All books must have been written before 1960 and be from the mystery category.
1. The Mysterious Affair At Styles. A Hercule Poirot Mystery. Agatha Christie. (1920)
2. Whose Body? Dorothy L. Sayers. (1923)
3. Unnatural Death. Dorothy L. Sayers.(1927)
4. Murder on the Orient Express. Agatha Christie. 1933
5. Strong Poison. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1930
6. Murder at the Vicarage. A Miss Marple Mystery. Agatha Christie. 1930.
7. Have His Carcase. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1932
8. The A.B.C. Murders. (Hercule Poirot). Agatha Christie. 1935
9. Gaudy Night. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1936
10. Five Little Pigs. (Hercule Poirot) Agatha Christie. 1941
11. The Body in the Library. (Miss Marple) Agatha Christie. 1941
12. 4:50 From Paddington. Agatha Christie. 1957
13. A Murder is Announced. Agatha Christie. 1950
14. Cards on the Table. Agatha Christie. 1937.
15. Appointment with Death. Agatha Christie. 1937/
16. Cat Among the Pigeons. Agatha Christie. 1959
17. Sad Cypress. Agatha Christie. 1939
18. The Moving Finger. Agatha Christie. 1942
19. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Agatha Christie. 1926
20. The Big Four. Agatha Christie. 1927
21. Evil Under the Sun. Agatha Christie. 1940
22. Taken at the Flood. Agatha Christie. 1948
23. Dead Man's Folly. Agatha Christie. 1956
24. A Man Lay Dead. Ngaio Marsh. 1934
25. The Woman in White. Wilkie Collins. 1860.
26. They Do It With Mirrors. (Miss Marple). Agatha Christie. 1952
27. A Murder on the Links. Agatha Christie. 1923. 272 pages.
28. A Pocket Full of Rye. Agatha Christie. 1953. 256 pages.
29. Dumb Witness. Agatha Christie. 1937. HarperCollins. 320 pages.
30. Hercule Poirot's Christmas. Agatha Christie. 1938/1939. Black Dog & Leventhal. 272 pages.
31. Clouds of Witness. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1927/1966.
32. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1928/
33. The Five Red Herrings. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1931.
34. Murder Must Advertise. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1933.
35. A Shilling for Candles. Josephine Tey. 1936. 240 pages.
36. The Nine Tailors. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1934.
37. Busman's Honeymoon. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1937.
I'll be reading some Josephine Tey, Dorothy L. Sayers, and perhaps some Agatha Christie. Is there a particular author you'd recommend for me?! I'm open for suggestions!
The Franchise Affair. Josephine Tey. 1948. 304 pages.
First sentence: It was four o'clock of a spring evening; and Robert Blair was thinking of going home. The office would not shut until five, of course. But when you are the only Blair, of Blair, Hayward, and Bennet, you go home when you think you will. And when your business is mostly wills, conveyancing, and investments your services are in small demand in the late afternoon. And when you live in Milford, where the last post goes out at 3:45, the day loses whatever momentum it ever had long before four o'clock.
A Shilling for Candles. Josephine Tey. 1936. 240 pages.
First sentence: It was a little after seven on a summer morning, and William Potticary was taking his accustomed way over the short down grass of the cliff-top. Beyond his elbow, two hundred feet below, lay the Channel, very still and shining, like a milky opal.
To Love and Be Wise. Josephine Tey. 1950. 224 pages.
First sentence: "Grant paused with his foot on the lowest step, and listened to the shrieking from the floor above. As well as the shrieks there was a dull continuous roar; an elemental sound, like a forest fire or a river in spate. As his reluctant legs bore him upwards he arrived at the inevitable deduction: the party was being a success."
Miss Pym Disposes. Josephine Tey. 1946. 240 pages.
First sentence: A bell clanged. Brazen, insistent, maddening. Through the quiet corridors came the din of it, making hideous the peace of the morning.
The Singing Sands. Josephine Tey. 1952. 224 pages.
First sentence: It was six o'clock of a March morning, and still dark. The long train came sidling through the scattered lights of the yard, clicking gently over the points.
Whose Body. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1923. 224 pages.
First sentence: "Oh damn!" said Lord Peter Wimsey at Piccadilly Circus. "Hi, driver!"
Other options:
The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham (library)
Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (library)
Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers (library)
Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (library)
Whose Body by Dorothy L. Sayers (library)
Lord Peter: A collection of all the Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (library)
Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers (library)
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers (library)
Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh (library)
Nursing Home Murders by Ngaio Marsh (library)
A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh (library)
My library lists many Agatha Christie titles--too many to list. Is there one you'd recommend to a newbie?
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
4 comments:
You might enjoy the mysteries of Ngaio Marsh, A New Zealand writer. My son and I read several many years ago. Artists in Crime is the only one I specifically remember at the moment but I liked every one I read. More than half of hers written published before 1960. Here's a list of her books and publishing dates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngaio_Marsh
I've read all of Christie's books. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Witness for the Prosecution are favourites. Death on the Nile, Death on the Orient Express, and And Then There Were None are very good too-if you haven't seen the filmed versions already. Death in Mesopotamia was the first one I read so I'm especially fond of that one. You can't go wrong really, she was always an entertaining read.
Have fun with the challenge.
Sandra, thank you!!! I appreciate the suggestions! I've added the Ngaio Marsh (the ones my library has) to my list of potential reads.
You know, "The Old Man in the Corner" by Baroness Orczy would qualify for this as well - she wrote some other mysteries, but this is the only one I've read.L.
Welcome Becky! Hope you have fun with these. You've got some great titles on your list. I love Josephine Tey! And Ngaio Marsh is definitely a good suggestion. Artists in Crime is a good one (not sure of the date). But Enter a Murderer is one of her earilier ones and it is very good.
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