detective or private eyes.

[huxley]

I just finished reading the "Chinatown" script, and I'm interested in more detective stories or private eye story.

I know of sherlock holmes, james patterson's "Cross"

does anything come to mind :either books, or tv, films, ect...

thanks.

 

[HoopyFrood]

If you're perhaps looking for something a bit more quirky, humorous and has a science fiction element to it, then I can certainly suggest Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams. Not quite your usual detective story, but definitely a fun read!

 

[The Ace]

In similar vein to the above, Terry Pratchet's "Watch, " novels;

Guards, Guards. Men at arms. Feet of Clay. Jingo (in which two armies are arrested). The Fifth Elephant. The Night Watch and Thud. Are all humourous detective stories. Although in a strange setting these books are both funny and intreging with well-constructed plots and extremely well-drawn characters.

 

[Connavar]

Dan Simmons has written a three book series about a PI.The first one is called Hardcase.

Michael Connelly and Harry Bosch books feels like a detective story. Sure he works LAPD but he is a loner and a great noir character.

 

[Sathai]

If you haven't already read these, you may like...The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, The Robot series by Isaac Asimov, and the Garrett Files by Glen Cook.

 

[j d worthington]

Huxley: Are you looking for prose, or for detective story screenplays? I ask because you mentioned reading the Chinatown script, and you've seemed to be interested in actual screenplays lately...

 

[Rane Longfox]

The Dresden Files books are definately worth a read. Private eye with a hint of the supernatural

 

[Nesacat]

Second the Dresden Files as well as the Garrett Files.

And throw in another ... Agatha Christie's Harley Quinn books.

And if you like something belonging to the past, there's Laura Joh Rowland's series of books about Sano Ichiro a Samurai detective in the Tokugawa era.

There's also Ellis Peters' books about Brother Cadfael, which I personally like very much. Mediaeval mysteries with a lot of information about the turbulent times the books are set in.

 

[Ragnar]

If you enjoyed Chinatown, Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe stories are well worth a look - very much set the standard for the noir detective story. Start with The Big Sleep and carry on from there.

 

[Taltos]

Just a little peek into bookshelf (just the series):
Simon R. Green - Nightside "Something from the Nightside" etc.
Simon R. Green - Hawk & Fisher "No Heaven for the Guilty" etc. (about citywatch/police)
Peter F. Hamilton - Mind Star "Minstar Rising" etc.
Richard Morgan - Takeshi Kovacs "Altered Carbon"
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - that have already been recomended
Isaac Asimov - R. Daneel Olivaw books "Caves of Steel" etc.
Diane Duane & Peter Morwood - Space Cops "Mindblast" (again cops not P.I.)
S Andrew Swann - Moreau "Forest of the Night"
Glen Cook - Garrett P.I. "Sweet Silver Blues" etc.
Mike Resnick - "Stalking the Unicorn"
Eric Brown "New York Nights"
Lloyd Biggle Jr - Jan Darzek "All the Colors of Darkness" etc.

hopefully enough for now - and all of these are connected to SF/Fantasy

 

[huxley]

Huxley: Are you looking for prose, or for detective story screenplays? I ask because you mentioned reading the Chinatown script, and you've seemed to be interested in actual screenplays lately...

well, not specifically screenplays. just interrested in learning the in's and out's of detective stories. the best way to learn would read as many of those stories i can. or watch some good movies or tv shows.

 

[BookStop]

*John Creasey's Gideon series are pretty straight-up detective stories
*I second the Cadfael books by Eliis Peters
*Jeffrey Deaver is a modern Patterson clone (but I like him!)
*Nevada Barr has a series with a park ranger playing detective - not procedural though
*Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe
*Agatha Christie's Poirot
*Robert B. Parker is a good writer and has a huge series, P.I. Spenser

Murder She Wrote is a pretty entertaining, light detective old tv series
The Closer is a good show

 

[Connavar]

Heh why didnt anyone recommend the most famous of all aka Sherlock Holmes?.


