Friday, July 6, 2012

Is This A New Golden Age of Mystery Writing?


Is This A Golden Age of Mystery Writing?





Is this one of the golden ages of mystery writing? Are there mystery writers who will be read and enjoyed a hundred years from now? I believe so.  Margaret Atwood, Michael Chabon, Joyce Carol Oates and Jess Walter, to mention only four of many, are authors known generally as literary writers who have chosen to write in the mystery genre.  From reading their work, I don’t think they are “slumming.” National book awards candidate lists seem to include more mystery writers than they did years ago.



I believe mystery is an expansive field that allows writers to present everything from intellectual puzzles to social issues rarely addressed in other venues.  The tone of the work varies from light comedies to the psychopathology of serial murderers. Authorship, especially with self-publication, is now open to people of all ethnic and religious backgrounds. The field is increasingly crossing international boundaries and increasingly incorporating aspects of other writing genres. 


For a partial list of candidates check Linda Rodriguez’s blogs and my comments at:
and

I believe authors from the first Golden Age of Mystery will still be popular during their second hundred

years.



Who among current authors do you think will still be read and respected one hundred years from now?

And, keep in mind, I will remind you of your pick in a century or so.

20 comments:

  1. Dennis Lehane comes to mind, Warren. You think?

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  2. I predict Nelson DeMille will still be around. thelma Straw

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  3. To Linda's list I'd add Robert K. Tanenbaum's Butch Karp series, mostly set in NYC.

    Also Lee Child's Jack Reacher series.

    In Christian fiction: J. Mark Bertrand's Det. Roland March series.

    Steven James FBI agent Patrick Bowers...hunting serial killers.

    Nancy Mehl's Harmony series. Who woulda thunk there'd be so much killing in a Mennonite community.

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  4. Hard one, Warren. Andrew Taylor, Robert Crais, Robert Parker, Sue Grafton and Elizabeth George?? So many to choose from. I think that you're right, this the golden age. People are finally getting over the stigma of genre and appreciating it.

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  5. Nika, It just shows you never know what is going on beneath the surface.

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  6. EB, It's hard to set a limit when there are so many to choose from.

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  7. Anon, Those are writers whose work continues to be with readers after the books are read.

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  8. Warren, I assume you mean in addition to you and me.

    I agree with those already mentioned, but I'd add Lawrence Block and James Lee Burke in the top ten. In the second ten, possibly John Grisham.

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  9. I'm going to complicate the issue by suggesting that we're talking about two separate categories.

    The first: crime fictions writers whose work will hold up because they're so good at what they do. The second: crime fiction writers whose work could be considered literary because of what it says about the human condition and because of the quality of the prose. (If I raised this at the Short Mystery list, there'd probably be a bloodbath, but I know this group is more restrained.)

    As far as the first list, I agree with many of the names that have been suggested. I'd put Elmore Leonard at the top.

    For the second list, I nominate Benjamin Black, Megan Abbott, and Denise Mina. I'm sure there are more, but these come to mind.

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  10. Mr. Contrary here.

    Of the bestselling writers of 100 years ago, Zane Grey still has a following. The great literature may be read in schools, but not much otherwise.

    Therefore I nominate James Patterson as a mystery writer who will still be read in 2112. Only his best stuff and none of the written with (fill in the blank)stuff.

    Sue me when I'm wrong.

    ~ Jim

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  11. Earl, Your top two picks would be very high on my list. Just personal, preference, but I' not sure about the third.

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  12. Anita, Duck! Okay relax. On this site we generally don't "flame" one another. Writers are popular and remembered for many different reasons. I think writers who manage both will be the ones remembered longest. But that's just my opinion.

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  13. When James Patterspn is good he is very very good. The rest of the time he is successful. Again, just my opinion, folks,

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  14. I'm with Earl on James Lee Burke followed by Dennis Lehane and Nelson Demille.

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  15. Thanks for the shout-out, Warren.

    I've already gone on record with those lists and the interviews I do on my blog. (Got new ones coming up, including Joy Castro, lit writer with first thriller coming out this month.)

    I started that series because i come from the lit field with lots of friends and colleagues there, and I wanted to show them how many fine literary-quality writers there are in our favorite genre.

    And yes, this is the new Golden Age of Crime Writing, Warren. Aren't we lucky to be int eh midst of it?

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  16. Oh, my! I might as well give up everything and start reading all those authors Linda has listed. Sigh. I've read many of them, and agree with her opinion of fine writing, but there are so many more there I have yet to read - many on my shelves waiting for me.

    Thanks, Warren, for posting this, and thanks Linda for the great list of mystery writers that I've copied and will work at reading.

    And who would I choose that will still be around in 100 years? Could I get back to you in 25 or 50 years?

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  17. LInda,

    Thanks for taking the time to give us a really well-thought-out list. It is exciting to be an author and to be able to interact with awesomely talented authors.

    I look froward to reading critical analyses of current writes 100 years from now.

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  18. Gloria,

    Okay, but 25 years from now is the very latest I will accept your opinion.

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  19. LInda Todd, those make my list too.

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