As usual, it’s been a while since I’ve participated in a Top Ten Tuesday topic, but I couldn’t resist this back-to-school freebie! The topic asks for anything school-related, so my list is going to be the top 10 books I’d put on the syllabus for a “Mystery Novel 101” course, in (roughly) chronological order:
1. Edgar Allan Poe, “The Purloined Letter” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” — Technically these are short stories, but Poe is, according to the Poe Museum website, “widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story.” Both of these stories are notable for their surprise endings, although the solution to “Rue Morgue” would be considered insulting by most contemporary mystery lovers!
2. Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone — This one is remarkable for its use of mutliple points of view to describe the crime, the theft of a valuable jewel. It also exemplifies the sensationalism (and, unfortunately, Orientalism) typical of some 19th-century British literature, but it’s still a very compelling and suspenseful story.
3. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes — Obviously this list wouldn’t be complete without some Holmes and Watson on it! I picked Memoirs, even though it’s not the first collection of Sherlock stories, because it contains some of the canon’s most notable moments, including the introduction of Mycroft (“The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter”) and the dramatic confrontation with Moriarty (“The Final Problem”).
4-5. Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Murder on the Orient Express — I may be a bit biased because I fell in love with Dame Agatha’s novels at an impressionable age, but I couldn’t resist including two of her most famous novels! Both of them have twist endings, and while they may not be very shocking now, that’s only because so many other authors have followed in her footsteps! Also, “30 Rock” did an amazing homage to Orient Express in episode 515, “It’s Never Too Late for Now.”
6. Anthony Berkeley, The Poisoned Chocolates Case — I don’t remember how I first came across this book, but I do remember my utter delight upon finishing it! This novel is a perfect example (and send-up) of the mystery tropes and conventions that, in 1929, had already become popular enough to satirize. Six armchair detectives each propose a solution to a murder, and each of them is amazingly plausible and clever (although, of course, only one is correct)!
7. Vera Caspary, Laura — I had to include a noir crime novel on the list, and while I could have gone with The Maltese Falcon or The Thin Man, I decided on Laura for the purely subjective reason that I really love the movie! But the novel is quite clever as well, and it uses the Wilkie Collins-esque technique of multiple narrators, some of whom are not exactly reliable.
8. Something by John Dickson Carr — Here I must admit with shame that I actually haven’t read anything by John Dickson Carr, despite his prolific career spanning the 1930s to the 1970s. But he is generally acknowledged to be the master of the “locked room” or impossible crime, a genre that has proved to be both popular and long-lasting.
9. Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, The Laughing Policeman — Scandi-crime has become popular in recent years, but in the 1960s, Sjöwall and Wahlöö were among the first Scandinavian mystery writers to gain fame in the US. This novel, an installment in the Martin Beck series, deals with a mass shooting on a public bus where one of the victims is a policeman. It’s a wonderful procedural that realistically describes the routines, the tedium, and the false starts that plague real-life criminal investigations.
10. Luis Fernando Verissimo, Borges and the Eternal Orangutans — Possibly the strangest book on the list, this novel is an homage to Edgar Allan Poe by way of Jorge Luis Borges. It’s hard to describe without giving too much away, but it’s very clever and a very quick read!
You Book Me All Night Long 
Mysteries! I read too little of the genre. 🙂 I’ve read Poe and have read a Sherlock Holmes. But, the other’s I haven’t read. Not even Agatha Christie. I really need to remedy this. Great list, thank you for sharing all the mystery love! 🙂
Ahhh I hope you get around to an Agatha Christie novel sometime! She’s THE BEST.
This is a wonderful list- and a brilliant top ten idea for this week’s theme! I love the mystery genre but have so many essentials and classics to read. John Dickson Carr and Vera Caspary are new to me- I will have to take a closer look at their books! 🙂
Why thank you! The mystery genre is one of my favorites, too, and I especially like the older “Golden Age” titles. They fulfill my needs for puzzle-solving and escapism. 🙂
In middle and high school i plowed through pretty much all of Christie’s works, along with Dorothy Sayers and Josephine Tey. I still remember how horrified I was by the endings of Roger Ackroyd and Endless Night! I don’t read as many mysteries as I used to, but I love Elizabeth George, Reginald Hill, Tana French, and Sophie Hannah. I hadn’t heard of Caspary, and will go check her out!
I’m making my way through Sayers now…I’d tried her a couple times before, but I think I was too young to appreciate her at the time. (Now, of course, I recognize her greatness!) And Josephine Tey is hit-or-miss for me…I LOVED Brat Farrar but didn’t quite understand all the fuss about The Daughter of Time. I’ll have to try some of the authors you mentioned, although I did like In the Woods and have been meaning to read the next Dublin Murder Squad book!
Mysteries — good idea for a list. I especially like your first three. My TTT lists some sci-fi cat books to read instead of doing homework.
Haha, clever topic!
I haven’t read any of these books. I really need to explore some more mystery!
It’s one of my favorite genres! And it encompasses everything from cozy mysteries (amateur detectives, usually in cutesy settings like bakeries and yarn shops) to thrillers to police procedurals to romantic suspense. So there’s really something for everyone!
I have The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes on my shelf, but I have never actually read it!! I really should! Here is mine: https://pageturner20.wordpress.com/2016/08/30/top-ten-tuesday-42/
I have so much nostalgia for the Sherlock Holmes stories. Are they wildly improbable? Definitely, but they’re still so much fun!
Ooh, great list! I’ve been wanting to read Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express…One of these days xD
My TTT
You should definitely read it! And I should reread it–it’s been a really long time!