Because I don't like getting into a series in the middle, I decided to search for a few 'first books' in my local used bookstores. No dice. So, I pointed my mouse over to abebooks.com and found exactly what I was looking for.
Since I consider myself 'going to school' for classic crime fiction, I wanted to try out a few famous people in that field. They are:
-Bertha Cool and Donald Lam in The Bigger They Come
-Perry Mason in The Case of the Velvet Claws
-Mike Hammer in I, The Jury
I used to watch Mason on TV and loved him. I know of Hammer only through reputation. And Cool and Lam are new to me. Hard Case Crime published one of their books so you know their good.
So, look for those reviews in the coming weeks. And here's a question for all of y'all who already know this stuff: Who else should I read? Help me make a list of Crime Fiction I Should Know.
Thanks.
3 comments:
you could have easily picked up the first three Mike Hammers is a nice omnibus.
Also the Cool/Lam books don't need to be read in order at all. The first book is good it just sets up the working relationship of the two though. It's not a series with a lot of carry over or continuity.
You really ought to read Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer novels, too, the first three of which are The Moving Target, The Drowning Pool, and The Way Some People Die. As you get deeper into that series, pay close attention to The Galton Case, The Chill, The Instant Enemy, and The Underground Man, all of which knocked my socks off when I read them originally. I actually envy you the opportunity to be coming to all of these books--and so many more--for the first time.
Cheers,
Jeff
The Moving Target will be my next audiobook. I'll finish A Diet of Treacle tomorrow. Since that last post, I found Lawrence Block's Sins of the Father and Burglers Can't be Choosers.
I know what you mean as you look at me about to embark on an entire education of crime fiction. I get that way with folks who haven't read Harry Potter, for example, or don't know the non-Top 40 hits of Chicago.
BTW, really liked the Bond video mashup you posted.
Post a Comment