Favorite Golden Age of Detective Fiction (@1920s-40s) writers BEYOND A. Christie and R. Chandler

I'm a huge fan of Dorothy Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey).

In my youth I read a lot of the wonderful Brit mystery writer Julian Symons, whose diabolical whodunnits often had a Hitchcockian like twist. Some favorite titles were The Blackheath Poisonings, The Belting Inheritance, The 31st of February, The End of Solomon Grundy and The Man Who Killed Himself. I believe his books were mostly written between the early 1960s through the 1990s. He's probably not so easy to find in American bookstores any more but your local library might have some old copies on their shelves. Definitely worth checking out.

Though later than the OP's Golden Age I also loved the Dalziel and Pascoe serio-comic police procedurals written by Brit Reginald Hill. Not so much for the whodunnit aspect but just the smart writing and fun characters. The UK TV series didn't come close to capturing their flavor, IMHO.

And, of course, there's the brilliant Ruth Rendell who's had DL threads devoted to her. But she's also really later (1970s-2000s).

Josephine Tey. I like her famous books of course but I’m also very fond of her low key Inspector Grant mysteries. I know Ngaio Marsh is a Kiwi but most of her books are set in England. “Artists in Crime” because it’s the first one I read and it established my preference for British mystery authors. Except Allingham, ugh, unreadable.

I went through a Dashiell Hammett phase long ago. I remember liking [italic]the Maltese Falcon[/italic] and [italic]Red Harvest[/italic].

Try Ross MacDonald. I found his characters the most depraved of the big three: Chandler, Hammett and MacDonald. The Paul Newman movie [italic]Harper[/italic] is based on MacDonald's detective Lew Archer, so you might try [italic]the Moving Target[/italic].

Cheesier but fun are John D. McDonald novels featuring Travis McGee, which always have a color in the title.

For some reason my conservative Christian high school put Dorothy L. Sayers on our recommended summer reading list. I never understood that.

R4 Ross MacDonald is great but he really started to hit his stride at the end of the fifties, by the time of The Galton Case, well after the era mentioned by the OP. He is a continuation and an update of the great detective stories from the Big Depression era, Hammett and early Chandler (even if he and Chandler didn’t like each other). And if you want to venture into postwar detective novels, Chester Himes (A Rage in Harlem) is worth considering.

Simenon left a huge body of work. He was great with psychology and his Maigret novels are still big in French-speaking countries.

Honestly I’ve read every one of those authors, but the stories don’t last in my head like those of whom we must not speak.

Among the Brits, I greatly enjoyed Edmund Crispin's The Moving Toyshop, Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night, and Josephine Tey's Miss Pym Disposes and The Daughter of Time. And of course the great Ruth Rendell, though as has been pointed out, she came later. My favorite novels by her are Judgment in Stone, A Dark-Adapted Eye, and Lake of Darkness.

Among Americans, I like Margaret Millar, who wrote from the 1940s until the 1970s . She's not really Golden Age, as her work tends to be more noirish and more interested in psychological depth. She wrote beautifully and was brilliant at plotting, with a special gift for Christie-like misdirection and twists. The one everyone always recommends by her is The Beast in View, but I find that one gimmicky and dated. My favorite Millars are An Air That Kills, Ask for Me Tomorrow, Do Evil in Return, and her early gothic thriller The Iron Gates.

I also adore the work of Millar's husband, Ross Macdonald though again, he's not really Golden Age either. He was one of the foremost practictioners of the hardboiled private eye novel, following in the wake of Chandler and Hammett. He wrote in the genre developed by those writers but with greater psychological depth. He wrote beautifully and his great subject was dysfunctional families, specifically the fucked up children of privilege of California's golden age (1940s through 1970s). My favorite titles by him include The Far Side of the Dollar, The Zebra-Striped Hearse, The Chill, Black Money (which the Cohen brothers tried but alas failed to bring to the big screen), and his early novel The Way Some People Die.

However, my favorite crime novelist of all, and the one I recommend most passionately, is Elisabeth Sanxay Holding. She was an American who wrote crime fiction from the 1920s pretty much until her death in 1955. She's been called the godmother of noir and was clearly a major influence on writers who came later like Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell, as she was writing dark, absolutely riveting novels about about psychologically abnormal criminals long before those other two came along.

