Private Dicks, dames and double-crosses: the crime fiction thread

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CLUBMEDhurst

CLUBMEDhurst

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Been hooked on crime fiction since my late teens, when a mate tossed me a copy of Jim Thompson's, "The Killer Inside Me". The first person narrative from the perspective of a psychopathic sheriff was the most chilling thing I'd read, and lead me to seek out his other works.

other favourite crime authors:

- Horace McCoy. Loved They Shoot Horses Don't They and the hardboiled classic, Kiss tomorrow Goodbye.

- David Goodis. Following a stint in hollywood he returned home to Philadelphia, looking after his psychotic brother and drinking heavily. His novels tended to have as the hero, people who'd fallen from lofty heights and were making ends meet as members of the underclass, mirroring his own story.

- George Pelecanos. Washington DC author, loved his early work, however recent novels have left a little to be desired.

I know there are some crime fans on BF, what are your fave books and authors and what's new out there?
 
Pretty much anything by Raymond Chandler - but mainly The Big Sleep and The Lady in the Lake... actually.... if it involves Philip Marlowe I love it.
 
Raymond Chandler is quality. I also enjoy the old Agatha Christies, even though they're pretty different to the noir style which is my preference.

Modern authors, by far my favourite is Ian Rankin. Seriously, nobody compares. Other than that, I quite enjoy P.D. James.
 

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The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

It's a crime series BUT with a paranormal twist. Harry Dresden is a private eye and a wizard who solves paranormal crimes, protect the general public as well as educating them about magic. Set in Chicago where there are vampires, werewolves, faeries, demons and spirits living amongst the general public.

It's told from Harry's POV in a hardboiled style. It's got action, demons, blood, guts, betrayals, damsels-in-distress and I seriously think The Dresden Files are one of those books that you have to read if you love crime. It may be slightly different because of the paranormal twist but it's real fun to read.
 
Gough said:
I'm not much of a crime fiction fan, but I will admit to enjoying Kinky Friedman. It's a bit noir, a bit left field and very bloody funny. Rankin also goes okay, but I need to be in the mood.
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Picked up the "Kinky Friedman Crime Club" collection in a free period back in high school as a way to waste 15 minutes because the name/cover looked hilariously bad. Turned out to be one of the best accidental plucks I've ever made, ended up reading all 3 novels contained within in a weekend. Terrifically entertaining writer.

Hillary Waugh is another whose books I just devoured when I was younger, and he definitely deserves to be better known. Recommended. :thumbsu:
 
Caesar said:
Raymond Chandler is quality. I also enjoy the old Agatha Christies, even though they're pretty different to the noir style which is my preference.

Modern authors, by far my favourite is Ian Rankin. Seriously, nobody compares. Other than that, I quite enjoy P.D. James.
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The King of Tartan Noir. Helluva lotta solid crime writing coming outta Scotland, the country and people are perfect for noir. Really dig Allan Guthrie for some humorous, hardboiled, pulpy action, Tony Black and Staurt MacBride aren't bad either
 
I really enjoy books by Michael Connelly. He really knows his stuff (e.g. police procedures), the stories are fast paced without being too fast, there are twists and turns everywhere that are very hard to pick, and then some. The two that stand out for me so far are 'The Concrete Blonde' and 'The Lincoln Lawyer'.
 
Clark G said:
I really enjoy books by Michael Connelly. He really knows his stuff (e.g. police procedures), the stories are fast paced without being too fast, there are twists and turns everywhere that are very hard to pick, and then some. The two that stand out for me so far are 'The Concrete Blonde' and 'The Lincoln Lawyer'.
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Came here to recommend Connelly as well. For me one of the best modern crime writers. My favorite would be 'City of Bones' but you can't really go wrong with any of the earlier Harry Bosch novels. The last few were a bit off the boil though I thought.
 
Caesar said:
Anyone have any recommendations for good Australian crime noir? Most of it seems horribly pulpy.

Have heard Shane Maloney's Murray Whelan series is good.
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Enjoyed the Murray Whelan series, good read fairly light-hearted. Don't think you can go wrong with Peter Temple. His Jack Irish series is as good as I've read. Very Melbourne with a nod to Aussie Rules. His two recent novels are also great, the award winning "The Broken Shore" and "Truth".