I remember reading it as a kid when i didnf fully appreciate a good book. Its time to give Sir Arthur Conan Doyle a chance again.

 

[j d worthington]

well, not specifically screenplays. just interrested in learning the in's and out's of detective stories. the best way to learn would read as many of those stories i can. or watch some good movies or tv shows.

*ahem* Errrrr.... Yes, I withdraw the question... must have been most inattentive, as your original post made that clear. Sorry.

Okay... All of the above are very good suggestions. There are plenty of others. A rather nifty little affectionate spoof of the genre and some of its most famous figures is Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime, in which nearly every chapter or two sees the Beresfords taking on the role of one of the more famous fictional detectives (at least, those famous up to the time of the novel's writing in the 1920s). So you have the Baroness Orczy's Old Man in the Corner (predecessor to Stout's Nero Wolfe and others of that ilk), Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Gideon Fell (created by John Dickson Carr), etc. It can give you a feel for each one's approach without having to read a lot of novels, allowing you to look for ones you'd specifically be interested in.

A link on Fell:

Dr. Gideon Fell

And look for such anthologies as A Treasury of Great Mysteries (2 vols.) ed. by Howard Haycraft and John Beecroft, or A Treasury of Modern Mysteries (2 vols.) ed. Marie R. Reno. (I would have included a link with the t.o.c. of the first of these, but -- surprisingly -- didn't find one. (There are plenty of anthologies of detective novels and short stories out there, including the Mammoth Book of, etc. Any of these would be helpful in finding the types you'd be interested in. There are also a couple of books out there that are just brief descriptions of each fictional detective, with a listing of all the books in the series... I forget the titles at the moment, but you could probably find them via a local library.)

WorldCat: A Treasury of modern mysteries.

There's also the wonderful Travis McGee books by John D. MacDonald:

Travis McGee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not your typical mystery/detective story, but -- despite some minor flaws -- excellent books, nonetheless.

And, for just a general introductory list, check out the sections on "Famous fictional detectives" and "Detective debuts and swansongs" here:

Detective fiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[HardScienceFan]

Solar Pons,JD?

 

[j d worthington]

Solar Pons,JD?

LOL! *ahem* Okay... Derleth and his pastiches.... Yes, August Derleth's Solar Pons (later taken up by Basil Copper, after Derleth's death, if memory serves). Or, if you want to get into pulpish stories, Seabury Quinn's Jules de Grandin, for that matter. The "occult detective" is also a recognizable genre, from Le Fanu's Dr. Martin Hesselius to Algernon Blackwood's John Silence, to Wm. Hope Hodgsons's Carnacki, to....

Occult detective - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

I would definitley recomend the Garret PI Files by the Cook guy think Mickey Spilane type of private tec exelent fun seriously goooood just wish he would write some more there is ten all told.

 

[Connavar]

Hi guys i was wondering which is the best crime book by James Ellroy? I heard alot about him. A good place to start if you havent read him?

Also are there some old great crime book that i have missed? Since i havent read much old crime books.

M.Connelly made me a fan of the genre with his books. So now i look after others good in the same genre. I even heard Raymond Chandler's name first from MC cause he was his fav.

 

[Astle_Fire]

A slightly alternative angle to the detective genre, which might you might find interesting is forensic fiction.

There are a lot of authors i'd recommend for this such as:

- Patricia Cornwell and her Scarpetta series (early editions more than recent)
- Kathy Reichs ("Bones" tv series was based on her books)
- Karin Slaughter
- Lee Child
- Simon Beckett. New author but his first book "The Chemistry Of Death" is worth a read

 

[scribbler]

Raymond Chandler for sure, Dashiell Hammett (Maltese Falcon, etc.) is another good one, although his early stuff is best. Charlie Huston is writing some great noir-with-fantasy/horror elements in his Joe Pitt books. Already Dead is the first of two so far.