What was the first crime novel you ever read? AFTER Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys that is, when you were an adult!

[carole gill]

I'm thinking too. And I realize that I mainly read horror until fairly recently! When I was a young teen I used to grab hold of my parent's Alfred Hitchcock Monthly Magazine. I loved it! But as for novels--I think the first crime novels I read were by Lawrence Sanders. Come on, tell me--so it'll refresh my memory!

[carole gill]

I know what you mean. Christine was pretty scary. I think Salem's Lot scared me the most. I mean (i still remember) Danny Glick floating outside his brother's window. I mean woah! I think I checked around under the bed after that (and I was over twenty)! holy tamales!

[Loretta Wheeler]

Scott, reading your post was somewhat like reading one of the author's you listed:) Especially the part where you said,"Throw away the key, man. I'll stay behind bars as long as you feed me this stuff. Pelecanos's characters talked and lived a life so unlike mine, I felt like a voyeur. And I savored every last letter." Excellent!

And thank you for refreshing me about Dennis Lehane...I've read him and love him. Probably a lot of others that it would take a nudge to remember ...I tend to remember the titles rather than all the author's unless it's one I've read for years. I haven't got a clue what "disorder" that would be labeled under...sigh...I do the same thing with music.

I loved the opening line you quoted from Mystic River...I've seen the movie, but haven't read the book, but this makes me want to order it as soon as I log off:)

Like Carole said, this is an excellent post...and your own style is just as excellent. Tell us you write too!:) If not, you need to!:)

L.

[Bill Crider]

The first adult crime novel I ever read was A MOST CONTAGIOUS GAME by, I believe Samuel Grafton. I still remember parts of it vividly. I checked it out of the library the first time I was allowed into the adult stacks. Must have been pretty young.

[carole gill]

woo! looks like my kind of book! I love books with covers like that! Like Hard Case crime novels. I bet you loved it. And I bet it shaped your reading? First impressions and all of that. Me, I remember noticing the books my Grandfather had on the night stand. My Gran worked out of the home a lot--away for days, and he loved to read. These books had an impression on me--I think they must have been Spillane novels, with blondes and tough guys on the cover. I was a little girl, but it planted a seed in my head I guess. You're good that you remember early on. I can't--except for possibly Hitchcock mystery magazine stories. thanks so much Bill!

[Martyn Waites]

Raymond Chandler, Farewell My Lovely. I still have the copy. It was an old, green Penguin paperback edition, yellowed and worn and I picked it up from an antique book fair. I must have been in my late teens, I think. And I never looked back.

[carole gill]

I agree. It's one of my treasured books. I just get lost in it. It made a huge impression on me--talk about inspiration! thanks for that.