"Golden Age" Detective Fiction

[Nigel Gordon]

7 hours ago, Rutabaga said:

Now I'm wondering how much of the initial series it will be necessary to re-read in order to follow the new material.  😟

R

Hopefully none.

[Merkin]

I’m surprise there’s been no mention so far of John Dickson Carr, generally regarded (according to Wiki) as one of the greatest of the “Golden Age” mystery writers.  An American living in England, Carr’s mysteries have mostly English settings, and his two best-known fictional detectives are Dr. Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale.  He is also known for his biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Another mystery writer from the 1930s worth noting is Ellery Queen. Himself a fake, Queen poses both as the writer and as the central amateur detective character in over thirty books.  These were actually written by two men, cousins, whose names turn out to be pen names as well.  The titles set in the 1930s wear well, and remind one of Rex Stout's New York.
To further cloud the trail of attribution, "Ellery Queen" became so popular that the 1950s, 60s, and 70s saw all sorts of spin-offs, including television shows, even children's books, written by all sorts of hacks.

 

[Rutabaga]

Somewhere, somehow I came across a suggestion of John Dickson Carr and actually borrowed two ebooks from the LA Public Library, "The Blind Barber" and "To Wake the Dead."  Regrettably, the loan period ended before I could get to them.  It sounds like I should give this author another try.

I knew that Ellery Queen was a fictional name, but I had somehow thought that the books came from a team of ghostwriters, similar to the origin of Tom Swift and Hardy Boys stories.  (I was a huge Hardy Boys fan as a youngster.)  I don't think I've ever read an Ellery Queen novel.  I quite liked the TV series that had David Wayne as Ellery's father and Jim Hutton as Ellery, not to mention John Hillerman as Simon Brimmer, the radio personality.  I have no idea what resemblance there may have been between this TV show and the original books.  I'll have to keep an eye out for those. 

R

[Paul]

I've apparently read one John Dickson Carr (writing as Carter Dickson) mystery, And so to Murder, since Amazon reminds me I bought a Kindle copy for 99¢ in 2017. I'll try a re-read, but Carr seems to go for the puzzle and locked-room mystery, and that variety doesn't appeal to me.

Among those who wrote as Ellery Queen is Jack Vance, my all-time favorite science fiction and fantasy author, who did three EQ mysteries. I haven't read them, though.

There are a number of good blogs devoted to golden-age mystery, and one of the best, well-informed and entertaining, is The Passing Tramp.

[Rutabaga]

I found “The Roman Hat Mystery” from 1929 at the LA Public Library, which is apparently the first Ellery Queen book. It looks very entertaining. 
 

R

[Merkin]

9 hours ago, Paul said:

I

There are a number of good blogs devoted to golden-age mystery, and one of the best, well-informed and entertaining, is The Passing Tramp.

Thank you for that great suggestion.  I gave it a look, and I must say this blogger's book reviews are so detailed you don't have to go on to read the book.

(Point taken.  Jack Vance was no hack.  I still remember the thrill from my first reading "Big Planet".)

[Rutabaga]

Looking at "The Passing Tramp" blog I found this highly useful post that provides many answers to the original question posted in this thread:

http://thepassingtramp.blogspot.com/2019/02/theres-more-red-herrings-in-sea-five.html

I can't imagine how this blog author has time to read all the things he writes about.  

R

[Cole Parker]

On 9/27/2021 at 11:26 AM, Merkin said:

I’m surprise there’s been no mention so far of John Dickson Carr, generally regarded (according to Wiki) as one of the greatest of the “Golden Age” mystery writers.  An American living in England, Carr’s mysteries have mostly English settings, and his two best-known fictional detectives are Dr. Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale.  He is also known for his biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Another mystery writer from the 1930s worth noting is Ellery Queen. Himself a fake, Queen poses both as the writer and as the central amateur detective character in over thirty books.  These were actually written by two men, cousins, whose names turn out to be pen names as well.  The titles set in the 1930s wear well, and remind one of Rex Stout's New York.
To further cloud the trail of attribution, "Ellery Queen" became so popular that the 1950s, 60s, and 70s saw all sorts of spin-offs, including television shows, even children's books, written by all sorts of hacks.

 
 

You can't mention them and leave out Earl Stanley Gardner and John MacDonald.  

[Merkin]

I know, I know.  Gardner wrote over 80 Perry Mason titles, and also cranked out titles under five other pen names, including A.A. Fair.  Who can keep up with output like that?  A dozen or so titles were published in the thirties, so I guess he qualifies as a classic mystery writer.

John D. MacDonald is harder to categorize, though he is in fact my favorite writer in the mystery genre; his character Travis McGee was who I wanted to be when I grew up. (Boy, has that train left the station.) Yet MacDonald crosses the line from mystery to thriller to suspense and back to mystery, with side trips into Florida expose that is very journalistic: often all of these tropes exist within the same title. It’s hard to herd him into the group of “classic” mystery writers we’ve been resurrecting here.  I still view him as fresh and contemporary. 

If we include MacDonald, what about Carl Hiaasen, or Dean Koontz, or even Lee Child?  Where does it end?  Best to stick to detectives who wear vests and grow orchids.
 

