I just love getting a good murder mystery as a Christmas gift! After the wrapping paper has been cleared away, and things settle down to a dull roar, a person can go curl up in a quiet corner and be entertained for hours on end. If you also enjoy getting a good book at Christmas, but weren’t so gifted this year, consider picking up a good book for your reading pleasure now!
If you ask ten different people for their top four murder mystery authors, you will probably get ten entirely different lists.!Take a look at the mystery portion of the book section in any store, and you will find tremendous diversity of murder mystery authors for your reading pleasure. People must love murders…there are so many novels available on the topic.
If you are on vacation, and perusing the local paperback book offerings, the following four authors are known for consistent quality and prolific output. If you are fortunate enough to find any of these authors, you can pick up just about any of their books with confidence.
By the way, the authors are listed as they come to mind, rather than in order of importance or preference.
1) Erle Stanley Gardner
This prolific author wrote the Perry Mason series…what my dad used to jokingly refer to as a “Who Done Its.” If you spot an Erle Stanley Gardner paperback in the store, and it is not a Perry Mason murder mystery, chances are good that you will thoroughly enjoy the novel anyway! The character of Perry Mason gained further fame when he was portrayed on the television series of the same name by Raymond Burr. The attorney and his loyal secretary, Della Street solve cases, assisted by detective Paul Drake. Like his actor-counterpart Raymond Burr, the character Perry Mason was written as large enough in stature that he didn’t back down easily, with the quick brains and confidence to utilize all assets to advantage, even when things seemed to be going against him.
Barbara Hale played Della Street, Mason’s indispensable secretary. Hale once commented that when they were spending time on the courtroom set, things could get tedious. Once Burr, a practical joker, placed a small baby alligator in the drawer of the table which they were sitting behind. Barbara got a shock when she opened the drawer! Years later, Barbara Hale’s son, William Katt, played Paul Drake’s son, Paul Junior, in the Perry Mason movies for TV.
Handsome William Hopper played Paul Drake. Hopper’s mother was the famous Hollywood Hedda Hopper, who started out as a silent film actress (eventually starring in 120 films) before she went on to a radio gossip show and a gossip column. Hedda’s arch rival was gossip columnist Louella Parsons. These two women kept their fingers on the pulse of Hollywood and knew where all the figurative bodies were buried! Stars and studio execs knew with dismay that it was nearly impossible to keep information from either of the two women for very long!
William DeWolf Hopper was the only child of Hedda and her considerably older husband, DeWolf Hopper. Hedda and DeWolf divorced when Bill was a baby. Although Hopper had supporting parts in many movies, he is best remembered for his consistent role from 1957 to 1966 in the Perry Mason series. Sadly, Hopper passed away at age 55 in his Palm Springs home, of pneumonia. So many actors, Hopper included, smoked incessantly.
Raymond Burr’s financial success brought him the ability to purchase a vineyard in Geyserville, California: the Raymond Burr Vineyard. The vineyard has gone on, after Burr’s death, and continues to grow grapes for wine, orchids (for beauty), and conduct tours. Burr’s companion and partner, Robert Benevides has continued to oversee and nurture the pair’s orchid collection.
I am very fond of spinning wool into yarn, and was therefore interested to read that Raymond Burr had an interest in breeding Romney/Karakul sheep. It was said that he was attempting to produce sheep which would give a peach colored wool. After the actor’s death, his estate sold off quite a bit of his wool “roving.” Once wool has been washed, it is carded into a more usable form (roving) so that it can be spun.
By the way, I have never had the disappointment of reading a bum Erle Stanley Gardner novel yet. Delve into any of them with confidence!
2) Lilian Jackson Braun
This author became wildly popular when she started writing murder mysteries, solved by a middle-aged single man with two smart Siamese cats who inherits a fortune and settles in a small far northern town with more than its share of interesting and amusing characters. You can pick up ANY of the Cat Who books and enjoy a good story; it is never necessary to begin with the first book.
While most of the books take place in the small community of PickAx city, in Moose County (“400 miles north of everywhere“), you can also find one mystery taking place in the city, another centering around a mountain cabin, and yet another in a pottery studio.
I recently picked up a paperback copy of The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell, and was disappointed to find less quality there than in Jackson’s previous novels. Unlike all of the other Cat Who books, this one seemed sort of short, with a thin plot, leaving a few things unexplained. Although the novel was disappointing, it included a small interview at the back, written as through it was conducted by James Qwilleran, interviewing Lilian Jackson Braun. She included the first poem she wrote, at age three, and mentioned spending her thirteenth summer writing a French historical novel. From there she branched out with humorous verse, the “spoem” (a sports poem). After spoems, the author wrote short stories, magazine features, advertising copy, then a newspaper column. The interview mentions her original Siamese cat named Koko, who met an untimely death in a fall from a tenth floor apartment, the victim of a cat hater. The first Cat Who story was born after an attempt to put the cat’s murder (and retribution) on the printed page.
The Cat Who Dropped A Bombshell aside, the other Cat Who books are engrossing. It is a pleasant departure from real life, to delve into Moose County, and the wealth of one James Qwilleran, who owns an octagonal, multi-storied barn and a comfortable condo in Indian Village. Kick back and enjoy Qwilleran’s pleasant life which is utterly devoid of money problems! Dine with him at Tipsy’s Tavern (which immortalizes Tipsy, a black and white cat), or at The Old Grist Mill, waited on by Derek Cuttlebrink, a genial young six foot eight maitre d’
Qwilleran is a local hero, and everyone takes their problems to him. His solutions delight Moose County, and continue to solve their mysteries.
