Reading the great mystery/crime writers
I realized something recently:
I’ve read exactly half of the 72 people* who have been or will be given Edgar Grandmaster Awards (counting the folks already announced for 2021). That’s pretty good, but it also gives me a goal: Read the other 36 authors. I’m going to try to knock that off this year, although there are all the usual things that could get in the way (ranging from the end of the world to other books distracting me). I’m also trying to read only novels here; reading short stories seems like a bit of a cop-out, although I still put Edward Hoch on my “have read” list (but I’ve also read a few dozen of his stories, possibly hundreds). And I’m counting Hitchcock as one of the ones I’ve read, since his award was based really on his movies.
The ones I’ve read:
Charlaine Harris
Jeffery Deaver
Max Allan Collins
Walter Mosley
Lois Duncan
Margaret Maron
Sara Paretsky
James Lee Burke
Sue Grafton
Bill Pronzini
Stephen King
Marcia Muller
Ira Levin
Robert B. Parker
Edward D. Hoch
Mary Higgins Clark
P.D. James
Mickey Spillane
Lawrence Block
Donald E. Westlake
Elmore Leonard
Ed McBain
John le Carre
Margaret Millar
Daphne du Maurier
Dorothy B. Hughes
Graham Greene
Ross Macdonald
Alfred Hitchcock
John D. MacDonald
James M. Cain
Georges Simenon
John Dickson Carr
Erle Stanley Gardner
Ellery Queen
Agatha Christie
The ones I need to read:
Barbara Neely
Martin Cruz Smith
Jane Langton
William Link
Peter Lovesey
Ellen Hart
James Ellroy
Robert Crais
Carolyn Hart
Ken Follett
Martha Grimes
Dorothy Gilman
Stuart M. Kaminsky
Joseph Wambaugh
Barbara Mertz (aka Elizabeth Peters & Barbara Michaels)
Ruth Rendell
Dick Francis
Tony Hillerman
Helen McCloy
Hillary Waugh
Phyllis A. Whitney
Michael Gilbert
Dorothy Salisbury Davis
Julian Symons
Stanley Ellin
W.R. Burnett
Aaron Marc Stein
Ngaio Marsh
Eric Ambler
Judson Philips
Mignon C. Eberhart
John Creasey
Baynard Kendrick
George Harmon Coxe
Rex Stout
Vincent Starrett
Obviously, some of the folks I haven't read are easy to find (Stout, Francis, Rendell), while others are ones I'll have to track down, but I've got a good library system, so I have faith I can do it.
Anyway, this is basically an accountability post. My reading's been about 80% mystery/crime/thriller/espionage these days, because that seems to be where my brain's comfortable right now.
*73, technically, but I’m counting “Ellery Queen” as one person here, and also not even getting into the EQ books written by folks other than Dannay and Lee.
I’ve read exactly half of the 72 people* who have been or will be given Edgar Grandmaster Awards (counting the folks already announced for 2021). That’s pretty good, but it also gives me a goal: Read the other 36 authors. I’m going to try to knock that off this year, although there are all the usual things that could get in the way (ranging from the end of the world to other books distracting me). I’m also trying to read only novels here; reading short stories seems like a bit of a cop-out, although I still put Edward Hoch on my “have read” list (but I’ve also read a few dozen of his stories, possibly hundreds). And I’m counting Hitchcock as one of the ones I’ve read, since his award was based really on his movies.
The ones I’ve read:
Charlaine Harris
Jeffery Deaver
Max Allan Collins
Walter Mosley
Lois Duncan
Margaret Maron
Sara Paretsky
James Lee Burke
Sue Grafton
Bill Pronzini
Stephen King
Marcia Muller
Ira Levin
Robert B. Parker
Edward D. Hoch
Mary Higgins Clark
P.D. James
Mickey Spillane
Lawrence Block
Donald E. Westlake
Elmore Leonard
Ed McBain
John le Carre
Margaret Millar
Daphne du Maurier
Dorothy B. Hughes
Graham Greene
Ross Macdonald
Alfred Hitchcock
John D. MacDonald
James M. Cain
Georges Simenon
John Dickson Carr
Erle Stanley Gardner
Ellery Queen
Agatha Christie
The ones I need to read:
Barbara Neely
Martin Cruz Smith
Jane Langton
William Link
Peter Lovesey
Ellen Hart
James Ellroy
Robert Crais
Carolyn Hart
Ken Follett
Martha Grimes
Dorothy Gilman
Stuart M. Kaminsky
Joseph Wambaugh
Barbara Mertz (aka Elizabeth Peters & Barbara Michaels)
Ruth Rendell
Dick Francis
Tony Hillerman
Helen McCloy
Hillary Waugh
Phyllis A. Whitney
Michael Gilbert
Dorothy Salisbury Davis
Julian Symons
Stanley Ellin
W.R. Burnett
Aaron Marc Stein
Ngaio Marsh
Eric Ambler
Judson Philips
Mignon C. Eberhart
John Creasey
Baynard Kendrick
George Harmon Coxe
Rex Stout
Vincent Starrett
Obviously, some of the folks I haven't read are easy to find (Stout, Francis, Rendell), while others are ones I'll have to track down, but I've got a good library system, so I have faith I can do it.
Anyway, this is basically an accountability post. My reading's been about 80% mystery/crime/thriller/espionage these days, because that seems to be where my brain's comfortable right now.
*73, technically, but I’m counting “Ellery Queen” as one person here, and also not even getting into the EQ books written by folks other than Dannay and Lee.