[Paul]

My Macdonald is Ross Macdonald. I've read all of his Lew Archer novels and short stories and loved them all. Definitely mysteries, but made all the more gripping by his handling of the psychology and motivations of his characters.

[Cole Parker]

1 hour ago, Merkin said:

If we include MacDonald, what about Carl Hiaasen, or Dean Koontz, or even Lee Child?  Where does it end?  Best to stick to detectives who wear vests and grow orchids.

 

 

    We can easily skip Hiaasen, Koontz and Child: they're all currently still writing.  I just finished a Hiaasen novel last week.   

[Rutabaga]

I finally finished "Death and the Dancing Footman" by Ngaio Marsh.  As mentioned earlier, it was one I had read many years before, but until about halfway through I did not recognize or remember much in it.  Then it all pretty much came back to me -- principally, who had dun it and how -- and finishing it was now more of a confirmation of my memory of it.  

I'm reading "Died in the Wool" by Ngaio Marsh now, but the electronic book loan ends tonight and I doubt I will finish it.  I will have to put another hold on and wait for my turn again.

R

[Cole Parker]

     Is Ngaio Marsh any good?  I've seen the books on the shelves but never dabbled myself.  And is Marsh a man or woman?

[Camy]

2 hours ago, Cole Parker said:

     Is Ngaio Marsh any good?  I've seen the books on the shelves but never dabbled myself.  And is Marsh a man or woman?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngaio_Marsh

Ngaio is a Maori name. She's well worth reading.

[Rutabaga]

4 hours ago, Cole Parker said:

     Is Ngaio Marsh any good?  I've seen the books on the shelves but never dabbled myself.  And is Marsh a man or woman?

If you like Agatha Christie you would like Ngaio Marsh.  I think it's best to read her Inspector Alleyn books in order.  This site is one of several that lists the books in order:  https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/roderick-alleyn/.

I think I read somewhere that Ngaio is the name of a flower.

R

P.S. -- Now that the library has snatched back "Died in the Wool," I am back to reading "The Roman Hat Mystery" by Ellery Queen.  It is a hoot so far.

[Rutabaga]

I have now finished both "The Roman Hat Mystery" and "The French Powder Mystery" by Ellery Queen.  These are the first two books in a long series, and I have to say they are very entertaining.  While the authors may not have set out to make them so camp to modern eyes -- although clearly they "break the fourth wall" fairly often and call attention to the somewhat contrived nature of the story -- the reality is that reading these stories is reminiscent of watching the classic Batman television series with Adam West.  

"Roman Hat" is asserted by the publisher to be a "fair play" mystery, meaning that at a late part of the book the author pauses and says, in substance, you the reader now have all the information necessary to solve the mystery, so go ahead and solve it.  I confess that I did not feel so informed, and in fact when I read onward to discover Ellery's actual solution, it was so unexpected and convoluted that I had real doubt that I actually had all the information.   

In "French Powder" the same challenge is given near the end, but in this case I did feel as though there was fairly adequate information for readers.  Unlike "Roman Hat," readers of "French Powder" had been given a number of intermediate discoveries and conclusions from the investigation.  In addition, the eventual identity of the culprit seemed much more plausible.  

R

[Rutabaga]

Just finished "Colour Scheme" by Ngaio Marsh, another Roderick Alleyn tale.  

Honestly, this one kind of fell flat.  It seemed to take forever to get started, and when it finally did, it kind of limped to a conclusion.  A reader would not miss anything significant in passing this one by.

I still need to reconnect with the next book in the series, "Died in the Wool," which I got about halfway through when the library loan ended.  The above book, "Colour Scheme," is ahead of "Died in the Wool" in the series, but I went ahead and checked out "Died in the Wool" when it became available.  Now I am waiting for it to come back off of "hold" again so I can finish it. 

I still have an Ellery Queen and an Inspector Littlejohn story in progress.  

R

[Cole Parker]

What is a 'wool'?

[Camy]

@Cole Parker

Died in the Wool - a play on words?

“Dyed in the wool” is a phrase referring to people who hold very strong opinions and are unwilling to change them. ... In its literal sense, “dyed in the wool” means that the wool has been dyed before it is spun into thread. This produces a strong and long-lasting color.

[Cole Parker]

And here I thought I was being droll, asking about 'a wool'.

[Camy]

1 hour ago, Cole Parker said:

And here I thought I was being droll, asking about 'a wool'.

Ah, yes. I suppose you had to be there.

[Cole Parker]

52 minutes ago, Camy said:

Ah, yes. I suppose you had to be there.

Ofttimes humor and sarcasm don't translate well over the internet.

[Rutabaga]

Should I add that the opening event in that story is the discovery of a dead body encased in a sealed-up bale of clipped wool from a sheep farm in New Zealand?

R

[Camy]

12 minutes ago, Rutabaga said:

Should I add that the opening event in that story is the discovery of a dead body encased in a sealed-up bale of clipped wool from a sheep farm in New Zealand?

Best not.

[Rutabaga]

OK, it will just be our little secret.

R