3) Dick Francis
Most of this author’s books involve steeplechasing or horses, however not all of them do. For example, while one protagonist is a painter, in a different novel another takes over his murdered brother’s jewelry business. Dick Francis says that he does considerable research prior to writing a murder mystery and his painstaking research shows. His characters vary tremendously from book to book, however they are always smart, resourceful, shrewd, young, healthy, gutsy and male, and the books are written as a narrative, which tends to put the reader in the driver’s seat. In the end the hero gets the girl, AND the drop on the bad guy (or guys). This author writes convincing spine-tingling, heart-racing, cliff hangers. These are NOT books to read just before you plan to fall asleep! Each chapter leaves you thinking, “Just one more page…” before you put the book down.
Francis comes by his affinity for action and spills honestly: he is the son of a jockey, and was the Queen Mother’s royal steeplechase jockey. He won over 350 races in his career. An action kind of a guy, Francis was a fighter pilot in World War II. One gets the feeling that Dick Francis is packed full of spills and chills in real life, a rather short man who lives life as though he is seven feet tall!
Francis’s books have not only sold well, he is the only three-time recipient of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award for Best Novel, winning for Forfeit in 1970, Whip Hand in 1981, and Come to Grief in 1996. Like Rex Stout, Francis is a recipient of the Grand Master Award, the highest honor bestowed by the MWA.
4) Rex Stout
This author wrote more than the Nero Wolfe series, although the series is certainly what he is best known for.
Stout showed an aptitude for math early in life, and, as an adult, created a school banking system which was implemented in over 400 schools. In later life Stout served as president of the Authors Guild and of the Mystery Writers of America, and received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America.
Each of Stout’s Nero Wolfe mysteries was meticulously thought out and flawlessly written. Nero Wolfe is a hefty gourmet (weighing one seventh of a ton) with expensive standards, and a couple of rooms full of orchids on the top floor of his old Brownstone on West 35th Street, in New York City. It is hard not to become a little hungry when reading a Nero Wolfe novel! Wolfe’s meals make the pages, and when he and his Swiss chef, Fritz, lock horns, the battles are epic.
In 1973, bowing to public pressure, Rex Stout penned a cookbook of Fritz’s favorite recipes, The Nero Wolfe Cookbook. The table of contents shows such topics as Breakfast in the Old Brownstone, Luncheon in the Dining Room, Warm Weather Dinners (and Cold Weather Dinners), Desserts, The Perfect Dinner for the Perfect Detective, The Relapse, Snacks, Rusterman’s Restaurant, Nero Wolfe Cooks, the Kanawha Spa Dinner, etc. Wow!
I went to Amazon.com’s site, and was able to take a peek inside a few of the pages. There is a selection called Surprise Me! which will take you to a random page. When clicked, it went to Duckling in Flemish Olive Sauce and included a recipe for Flemish Olive Sauce. One of these days I’m going to try cooking something wild like this!
Here’s the cure for those months when there is absolutely nothing going on: the long stretch between Easter and the Fourth of July, for instance. Consider having a few friends over for a Nero Wolfe dinner party! Each person could bring one item for the dinner, which is about the only way to keep the host out of the kitchen all night. That, or hire a professional chef! Of course, the only decoration one could possibly consider for the table would be orchids. I’d be tempted to pick up some nice artificial ones which could be re-used on other occasions. Nero Wolfe would roar with contempt, of course at such economy!
The rotund Wolfe solves the most perplexing murder cases, charging high fees to support his affluent lifestyle and to appease his superior intellect. Each story unfolds, as told by Archie Goodwin, Wolfe’s able younger assistant, who has a sense of humor and doesn’t hesitate to twit his employer whenever possible!
A&E; Network televised two seasons of Nero Wolfe murder mysteries (2001 and 2002) which are now available on DVD’s. The episodes are lovingly crafted and a joy to watch. The first season includes The Doorbell Rang, Champagne for One, Prisoners Base, Eeny Meeny Murder Mo, Disguise for Murder, Door to Death, Christmas Party and Over My Dead Body. Season Two includes Death of a Doxy, The Next Witness, Die Like A Dog, Murder is Corny, Motherhunt, Poison A La Carte, Too Many Clients, Before I Die, Help Wanted, Male, The Silent Speaker, Cop Killer and Immune to Murder.
There is always the danger that a televised show will not portray characters the way you envision them in your mind. Wolfe and Goodwin were so perfectly cast in this made-for-television series, that you can never think of them any other way again!
Robert Goldsborough was a devoted Nero Wolfe fan, who has carried the Wolfe saga on after Rex Stout died. Some enjoy Goldsborough’s writing while others do not. Goldsborough wrote Murder in E Minor in 1986, following with Death on Deadline, The Bloodied Ivy, The Last Coincidence, Fade to Black, Silver SpireandThe Missing Chapter.
Rex Stout also wrote the Tecumseh Fox mysteries, and quite a few unrelated mysteries. Dol Bonner, a young and attractive lady private eye, not only appeared in Nero Wolfe mysteries, but in a book of her own: The Hand in the Glove.
Inspector Cramer, a New York City, cigar-chomping, irritable detective, was featured in Red Threats, another book sans Nero Wolfe.
I’ve read The Hand in the Glove (the Del Bonner book), but didn’t read Red Threat. The best of Rex Stout, in my opinion, are the Nero Wolfe books.
If you love a good murder mystery, you will not be disappointed by Erle Stanley Gardner, Lilian jackson Braun, Dick Francis or Rex Stout. Each author has provided us with a satisfying plethora of bodies and mysteries to solve. Dig in!