Raymond Chandler tended to be stingy in his praise of other crime writers, but not when it came to Holding, whom he singled out as one of his favorites. He called her "the top suspense writer of them all" and said "her characters are wonderful; and she has a sort of inner calm which I find very attractive."

Chandler signed a screenwriting deal and was allowed to choose any novel he wanted to adapt. The one he opted for was The Innocent Mrs. Duff, which imo is Holding's greatest novel. Unfortunately, his script was never made into a film. But another great Holding novel, The Blank Wall, was adapted into a wonderful Max Ophuls film, The Reckless Moment, starring Joan Bennett and James Mason. It was later remade as The Deep End starring Tilda Swinton.

In addition to The Innocent Mrs. Duff and The Blank Wall, my other favorite Elisabeth Sanxay Holding novels include Dark Power, Lady Killer, The Girl Who Had to Die, and Who's Afraid? But really, I've immensely enjoyed every novel by her that I've read (and at this point I've read all but one or two). They are very cinematic and I find it baffling that more of them weren't made into films.

Though her books used to be very hard to find, over the past 20 years or so they've all been brought back into print, often in super-cheap ebook editions. I highly recommend checking her out. You can thank me later.

R5, the reason your Christian high school put Sayers on their recommended reading list was that she herself was a serious Christian. She identified as an Anglo-Catholic and after she abandoned crime ficition in the late 1930s, she focused on theology and wrote religious works. TBH I don't see much of an interest in Christianity in her crime fiction, but then again I've read only a few of her crime novels.

And yes, as A6, there's Chester Himes, who is hilarious and who imo is one of great writers of hardboiled detective novels (though once again, he's post-Golden Age). His Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson series is terrific; A Rage in Harlem is a good one to start with. I also like his stand-alone thriller Run Man Run, which tells the terrifying story of an innocent Black man targeted by a deranged, obsessive cop.

Among classic crime novelists, I also recommend Dorothy B. Hughes, who a hardboiled crime writer who wrote in the post-Golden Age era (her books were published in 1940s through the early 60s). Her most famous book is the chilling In A Lonely Place, one of the first serial killer books. It's well worth reading even if you've seen the famous movie adaptation starring Humphrey Bogart, because the book is quite different.

Other titles by her I highly recommend include The So Blue Marble and The Expendable Man. Another one I really enjoyed is Dread Journey, a bitchy Hollywood novel (she knew the place well). It takes place during a cross-country train journey and features the murder of a loathesome film producer (a real Harvey Weinstein type), with a cast of suspects made up of a variety of Hollywood types, including a not-so-dumb blonde starlet, an embittered screenwriter, and a long-suffering secretary.

I read a lot of Ross MacDonald's books after I'd read all of Chandler but he doesn't have the wit/humor of Chandler and his family sagas can get somewhat drawn out as well as depressing.

R12, I agree that some of Ross Macdonald's later novels were overpraised, with plots that are over-complicated to the point of tedium. But for me, in his prime his one of the greats. I'd recommend steering clear of his last couple of novels, but most of the ones that came before, including all the titles I mentioned in R8, are excellent.

If you're looking for one of his titles that is more Chandler-esque, I highly recommend The Way Some People Die, which isn't as Freudian as his later novels and is a kickass hardboiled novel in the classic mode. Another one of the early ones I like a whole lot is The Barbarous Coast.

I finally read one of Dorothy Sayers books, GAUDY NIGHT and found it horribly ponderous. By the time the killer was revealed I couldn't have cared less. She had nothing on Agatha Christie, not even close. But to each his own.

Loved Dorothy Hughes THE EXPENDABLE MAN with that incredibly brilliant twist you never see coming.

Rex Stout.

Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are my favorite detective duo.

With approval from the Stout estate Robert Goldsborough has continued the series. His first novel published in 1986, 11 years after Stouts death and the latest last year.

He’s not Stout, but he comes damn close.

I'm wondering if anyone knows a wonderful mystery called THE CASE OF THE JOURNEYING BOY by Michael Innes (also known as J.I.M. Stewart)? I loved this 1949 book when I read it many years ago, IIRC a very Hitchcockian spy story, much of it taking place on a train like THE LADY VANISHES.

Or has anyone read Michael Innes' other mysteries? There's a series with an Inspector named Appleby. Always meant to get into him but never did.

I read several Michael Innes mysteries many years ago. I love reading older mysteries from the library but now those are stored off site due to space limitations; they have to be requested. They are never library e-books.

