Court Reporter, has now posted its rundown of the “100 Best Crime Books Ever Written.” That list features fiction as well as true crime.Naturally, presenting any such authoritative-sounding inventory is going to incite criticism. My own knocks would be that the compilers of this list leaned far too heavily toward familiar and best-selling titles; that their tendency to select first novels by older authors suggests a lack of knowledge about those authors’ fuller scope of fiction; and that a few of the more recent wordsmiths included on the roster either haven’t really demonstrated their expertise in the genre yet, or are simply never going to measure up to some of their predecessors. (Where, for instance, are Stanley Ellin, Ross Thomas, William Campbell Gault, or George V. Higgins?)
But then, that’s just my opinion ...
On the other hand, I’m very pleased to see Court Reporter mentioning such works as Eric Ambler’s A Coffin for Dimitrios, James McClure’s The Steam Pig, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö’s The Laughing Policeman, Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Velvet Claws, Chester Himes’ A Rage in Harlem, Stephen Hunter’s Hot Springs, and Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery.
Click here to read all of Court Reporter’s list.
3 comments:
I cut my teeth--mysterywise--while a teenager, on Perry Mason books, my firsts.
How interesting to see one on this list. It sounds familiar but I have no idea if I read that one.
Your blog is excellent. Sometimes, more women authors are needed in "best of" lists, or in terms of referrals.
That's all I'd say.
That's one of my favorite pb covers and one of my favorite Gardner novels. As for the list itself...pretty bad in my opinion. It reads as if the people who selected it haven't read widely in any of the genres they cover. The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight is one of the best organized crime novels? There are so many worthy writers left out (and so many unworthy books included for a basic library) that it's useless. My opinion only of course.
You can see the review of Velvet Claws that I did for Friday Forgotten Books here:
http://brokenbullhorn.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/the-case-of-the-velvet-claws/
It's not typical of the later books in the series, but a fine mystery.
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