclusion of any authors. Those in bold are authors she seemed to most admire.
P. D. James "Reading List: Best Mystery Authors 1985" (at B.U.)
Margery Allingham
Eric Ambler A Coffin for Dimitrios
Jorge Luis Borges?
John Dickson Carr?
Raymond Chandler
Agatha Christie The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
Wilkie Collins The Woman in White
Edmund Crispin The Moving Toyshop
Colin Dexter
Arthur Conan Doyle
Umberto Eco ?
Dick Francis
Ian Fleming
Frederick Forsyth?
Nicholas Freeling
Carlos Fuentes?
Graham Greene
Dashiell Hammett
Cyril Hare, Tragedy at Law
Patricia Highsmith
Reginald Hill
John le Carré
Elmore Leonard
Peter Lovesey, The False Inspector Dew
Ross Macdonald
John D MacDonald
Ngaio Marsh
Gregory McDonald
Margaret Millar, The Beast in View
John Mortimer
Robert Parker
Ruth Rendell
Dorothy L Sayers
Georges Simenon
Mickey Spillane?
Rex Stout
Julian Symons
Josephine Tey
Ross Thomas
Asides --Have You Heard of These Writers? 1. Ross Thomas? I never have read him but here's a great example of why I LOVE mysteries! Two Edgars and this
Atlantic piece with descriptions of his work, along with Raymond Chandler's, and others, make you want to run out and buy more books!
2. Nicholas Freeling? Never heard of him? He won three prestigious awards for crime writing: the French Grand Prix de Roman Policier, the American Edgar Allan Poe Award and the British Crime Writers' Golden Dagger.
3. Ever hear of Eric Ambler? Why he's still worth reading?
....Ambler’s mix of swift pacing, believable protagonists and thrilling locales proved an untold influence on those who took up the spy-story pen in his wake. After all, when James Bond, in the film version of “From Russia With Love,” needed a book to read on a critical train trip, he chose an Eric Ambler novel—specifically, “A Coffin For Dimitrios,” which 70 years after its 1939 publication holds up as a startling, elegant masterpiece of espionage fiction.
James Favorite Detective Novel Asked by the
Wall Street Journal for her favorite detective novel, P.D. James gave this answer:
For me there is particular charm in books written before or during World War II, not least because I find myself engrossed in that very different world. In Tragedy at Law we travel with a High Court judge, Mr. Justice Barber, as he moves in state from town to town presiding over cases. But someone obviously wishes him dead, and twice he narrowly escapes. The amateur detective is a defending barrister, Francis Pettigrew, once in love with the judge's wife and a man of ability and probity who has never quite achieved success. Author Cyril Hare was himself a judge, and the book provides a fascinating portrayal of the judge in court and of the coterie of people, including barristers, who travel with him. Written with elegance and wit, Tragedy at Law is regarded by many lawyers as the best English detective story set in the legal world. my emphasis
Today It is not
such a draw, being "literary," as far as I'm concerned, when choosing a mystery to read. Though I love excellent writing, now it's good writing, quick moving plots, some great characters and the good puzzle that matter most. I'm more and more put off by unnecessarily lengthy descriptions.
There are probably thousands of "literary" quality novels that are mysteries out there now that you've never read. Sometime it would be fun to talk here about who the best writers, purely for their literary value, within the mystery genre.
Note: Another diary slated for May 7th has some observations about how the genre has developed over the last three decades.