R8 Which Holding book would you recommend someone start with? TIA.

[quote]I finally read one of Dorothy Sayers books, GAUDY NIGHT and found it horribly ponderous. By the time the killer was revealed I couldn't have cared less.

You should have cared--there IS no killer in GAUDY NIGHT. No one is murdered.

The Innocent Mrs. Duff and The Blank Wall are her best, imo. I have a slight preference for The Innocent Mrs. Duff but they're both great.

My problem with Sayers is her insufferable detective, Lord Peter Wimsey. Ngaio Marsh novels are enjoyable but very light fare (and you can almost always guess the identity of the murderer). Like someone said up thread, Allingham i find almost unreadable. All three had their detectives as aristocrats, Christie was the only one who had someone from the people, and a belgian refugee at that.

Ross Mcdonald is fine but i much prefer is wife, Margaret Millar. Great post, r8, and agree with you Beast in View is not her best. Further to you comments (she was a queen of the twist) she wrote incredible dialogue, specially nasty children. It is a crime that most of her works are out of print and difficult to find.

I had a Gladys Mitchell phase but her books are incredibly bonkers. She has some great ideas but she doesn’t know how to end (or develop) books, gets lots in silly dialogue, sometimes seems to get bored and changes everything . She violates every rule of genre but some are quite funny reading.

The lesser know Christianna Brand has some good books, especially Green is for Danger.

R21, yeah, the problem with the Golden Age stuff is that I haven't been able to get into most of its writers aside from Christie. I've tried Allingham, Marsh, and John Dickson Carr but they left me cold. I did very much enjoy Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night but never finished the other novels by her I've started. I've read two by Edmund Crispin; The Magic Toyshop was a *lot* of fun but The Case of the Gilded Fly was just okay. I should try more of his books, though. I feel much the same way you do about Gladys Mitchell. I've enjoyed some of her books but even so there's something unsatisfying about them and after I read a handful of them I've never been tempted to go back. I've never gotten around to Christianna Brand but she sounds intriguing.

And yes, Millar is terrific on a number of levels. She was masterful with the twist you never see coming--no wonder why Agatha Christie admired her. One of her most memorable suprise endings isn't even revealed until the last sentence. Truman Capote was another of her fans, and used to beg her publisher for advance copies of her novels (they shared the same publisher).

You're right about her dialogue. Here's a sample from one of her later works, the wildly underrated Ask for Me Tomorrow. The speaker is the household's evangelical Christian housekeeper, "You know, you kind of remind me of my son. I don't see much of him anymore. I never raised a hand to that boy until the day he vilified the Lord. He diminished Jesus and I had to slug him. My hand pained me for several weeks. I could hardly hold my Bible."

One of the most impressive things about her is that she was able to sustain a long and prolific career as a crime writer without relying on a series character. She had a couple of recurring detectives at the beginning and end of her career, but none of them were in more than 3 or so titles each and they never dominated the narrative in the way that, say, a Philip Marlowe or Sherlock Holmes does. The vast majority of her books were stand-alones.

One correction to your excellent post, R21: MIllar's books are actually very easy to find these days, as nearly all of them have been brought back into print over the past decade or so. They've been reprinted in paperbook and ebook editions (and the ebooks are priced at an extremely reasonable 5 bucks a pop.)

Another favorite crime novelist of mine who deserves to be much better known is the British writer Celia Fremlin. She published from the late 1950s through the mid-1990s and she was a master of the domestic thriller. She wrote beautifully and she created memorable portraits of suburban British family life that are dark as well as very, very funny (she's a fine social satirist).

Her first novel, The Hours Before Dawn, won the Edgar award for best mystery novel that year and it's still my favorite of hers. It's about a stressed out, sleep-deprived young mother who becomes increasingly unsettled by the behavior of the household's new lodger . Other terrific Fremlin titles include The Trouble Makers, The Spider Orchid, King of the World, and The Long Shadow (the latter title being a good Christmas read, as it's set mostly during the holiday season).

Another Celia, Celia Dale, is also a very fine British domestic suspense writer. She wrote during the same era as Fremlin but her books tend to be set in a working class milieu, which she renders most impressively. Recently I read several of her novels, of which my favorites were Sheep's Clothing and A Dark Corner, particularly the latter.

