River ,'Objects In Space'
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Ngaio Marsh
Never been a great Marsh fan; never loved or hated her. Always found her a good airplane trip read. Good enough to distract you from the minor discomforts of air travel, does not require more concentration than you have left after the minor discomforts of air travel, and if you lose one before you finish - no great tragedy.
I REALLY liked "Death of a Peer" and "Died in the Wool". I think, however, in both cases I liked the characters involved in the murder just as much as Roderick Alleyn. I actually haven't read one with his wife in it, just with her mentioned.
But I REALLY liked "Death of a Peer", as in have read it at least 5 times.
Om that notes, does anyone else read mystery novels over and over again? On first thought, it seems silly, because you know the answer to the mystery, but I do it quite often. I find my Agatha Christies quite comforting, for example. I have been reading the same ones since I was 12 or 13.
Oh yeah, there are Sayers and Christies and Stouts I've read over and over, among others. Of course, I pay so little attention, half the time I forget who does it, anyway, so it's like a whole new story!
I reread my Georgette Heyers over and over, and I know not only how it ends but exactly how it gets there, and I find that comforting as well. I have reread Nero Wolfes as well.
Nero Wolfe is also among the re-reads. I also got a lot of John Dickson Carr and Carter Dickson (they are the same person) mysteries at many rummage sales as a child. Actually, I own Mrs. Charles Wuertzer (she put a return address label in the books) for much of my mystery reading habits. Almost all the books I bought at the rummage sales (Ellery Queen, Perry Mason, Nero Wolfe, Agatha Christies) were hers first.
If I wait long enough I forget whodunit.
I used to re-read my Martha Grimes a whole lot more than I did, but now I just re-read the Melrose Plant portions. Plus there's all my Sayers and Elizabeth Peters. The mystery itself comes second, it's the character interaction I enjoy. Heron Carvic's Miss Seeton books are fun to re-read as well.
Do gothic-type mysteries count? Because my Mary Stewart's are over 25 years old and still getting--carefully--reread. Likewise the Jane Aiken Hodges.
I definitely reread mysteries. If you're not focused on who the murderer is, you can pick up other details. And sometimes the language and the world-building is just fun.
There are several mystery writers I read without caring a single little bit who killed whom. Sarah Caudwell comes to mind -- I'm there for the dialogue, not the plot. I read Jonathan Gash for the antique neepery.
Actually, I own Mrs. Charles Wuertzer (she put a return address label in the books) for much of my mystery reading habits. Almost all the books I bought at the rummage sales (Ellery Queen, Perry Mason, Nero Wolfe, Agatha Christies) were hers first.
That's fantastic.