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!

[Jeff Ross]

I'm going to go with The Maltese Falcon which I based my MA thesis partly on.

[carole gill]

really?! how interesting. that must have made for a great thesis. Yes, I love that novel. It was a definer of the genre I think.

[Jeff Ross]

Well, I kinda doubt that. No one would read it for fun. it was based on that little story in the middle where Spade talks about how he had a client that just disappeared and then showed up somewhere else with a new family, &c. It had nothing to do with the novel, really, but was an interesting aside. My thesis was on how Paul Auster used this little side as the basis (whether on purpose or not) for a lot of his books where people simply leave and then show up somewhere else in almost the same condition.

[carole gill]

No but compared to a friend's thesis on ancient pottery, I would prefer to read yours! and any thesis or paper of any kind that probes into a novel or a play I would find interesting.

[Loretta Wheeler]

Don't ya'll think it's like most everything else? We evolve over time, and our tastes change....so we drift to other author's....plus, there are new ones that come forward that give us another direction to go.....

[carole gill]

so true, Loretta.
I can't believe how much and varied my tastes have gotten. And then in discovering new authors and books, we discover new things about ourselves too.

[Emily]

In keeping with my reply to the original post, I think this is so true. I started with a combo of traditional and cozy mysteries, mostly by women authors. In the meantime, I've read a lot of things I'm not so interested in today. Now, I gravitate mostly towards P.I.'s, police procedurals, and largely books by men. That's just my current kick starting with reading all of Michael Connelly and Lee Child this past fall, and Jim Butcher's Dresden books. My tastes have gotten a lot darker than they started out being.

[carole gill]

see how the dark ropes us in?! seriously, I do know what you mean. And really, the world has a lot of darkness in it. worlds within worlds. so it's natural that so much that is written is so very dark. but having said that, the cozies keep the balance. we need them to reach for when we feel the need to lighten up. I prefer dark, bleak stuff myself--but then I do like to curl up and read about Jane Marple annoying the local Chief Inspector!

[Emily]

I think I've found the right place for me here! A long time ago I recommended Goodnight, Nebraska by Tom McNeal (not crime fiction, bleakish Nebraska fiction) to a friend, and she read it then complained that it was too dark and depressing! LOL But yes, in addition to Head Case by Craig McDonald and Meg Abbott and Cornelia Read, my recend reads also include Carolyn Hart and a goofy romance in the mix. It's good to bounce back and forth.

[carole gill]

bouncing's always good! and in reading too...seriously, I agree with you. And Emily, did you know that Megan Abbott is here on crimespace?! I love her books. she's my inspiration! I don't want to say I'm her number one fan--because then I'll feel like Annie Wilkes in Misery and I might scare Megan! and it's good to read light and dark--if I just read dark stuff I'd get really down and I wouldn't be able to do anything! What are some goofy romance books? sounds cute.

[Loretta Wheeler]

...I agree...I write dark, and generally read dark.....but once in awhile I drift totally away to get a breath of fresh air....where the sunlight shines:) I usually choose something very different then...either something that is non fictional and teaches on the belief system I have, or just a really good book that has nothing at all to do with the genre I'm normally in...writing or reading.

[carole gill]

I was just thinking--Raymond Chandler wrote about LA as does James Ellroy. Spillane did New York--who are some Houston writers? Does your lovely city have it's own writer--say some noir, hardboiled one? Just curious.