The Sirens Sang of Murder Mysteries

Can you recommend some good mystery novels for me to read? The last mystery novels I read that I really liked were the Hilary Tamar series by Sarah Caudwell. I liked those because they were fairly light and not gory. But I especially liked them because the dialogue/narration was sharp, witty, and wry. What are some other mystery writers who write like this? [more inside]
posted by bluefly on Jul 25, 2008 - 33 answers