Another fan of Celia Dale here. Loved her SHEEP'S CLOTHING and a couple of others. For me, she is very much a forerunner to Ruth Rendell and the British domestic psychological thriller.

R22, thank you for your great post and comments. I love the Great Age of Detective Fiction but sometimes more reading about it now than reading them. Last week i read The Floating Admiral, a combined effort by several writers and it was bogged down by details on currents, boats, stupid alibis, etc. Many of these books from the period suffers from this (Christie being the exception).

But from this period there are some gems. Anthony Berkerley has some great books ( and some bad ones). And even Sayers wrote very well. It was a pity she became enamoured by her awful detective creation. She has one book without him, The documents in the Case based on true story that I recommend.

Re Millar and publishing, i am in Europe and have difficulty findinding her books. Except for three recent editions, i have to buy them second hand. I am still to read the one everyone says is her best, The Iron Gates because i cant find it (and i have a problem in that i cant read books digitally). Maybe in the USA she is more available.

R23, i discovered Celia Fremlin last year and she is indeed very good. I didnt love (but admired) The Long Shadow, but loved The Hours Before Dawn, The Jealous One and a book of short stories. She is very good and somehow a precursor of Ruth Rendell.

Three of Chester Himes's stand-alone thrillers--[italic]A Case of Rape, The End of a Primitive,[/italic] and [italic]Run, Man, Run[/italic]--are being re-released this fall (in early October) from Vintage/Black Lizard in their beautiful editions for his titles.

His novels are terrific, although the Harlem Detectives series gets weirder and weirder as they go on. The last one, [italic]Plan B[/italic] transitions into an American racial apocalypse.

R16. I'm a fellow fan of Michael Innes (J.I.M. Stewart) and his detective, Sir John Appleby. The stories take place in aristocratic settings and involve artworks (and even Queen Mary, who remains a rom-a-clef). My favorite of the Appleby novels is Appleby's End. I'd also refer you to American author John Dickson Carr, who was considered the master of the locked room mystery.

Below are some quasi-Golden Age crime fiction writers I'm interested in exploring more. Has anyone here read them? What works of theirs would you recommend?

1. Joseph Shearing - Shearing was better known by the other pseudonym she used, Marjorie Bowen. She's of a slightly earlier generation than the Golden Age writers (her first novel was published in 1906) and, in addition to her crime-focused books, wrote in other popular genres as well, including horror and historical fiction. She came on my radar because I was impressed by two short stories by her that I came across in a crime fiction anthology. And then when I looked her up, I realized that two of her books were adapted into a couple of nasty little gaslight noir films I've quite fond of, Moss Rose (1947) and So Evil My Love (1948, based on her novel For Her to See). So I thought she'd probably be worth exploring further,

2. Cyril Hare - as with Shearing, I came across a couple of his stories in a crime fiction anthology and was impressed. He was a barrister by training and wrote mystery novels from the 1930s until his death in 1958.

3. Nicholas Blake - His real name was Cecil Day Lewis and he is Daniel Day Lewis's daddy. Never read any of his novels but I've seen at least two very good film adaptations of one of them, The Beast Must Die. I've also heard good things about his novels The Smiler with the Knife and A Penknife in My Heart.

4. Edmund Crispin - He came a little bit after the Golden Age but the two novels I've read by him, The Moving Toyshop and The Case of the Gilded Fly, are very Golden Age in spirit. I liked The Moving Toyshop a whole lot but was kinda meh on Case of the Gilded Fly. Has anyone read any of his other novels? What did you think?

R13 Oh yeah, Ross MacDonald was great. I read many of his books. I recently re-read Sleeping Beauty. One of those very complicated '70s plots, with environmentalism thrown in. I read it because I found a new paperback copy. I definitely prefer some of his earlier ones, though. I also like the movie, Harper, even if the tone is more humorous.

R13 Actually, now that I think about it, I've read all of his books.

R28, i do recommend Cyril Hare’s Tragedy at Law. I read three others (when the wind blows, untimely death and an English Murder that were enjoyable as well but not so good).

Nicholas Blake wrote very competent detective fiction novels, featuring detective Nigel Strangeways . They vary a little but are neither very exciting nor ever bad. He wrote a little later than the golden age, some of his books already include some post-war malaise that i find interesting. I only read 3 or 4 though.

Further to the ones you mentioned i read Love Lies Bleeing. Crispin is very funny, but it sometimes that detracts from the mood of a murder story.

