American Mystery Classics [ Edited ]

[becke_davis]

Thanks to a suggestion by Fricka, I'm starting a new feature for the last week of every month, called AMERICAN MYSTERY CLASSICS.

Every month we'll focus on a different American author of mystery classics, starting this month with EDGAR ALLAN POE:

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)  

Here is my proposed schedule - please add comments and suggestions. (You may not know who Craig Rice is, but that's one reason I'd like to feature her.)

January: ERLE STANLEY GARDNER (aka A.A. FAIR)

February: CRAIG RICE

March: DASHIELL HAMMETT

April: FRANCES AND RICHARD LOCKRIDGE

May: DORIS MILES DISNEY

June: ED MCBAIN and CHARLOTTE ARMSTRONG (since Becke messed up)

July: FREDERICK DANNAY AND MANFRED BENNINGTON LEE (aka ELLERY QUEEN)

August: REX STOUT

September: *NOTE CHANGE* Mary Roberts Rinehart (by popular request)

October: IRA LEVIN

November: *NOTE CHANGE* JOHN D. MACDONALD

December: RAYMOND CHANDLER

[dulcinea3]

This sounds like fun, Becke!!!

[Fricka]

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dulcinea3 wrote:

This sounds like fun, Becke!!!

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ditto, dulcinea3!

Great list, becke. I spotted several of my favorite American mystery writers, including Erle Stanley Garner(author of the Perry Mason books, without whom we would never have gotten the great TV series with Raymond Burr as Perry!), Dashiell Hammett( The Maltese Falcon), Ellery Queen, and Raymond Chandler. Some of the other names are not familiar to me, so I'm looking forward to learning more about them and their books.

[eadieburke]

Becke:

I like the idea of the classics - Looking forward to reading them!

[basson_mommy12]

Thanks to Becke for the lovely book in the mail the other day, I get to read an Erle Stanley Gardner Perry Mason story for the first time, ever! Yay!

The Case of the Singing Skirt  I am very excited about it! Thanks again, Becke!

[becke_davis]

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basson_mommy12 wrote:

Thanks to Becke for the lovely book in the mail the other day, I get to read an Erle Stanley Gardner Perry Mason story for the first time, ever! Yay!

The Case of the Singing Skirt  I am very excited about it! Thanks again, Becke!

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I hope you like it!

[maxcat]

Sounds like a good idea, Becke. I guess I better brush up on Perry Mason books.

[becke_davis]

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maxcat wrote:

Sounds like a good idea, Becke. I guess I better brush up on Perry Mason books.

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I've picked up copies of a few I haven't read. They're at the top of my TBR pile, after I read the rest of our guest authors' books.

[Fricka]

I've got a copy of The Case of the Missing Heiress on request. I was in the library the other day, and was disappointed that none of the Perry Mason books was on the shelves. Thank goodness the books are still in the library system, though, so I was able to order one of the books to be sent to my branch library.

[becke_davis]

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Fricka wrote:

I've got a copy of The Case of the Missing Heiress on request. I was in the library the other day, and was disappointed that none of the Perry Mason books was on the shelves. Thank goodness the books are still in the library system, though, so I was able to order one of the books to be sent to my branch library.

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I picked up these but haven't read them yet:

The Case of the Buried Clock 

The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe 

The Case of the Counterfeit Eye    

[Fricka]

The Case of the Lonely Heiress: A Perry Mason Mystery

• by
• Erle Stanley Gardner

Overview

A suspicious personal ad conceals nefarious intent—and eventually lands in the lap of Perry Mason. It appears that Marilyn Marlow inherited a small fortune from her mother, who got the sum from her wealthy employer. But now the old man's relatives are contesting the will. Whoever sways Rose Keeling, the key witness to the signing of the will, is sure to be the victor. Enter the personal ad. Marilyn intends to find Rose a Mr. Right—in order to get the goods on her. But when Rose is murdered, Perry Mason sets out to find a gentleman caller who had a date with death. Reissue.

Just finished reading this. I had forgotten how  much fun the Perry Mason books are to read--once I got started reading, I couldn't put the book down. Now I'm ready to read another PM book!

P.S. I need to correct an earlier error I made-- I previously wrote that the title of the book was the Case of the Missing Heiress, but it's the Lonely Heiress instead.

.

[becke_davis]

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Fricka wrote:

The Case of the Lonely Heiress: A Perry Mason Mystery

• by
• Erle Stanley Gardner

Overview

A suspicious personal ad conceals nefarious intent—and eventually lands in the lap of Perry Mason. It appears that Marilyn Marlow inherited a small fortune from her mother, who got the sum from her wealthy employer. But now the old man's relatives are contesting the will. Whoever sways Rose Keeling, the key witness to the signing of the will, is sure to be the victor. Enter the personal ad. Marilyn intends to find Rose a Mr. Right—in order to get the goods on her. But when Rose is murdered, Perry Mason sets out to find a gentleman caller who had a date with death. Reissue.

Just finished reading this. I had forgotten how  much fun the Perry Mason books are to read--once I got started reading, I couldn't put the book down. Now I'm ready to read another PM book!

P.S. I need to correct an earlier error I made-- I previously wrote that the title of the book was the Case of the Missing Heiress, but it's the Lonely Heiress instead.

.

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I picked up a couple of Perry Mason books - so far I've read this one:

The Case of the Counterfeit Eye  

I can't copy and paste this for some reason, but there's a good commentary on it here:

http://www.wattpad.com/162443-the-case-of-the-counterfeit-eye-by-erle-stanley

The story is very dated - it's about a glass eye! - but it's an interesting book because it's the one where Hamilton Burger is introduced. Very cool!