Chris Womersley's debut novel, "The Low Road" is a very dark and grim novel, however I found it utterly gripping from go to woe.

Have read the first book in Gary Disher's Wyatt series. A bit like an Aussie version of the Parker character by Richard Stark. Wyatt is a professional crim with little back story and an amoral criminal code. Trying to get hold of the next 2 in the series, proving hard ATM.

There was a series in the 50's by Bant Singer (AKA Charles Shaw who wrote Heaven Knows Mr Allison) main character, Del Delaney is a returned serviceman on the lag for a crime he didn't committ. "Your Wrong Delaney" is the first and best of the series.
 
itsabomber said:
Came here to recommend Connelly as well. For me one of the best modern crime writers. My favorite would be 'City of Bones' but you can't really go wrong with any of the earlier Harry Bosch novels. The last few were a bit off the boil though I thought.
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Have not read 'City of Bones' yet, looking forward to reading it. I recently finished 'Blood Work' which I really liked, funny thing is a friend who likes Michael Connelly books doesn't like it, am curious as to what other Connelly fans think of it.
 

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japaljarri said:
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple is a high quality Oz effort.
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damn straight.

can't say that crime fiction is my bag, generally, but I reckon Peter Temple is one of this country's finest writers; he tends to mine the crime fiction genre but I reckon he could turn his hand to any style and make it entertaining.

I read Broken Shore recently and loved it, I'm currently half-way through the sort-of follow-up, Truth.

I really need to get hold of more of Temple's Jack Irish series though, laughed my arse off reading 'Black Tide' last year; it's Melbourne-ness was also a treat.
Apparently the Jack Irish series is to be made into an ABC mini-series starring Guy Pearce; the source material is excellent so I for one can't wait to see the results ..
 
PULPS ARE BACK!!!!!

Well, they've been back for a while now thanks to the crew at Hard Case Crime

http://www.hardcasecrime.com/

The blurb goes . . .

Hard Case Crime brings you the best in hardboiled crime fiction, ranging from lost noir masterpieces to new novels by today’s most powerful writers, featuring stunning original cover art in the grand pulp style.
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Rekindling the glory days of Gold Medal Books, some of the lost greats of the 50's and 60's are re-published from the likes of David Goodis, Gil Brewer, Charles Williams, Lawrence Block, Donald E. Westlake, Ed MaBain and Day Keene. Typically lurid pulp art graces the covers.

Generally more hits than misses, and I've managed to locate Hard Case Crime novels in quick sale bins at bookstores and second hand stores.

A ****in' real treat for hard-boiled crime lovers.

Here's some of the better covers . . .

cover.php

101-Getting-Off-by-Lawrence-Block.jpg

103-Blood-on-the-Mink-by-Robert-Silverberg.jpg

home-is-the-sailor.jpg
 
A couple of great Aust. modern day beat crime books are "Get Rich Quick" and "The Devil's Jump" by Peter Doyle. Set in '50's Sydney. Like an Aussie take on Elmore Leonard or Carl Hiassen if you don't mind a bit of quirk and humour every now and again.

Hard to pass James Ellroy for an L.A version of beat crime novels. His L.A Quartet (inc L.A Confidential) is one of the best. Even the Underworld USA Trilogy kicking off with American Tabloid could squeeze under this banner and equally absorbing...so long as you adapt to his staccato style of writing.

Maybe blasphemous in this thread, but Ed Brubaker (writer) and Sean Phillips (illustrator) graphic novels "Criminal" has some of the best writing, stories and characters I've read in this genre. Dip in!
 
This is probably more aimed at the girls but does anyone read the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich

Shame the movie was ho hum - should just do a made for TV series instead
 
I read one of them at the behest of my girlfriend. It really bugged me that she screwed everything up and always needed the help of the love interest to solve the case and make everything right. I would have preferred a more competent protagonist.
 
I think her Clumsiness and still end up with her man/woman is part of her charm...she fell into the Job really & if you read the books you can see the character grow professionally
 
It just seemed a bit too damsel-in-distress for my liking.

From what you're saying maybe I should check out one of the later books where hopefully she's a bit more independent.
 
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