I really enjoy Cyril Hare, particularly loved An English Murder when I read it years ago.

I also greatly enjoyed the mysteries of Mary Roberts Rinehart, particularly stand alone titles likeThe Swimming Pool and The Yellow Room. Her Hilda Adams titles were good, too.

Penguin published the remaining Harlem Detectives novels by Chester Himes this year and I've been reading them. they're great.

"All Shot Up" involves the gay/trans underworld in Harlem, which is surprising given that it was written in 1960. It starts with the separate but related murders of two trans women in a romantic couple, Snake Hips and Black Beauty. There's also another major trans character named Lady Gypsy, who is a fortune teller.

Himes really can tell a great story--his works have so much narrative drive.

Anatomy of a Murder by John Voelker

Back in the 80s I belonged to one of those book-of-the-month clubs where they sent you three mystery novels every month. Every one of them was totally forgettable, with the exception of The Murder of My Aunt, by Richard Hull. After a year I dropped my membership and went back to Agatha-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Getting a lot of good recommendfrom this thread. Ty.

I read that r35 and it was really good. Unfortunately i bought some other from Hull that were not as good.

R28, Marjorie Bowen mostly wrote pitch-black gothic horror novels. Her Joseph Shearing books are based on famous murder cases from the 18th or 19th century. Airing in a Closed Carriage, for example, is based on the trial of Florence Maybrick., who was convicted of poisoning her husband. I think all of the Shearing books are out of print. I bought old copies online, and have enjoyed them all.

Mary Roberts Rinehart? HAD I BUT KNOOOOOOWN.

I appeciate this thread and the many intriguing recommendations here. Thank you!

I echo the thank your this thread comments. Wonderful suggestions here.

I especially enjoyed the works of Michael Innes (J.I.M.Stewart). His Inspector Appleby explored the world of high art. The Secret Vanguard is a classic.

So many good titles have been re-released through publishers like The British Library Crime Classics and Dean Street Press in recent years.

Does anyone remember a mystery series, the main character was a solicitor I think. His quirk—and there’s always a quirk—was that he had to have a bit of cheese before going to bed. Older, solitary, acerbic, a bit fussy. Written in the 80s.

Fans of Golden Age detective novels would probably enjoy the podcast Shedunnit, which explores the genre. The host, Caroline Crampton, covers all the usual suspects (Christie et al.) as well as lesser known authors of the era.

One of the podcast's ongoing projects, just begun, is reading, in order, the Green Penguin mysteries, a series of classic crime fiction novels published by Penguin Books. There are sure to be some lesser known gems there.

R44 I have no clue, but now I'm intrigued! Let us know if you figure out what series that is.

I don't know if they're still in print but I really enjoyed a mystery series by Edgar Box, a nom de plume of Gore Vidal, which he wrote in the 1950s. Death in the 5th Position, set in the ballet world, was a particular favorite.

For those who love classic LA-based hard boiled detective novels a la Chandler or Macdonald, I recommend the Dave Brandstetter series by Joseph Hansen.

Hansen was a gay man married to a lesbian artist. He died in 2004 at the age of 81. From 1970 to 1991 he wrote novels featuring out gay insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter. Start with the first novel FADEOUT and you’ll want to read them all.

I always wanted to like PD James but although she's a good writer, her plotting leaves a lot to be desired. And of course, she was a crashing homophobe who, once in the House of Lords a rightwing conservative, argued strenuously against gay rights. And her gay characters are all pansies of the utmost British type. Horrible woman. But, a good writer.

PD James has not stood the test of time.

R46, I thought I’d found it by looking at a list of British mystery authors on Wikipedia and clicking on any name I recognized. Sara Wood looked promising, her series character is British barrister Antony Maitland but he’s married and I’m pretty sure the one I’m looking for is single.

Interesting factoid, author Susan Moody (a pseudonym) is the stepmother of Queen Mary of Denmark.

Yesterday I finished Michael Gilbert’s Death Has Deep Roots. It is a 50s murder mystery cum court drama with s 2nd WWar motiv but very cleverly done. The clues are too honestly given, so the identity of the murder can be guessed, but it is very cleverly done enjoyable and have more of his books now on my list (Smallbpne Deceased, like this one, is alsp available from the wonderful British Library Crime Classics).

His daughter does the wonderful bbc podcast A Good Read.