I apologize in advance if this is already a thread...

So. Detective novels. Seems cut and dry, right? Wrong. There are many to choose from, including Agatha Christie (Poirot, Miss Marple), Dorothy Sayers (Lord Peter) in regards to the English Cozy. Or if you're looking at the hardboiled detective novel, The Maltese Falcon, or The Big Sleep.

Do any of you read detective novels? I know there are plenty more besides the ones I've listed (those are fairly old, too). And if you don't, is there a reason you don't? Any favorite detective novels?

Personally, I'm a fan of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, which is an Agatha Christie. I'm also just getting into them, so I've got a ways to go. How about you lot?

The only ones I could ever get into were Sherlock Holmes novels. He is one of my favorite characters ever.

I like the Nancy Drew ones... It took awhile to get into them though.

Holmes is definitely one of those things where you've had to have read at least one... especially the short stories. Those are quick. Although he was addicted to cocaine... o.O

And Nancy Drew! I'd forgotten about her and the Hardy Boys.

who was Holmes or Arthur Conan Doyle? :) the druggies tend to be ones who qwrite good stories. Look at Tolkien.

Both. The point that is brought up about Holmes doing cocaine is that he does it because he's so scared of being bored. He needs life to be exciting, and thus, relies on drugs. I think Arthur Conan Doyle did drugs too, although I'm not sure.

And yes, your point is very true. Especially in regards to Alice in Wonderland, but that's a different topic, haha xD

so thats what Holmes put in his pipe all theses years. Who would of thought? hmm.. Has new outlook o my hero. Is disapopinted in him

Yea. Watson brings it up a few times. I feel bad for him, too though. He finally gets married, and his wife gets killed.

On a separate note, Holmes is often compared to Jekyll and Hyde, since he tests things on himself. Holmes is quite the character.

Yes Holmes is quite the character. And i agree poor watson.. *feels sad for him*

Has anyone ever wear "The Cat Who..." novels before? I used to really love that series! I read them when I was younger and I thought it was really 'cool' that the cat paw prints on all of the book covers were made from blood. Like that made the books cooler somehow. Lol. I know, kind of a dorky idea.

But it was about this detective named James Qwilleran and his cats who always seemed to be able to help him solve the crimes. It wasn't a cat detective or anything like that. Heh.

The cats had the best names too, Koko and YumYum, and they were siamese! I could always picture the mischevious siamese kitty cats pracing and slinking around the crime scenes.

no i havent but it sounds like something i would get interested in.

I have never read Agathe Christie books, Maybe I will if they are that good. I love Stephen White, I get them confused I think he writes about Alex Deleware who is a psychotherapist who helps out the cops to solve cases. I also like the Alex Cross novels, I also like the books Patricia Cornwell writes. I was wrong, Johnathan Kellerman writes the Alex Deleware novels. Now I can't remember who Stephen White's character is, but I still like his books.

I've been meaning to get into Patricia Cornwall novels... are there any you'd recommend for a beginner into her stuff?

The Alex Delaware stuff sounds interesting. Maybe I'll check out those also.

And Agatha Christie is good. Just keep in mind she's somewhat of an anti-semite, although given her time period of writing, it's understandable. And it doesn't get in the way of her work, in my opinion. The best to read, and I'd read it after you get into Hercule Poirot, would be The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. There's a huge twist in it, and is one of her most controversial books because of what she does in it, although I can't say without giving it away, haha.

I'm not a fan.

They seem to be more about suprising the reader rather than being logical. A lot of detective stories are completely ridiculous.

I read a few by Agatha Christie. I was particualrly not fond of "And then there were none". Suposedly everyone is dead, but someone put the chair back so the murder is still alive and was really onthe island. What was the point of that?

I've been readign a manga called "Detective Conan", I find it entertaning, but it follows the trend with many detective novels, as the cases make litle logical sense.

I guess that's okay though, it's its own brand of fantasy in a way. As long as it's entertaining, I guess I can overlook a lack of basic realism.

@Manseutus - Actually, to be precise, Holmes only smoked tobacco in his pipe; the cocaine was injected intravenously.

@rampartte - I haven't read any of the 'The Cat Who . . .' stories, but I have heard of them and they seem interesting.

I've read and seen TV versions some of Agatha Christie's novels. I actually fairly recently read N or M, which doesn't have either of her main detectives, but which I really liked. I also really like her plays, particularly the ones that were originally written as plays, though the ones adapted from the books are ok, too.

I really like the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. I've read all of them; my favorites are probably Murder Must Advertise and Nine Taylors.

I also enjoy the Brother Cadfael series, by Ellis Peters, which is about a monk in twelfth century England who occasionally has to solve mysteries. These books are a bit more character driven than a lot of other mysteries, which makes them particularly interesting.

I've read a few of the Peter Shandy mysteries by Charlotte MacLeod, which are set in a small, fictional college town in western Massachusetts in the 1980s or 1990s. They're particularly fun because I find them to be very wittily written.

I'm not a big fan, but I've read some. The only ones I seemed to like was Nancy Drew.

I rarely read mystery books, but both my sister and mom are into them. Mom reads a lot of suspense novels, too. I think she's reading Sue Grafton right now. My sister is reading Inu Yasha.

I've been curious about that vampire private investigator series by P.N. Elrond. (Elrod?) I met a writer-friend of hers online who recommended her work to me. They look pretty interesting, but I can't recall the name of the series. I'm more interested in vampire novels than detective, but if they're combined, then great!

detective conan - shinichi is so hot!!!!!!

Oh my innocence!

@ rampartte I've read a few, my mom was really big into them so I read some of hers.

Has anybody read any of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels? Those a pretty funny; another series that my mom got me into.

I've never read many detective novels but I have read and enjoyed quite a few of Edgar Allen Poe's short detective / mystery stories.

There's also Tanya Huff's Blood Books. If you've ever watched Blood Ties *shudders* well those are the books that show is based off of

i love detective novels, among other types, and i really think that sherlock holmes is the most interesting. i dont read much agatha christie, i dont get why they are said to be really good but the ones i usually like have action in it.

I like the Lord Peter ones the best! I like Agatha Christi's stories, too. Do manga count? I like Detective Conan, too. ^-^

Originally Posted by ~PrincessSerenity~

I'm not a big fan, but I've read some. The only ones I seemed to like was Nancy Drew.

i loove nancy drew were both disame ^w^