Classic Whodunnits

[FlySheMust]

I'm having pain in the night which is getting worse. I find reading helps while the painkillers kick in but I've run out of authors.

For night time reading I really enjoy a classic whodunnit. Locked room etc. I don't like gore or descriptions of violence. It's the puzzle I like. Poirot is my hero. 🙂

Can anyone recommend new authors who write in the classic tradition?

Father Brown Mysteries?

Martin Edwards writes really twisty puzzles. He’s got a new one out at the moment - Mortmain Hall

I got a lot of the Patricia Wentworth books for free on Kindle - not the Miss Silver ones though. As pp says she is very good, but you may well have read them all.

What about the Bobby Owen ones by ER Punshon? Again I got a lot of these free on Kindle - they have offers every so often, try

uk.freereadfeed.com/

You can apply filters to get the sort of books you like.

Colin Dexter - the Inspector Morse
PD James - Adam Dalgliesh

Thanks so much. Plenty to keep me occupied in the wee small hours.

John Dickson Carr and his alter ego Carter Dickson wrote locked room mysteries. I have them in old green Penguins.

What's the one with the monk and the cat?

@YetAnotherSpartacus

The only one with a monk I can think of is Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters

YES! That's it!

I borrowed almost all of the Miss Silver books from my local library. I had a Nook at the time, though, not sure if they will download to a kindle?

Also, sometimes there are free or 99p offers for kindle books on Amazon. If you search by genre then look at results by price, the freebies are at the top.

I have Amazon Prime, and they offer a free kindle library book every month. A lot of golden age fiction on there.

Have to say I found the new Poirot books by Sophie Hannah extremely disappointing. Nothing like the feel of the original. She described Poirot "smirking" in one chapter, and it really grated with me!

Try Rebecca Tope - her Lake District mysteries are OK though the main character in the Cotswolds series is very annoying. I'd agree with the Jacqueline Winspear & Faith Martin recommendations too

Jacqueline Winspear, Frances Brody, Faith Martin, Shamini Flint, John Harvey, Ellis Peters Cadfael, Elly Griffiths, Freeman Willis Croft and Deborah Crombie are ones that I would recommend.

@Clawdy

Have to say I found the new Poirot books by Sophie Hannah extremely disappointing. Nothing like the feel of the original. She described Poirot "smirking" in one chapter, and it really grated with me!

I enjoyed both the original Poirots and most of Sophie Hannah's novels - I quickly moved into 'reading a Sophie Hannah' mode rather than 'reading a Poirot' mode when I encountered the SH Poirots. I read an interview with SH where she said she'd wanted her version to have its own atmosphere, hence AC's supporting cast are mostly dispensed with. I agree the feel is completely different!

Cyril Hare and Mavis Doriel Hay are both more obscure but excellent golden age mystery authors.

Less obscure but amazing- Josephine Tey

Taking notes...I love Cyril Hare, but Mavis Doriel Hay is new to me! Thanks hazel.

Great suggestions on this thread.

Project Gutenberg is good for free downloads, if your device is suitable. They have so much stuff.

If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes, R Austin Freeman would be a good bet. His Dr Thorndyke novels are excellent, very ingenious and atmospheric.

Placemarking for all the lovely suggestions! x

Sadly she only wrote this one but the Division Bell Mystery by Ellen Wilkinson is also amazing. She was the first Labour female MP and participated in the Jarrow marches

I love Poirot too, by far my favourite detective. I’m reading the dci banks books written by Peter Robinson, an easy read and not gory at all.

The Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French is excellent. I'm not usually one for reading everything by one author, but I devoured those.

Rivers of London Series David Aaronovitch

Good morning. Daisy Dalrymple kept me entertained until the meds kicked in last night.

I will be saving all these suggestions for future use.

Thanks again.

You might enjoy the "All About Agatha" podcasts, they discuss a different book each time in depth, and there are loads to choose from. And The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey is a great puzzle mystery with lovely period detail and no gore!