What Steph said.

I wasn't too old - I think I actually read it at one point - but I was a good deal older than its target audience when it came out. I missed a fair number of iconic pop culture things.

So, I decided to expand my Golden Age of Detective Fiction education and read some Margery Allingham. Started with the first Campion book, The Crime at Black Dudley, and I don't think it's for me, although I can well imagine Marsh reading it and deciding to write A Man Lay Dead. Is anyone here a fan, are later books maybe different?

The last Chanur novel is more of a TNG-type spinoff than a direct sequel, although it deals with a lot of the same issues. It's just that the Chanur of the title is Hilfy, rather than her aunt Pyanfar. And I like Hilfy, but Pyanfar is totally badass.

Hm. Not completely certain I did read that.

Thirding the Chanur books. All Cherryh's scifi is at least engaging--my favorite being a little morsel titled Merchanter's Luck--has a Firefly ring to it.

And if you're a fantasy fan, Cherryh's got you covered there, too--from Gates of Ivrel and Faded Sun trilogy through The Tree of Swords and Jewels on to her Russian folk tales: Rusalka, Chernovog, et al.

I enjoyed the Pride of Chanur series - had them all at one point. The Faded Sun trilogy was good, as were most of the others I remember reading.

I liked Margery Allingham; I think her best was Tiger in the Smoke. You might try Josephine Tey as well - her best known book is The Daughter of Time, which isn't a traditional mystery.

Josephine Tey I have read most if not all of. I will try skipping to Tiger in the Smoke for Allingham. I guess Peter Davison played Campion in the BBC series, maybe I'll give that a watch although what resemblance those bear to the books is always an open question.

ETA: Kindle Unlimited has "The Essential Margery Allingham" which is three books including Tiger in the Smoke so I will give that a try. Thanks for the pointer, Toddson!

One thing to watch out for - after Allingham died, her husband (I think it was) tried to continue the Albert Campion series. I didn't like those, although I did enjoy most of the others.

And there's Dorothy Sayers, who wrote the Lord Peter Wimsey books, which I liked. One of them - The Nine Tailors - explained change ringing, which was a help when listening to the bells in the cathedral.

I was very excited a few years ago when I was in the UK and heard change-ringing on a Sunday morning.