[eadieburke]

My Erle Stanley Gardner book has 2 stories in it. I can't find the product at Barnes and Noble. The 2 stores are: The Case of the Caretaker's Cat & The Case of the Perjured Parrot.

It is a Hardcover - Mystery Guild Pushlisher, Garden City, New York

[becke_davis]

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becke_davis wrote:

Thanks to a suggestion by Fricka, I'm starting a new feature for the last week of every month, called AMERICAN MYSTERY CLASSICS.

Every month we'll focus on a different American author of mystery classics, starting this month with EDGAR ALLAN POE:

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)  

Here is my proposed schedule - please add comments and suggestions. (You may not know who Craig Rice is, but that's one reason I'd like to feature her.)

January: ERLE STANLEY GARDNER (aka A.A. FAIR)

February: CRAIG RICE

March: DASHIELL HAMMETT

April: FRANCES AND RICHARD LOCKRIDGE

May: FREDERICK DANNAY AND MANFRED BENNINGTON LEE (aka ELLERY QUEEN)

June: ED MCBAIN

July: CHARLOTTE ARMSTRONG

August: REX STOUT

September: HELEN MACINNES

October: IRA LEVIN

November: DORIS MILES DISNEY

December: RAYMOND CHANDLER

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I've had this book for YEARS - it's my favorite of his:

The Case of the Irate Witness  

[eadieburke]

I have a few mystery anthologies or omnibuses and I have found some of the mystery classic authors in them. Here's some of the stories I found that will come in handy this year:

Three Times Three - Mystery Omnibus - Edited by Howard Haycraft and John Beecroft

Erle Stanley Gardner - The Case of the Irate Witness

Raymond Chandler - The Lady in the Lake

Frances and Richard Lockridge - Pattern for Murder

Ed McBain - The Empty Hours: An 87th Precinct Mystery

Rex Stout - Murder is No Joke

A Treasury of Great Mysteries Vol. 2 - edited by Howard Haycraft and John Beecroft

Raymond Chandler - The Big Sleep

Rex Stout - Instead of Evidence

Stuart Palmer and Craig Rice - Rift in the Loot

Great Detectives - A Century of the best Mysteries from England and America - Edited by Daivd Willis McCullough

Dashiell Hammett - The Sam Spade Stories

    A Man Called Spade

    They Can Only Hang You Once

    Too Many Have Lived

Raymond Chandler - Trouble Is My Business

Ellery Queen - The Adventure of Abraham Lincoln's Clue

Rex Stout - See No Evil

Ed McBain - Sadie When She Died

I am glad that I decided to look through these books. Maybe you too have some of these anthologies to look through so you can participate in Becke's American Mystery Classics

[becke_davis]

I don't remember if I put Ed McBain on the schedule - if not, I need to make a spot for him. I love his books!

[dulcinea3]

Eadie, thanks for the suggestion!  I do actually have Great Detectives, but it was in my pile to donate to the library - I've pulled it back out!  In addition, Becke has sent me lots of Hammett, plus a couple of anthologies.  I had noticed that one had Murder in a Hurry, by the Lockridges, but I have had the other one for a while and only remembered that it had The Maltese Falcon.  I've pulled that one out, and it also has The Case of the Crying Swallow by Erle Stanley Garder, The Adventure of the President's Half Disme by Ellery Queen, and Die Like a Dog by Rex Stout.  This book is called Ten Great Mysteries and is edited by Howard Haycraft and John Beechcroft.

Cool - I'm going to be able to participate more months than I expected!

[dulcinea3]

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becke_davis wrote:

I don't remember if I put Ed McBain on the schedule - if not, I need to make a spot for him. I love his books!

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Yes, he's on there!

[eadieburke]

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dulcinea3 wrote:

Eadie, thanks for the suggestion!  I do actually have Great Detectives, but it was in my pile to donate to the library - I've pulled it back out!  In addition, Becke has sent me lots of Hammett, plus a couple of anthologies.  I had noticed that one had Murder in a Hurry, by the Lockridges, but I have had the other one for a while and only remembered that it had The Maltese Falcon.  I've pulled that one out, and it also has The Case of the Crying Swallow by Erle Stanley Garder, The Adventure of the President's Half Disme by Ellery Queen, and Die Like a Dog by Rex Stout.  This book is called Ten Great Mysteries and is edited by Howard Haycraft and John Beechcroft.

Cool - I'm going to be able to participate more months than I expected!

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Great news!

[Fricka]

The Case of The Drowning Duck

I just finished reading this book by Gardner. Although it's pretty dated with some of the social attitudes towards criminals(like Perry's not believing there's a proved link between animal cruelty and murderers), it's still a fun read.

Sorry for the spaces in my post--I am having some problems with the system again. Once I put the title of the book in italics, I had a struggle to get my own words in plain text again. I had to erase some of the advert words that I inadvertenly copied from the page when I copied the book cover, and that seems to have upset the spacing on this post as well.  I did somehow manage to get ONE paragraph in plain text, but now this one doesn'w want to change! So, sorry for my messed-up post. Oh, I wanted to add that I really wanted to read the book becke had listed, about the Counterfeit Eye, but it was not included in the titles of Gardner's books available from my library. Rats!

PS I see the preview has taken the extra spaces out, so hopefully this post won't look as strange as I thought it was going to. Whew!