Today, 20th April, is the unofficial Detective Fiction Day since on this day in 1841 Edgar Allan Poe’s story The Murders in the Rue Morgue was published by a magazine and many cite it as the world’s first detective story. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, even wrote: “Each [of Poe’s detective stories] is a root from which a whole literature has developed… Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?” So, to celebrate this occasion, I am presenting 15 books (in no particular order) which I reviewed on this blog and which all focus on solving of some murders.
Bird in a Cage (Dard) The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau (Burnet)
The Axeman’s Jazz (Celestin) Faceless Killers (Mankell)
The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (Turton)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (Tocarczuk) The Name of the Rose (Eco)
The Decagon House Murders (Ayatsuji) A House Without Windows (Hashimi)
The Beautiful Mystery (Penny) The Mystery of the Yellow Room (Leroux)
The Honjin Murders (Yokomizo) The Dry (Harper)
My Name Is Red (Pamuk) He Died With His Eyes Open (Raymond)
Do you like reading detective novels/crime thrillers? What is your favourite crime story or who is your favourite fictional detective?
Thoughts on Papyrus 
Interesting! 😍 I’m yet to read some of the best ones but I loved reading Nancy Drew as a child…They were also the books that made me love reading… And of course, Sherlock Holmes…
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I am not familiar with Nancy Drew, but I also loved reading detective stories geared at younger reader!
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Now I didn’t know that today had been selected to commemorate this genre, Diana, I shall have to make a note of that for future years! I must admit I’m not a huge fan, especially of the classic whodunits, but I do plunge in now and again. In the last year or two I’ve read a couple of Christies, a Dashiell Hammett, a Edmund Crispin and Le Carré’s A Murder of Quality. I suppose I tend to prefer my crime novels with a thriller element or, as with the Eco you list, with an historical element. It’s been a while though since I read a Holmes story or Poe’s mysteries, so maybe something to bear in mind for April 20th 2022! 🙂
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Totally! I love Agatha Christie, but I cannot say I am a massive fan of either Poe or Conan Doyle. Even if you don’t enjoy the genre that much, I still think there are some gems to be found and I also love detective stories with historical elements!
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Hello, thanks for the list of classic detective books. Reading about Edgar Allan Poe reminded me of the last E-book I produced, which was by Edogawa Ranpo, a Japanese author who was heavily influenced by Edgar Allan Poe (even his pen name derived from him). Here is the book in case you are interested.
Why it is not a detective novel in the strict sense, there is some mystery involved so I think perhaps you might enjoy it.
Have a great day!
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Wonderful books Diana! I’ve read only The Name of the Rose and The Dry. Liked them both, but I loved The Name of the Rose. Hope to read it again. Thanks for sharing 😊
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I loved reading stories about The Saint (Leslie Charteris) as a kid. They’re kind of like the new TV series, Lupin.
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Sounds good! I haven’t read any, but now I am tempted to pick up Meet the Tiger!
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Nice picks!
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