Must-Read Mysteries, Pre-1920!
April 13, 2009 10:09 AM Subscribe
I'm rediscovering the mystery genre and am looking for a fantastic mystery story to read, specifically something older--I'm getting interested in what happened in the genre during and immediately after World War I, so I'm specifically interested in stories/books published before 1920. Elements of international intrigue are a plus. Please, mystery lovers, help me out! Thank you in advance.
Some of PG Wodehouse's prewar novels have elements of mystery combined with that amazing Wodehousian prose. I recommend anything out of the Psmith series, as well as The Little Nugget.
posted by The White Hat at 10:34 AM on April 13, 2009
posted by The White Hat at 10:34 AM on April 13, 2009
Although even the earliest stories are a little outside your date range (early 20s), but I'm going to recommend Lord Peter Wimsey anyway because he's so great and because the character has a WWI influence (he was in the war and in some of the earlier stories particularly he is seen suffering from basically PTSD issues as a result of his experiences in the war.
posted by nanojath at 10:34 AM on April 13, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by nanojath at 10:34 AM on April 13, 2009 [2 favorites]
Further... Although only the last story ("His Last Bow") really intersects with WWI, I think Sherlock Holmes is highly worthwhile for invoking social, political and scientific aspects of the late 19th/early 20th century world (though most particularly London of that time of course).
Not for nothing is Agatha Christie the most popular mystery writer ever - though it was published in 1920 her first book, also the first Hercule Poirot mystery, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was written in 1916, and there is another World War I connection - Poirot is a Belgian refugees in rural England.
This might be fruitful reading.
posted by nanojath at 10:53 AM on April 13, 2009
Not for nothing is Agatha Christie the most popular mystery writer ever - though it was published in 1920 her first book, also the first Hercule Poirot mystery, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was written in 1916, and there is another World War I connection - Poirot is a Belgian refugees in rural England.
This might be fruitful reading.
posted by nanojath at 10:53 AM on April 13, 2009
I'm going to nth, the Lord Wimsey novels. Even though they were written & take place post WWI, the war is a big influence on the mysteries themselves, especially 'Whose Body?' and 'The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club.'
posted by Caravantea at 11:04 AM on April 13, 2009
posted by Caravantea at 11:04 AM on April 13, 2009
Wilkie Collins is quite a bit before 1920 and you can't beat The Moonstone for suspense. Bonus: it's free!
I'm going to nth the love for Dorothy Sayers' as well. I find her books about the pinnacle of British detective stories. A close competitor is Marjorie Allingham; her detective Albert Campion is almost as cool as Peter Wimsey. Almost.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:28 PM on April 13, 2009
I'm going to nth the love for Dorothy Sayers' as well. I find her books about the pinnacle of British detective stories. A close competitor is Marjorie Allingham; her detective Albert Campion is almost as cool as Peter Wimsey. Almost.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:28 PM on April 13, 2009
These pretty much quintessentially fit your description:
John Buchan: The Thirty-nine Steps, Greenmantle etc.
Erskine Childers: The Riddle of the Sands
Also G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories (less of the international angle in those though).
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 1:57 PM on April 13, 2009
John Buchan: The Thirty-nine Steps, Greenmantle etc.
Erskine Childers: The Riddle of the Sands
Also G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories (less of the international angle in those though).
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 1:57 PM on April 13, 2009
Seconding Wilkie Collins - The Moonstone is amazingly good, and The Woman in White is also quite well written. Both were written well before WWI, though.
posted by dilettanti at 2:01 PM on April 13, 2009
posted by dilettanti at 2:01 PM on April 13, 2009
Response by poster: You guys are the best. I can't wait to check all of these out. Please keep them coming!
posted by teamparka at 2:10 PM on April 13, 2009
posted by teamparka at 2:10 PM on April 13, 2009
Sherlock Holmes, of course, as nanojath says. "His Last Bow" is directly WWI related, but "The Bruce-Partington Plans" has both international intrigue and a zippy mystery.
Some overlooked pre-WWI investigators, besides your Holmes and Dupin:
Father Brown, a priest who takes a psychological approach to solving entertaingly outre mysteries.
Dr. Thorndyke, "the scientific detective", who anticipated CSI by ninety years and invented the Columbo-style "inverted" mystery. "The Red Thumbmark" is the classic.
The Old Man in the Corner, by Baroness Orczy (aka the "The Scarlet Pimpernel" lady) - a weird old sorehead in a coffehouse narrates a convoluted unsolved mystery, then lays out exactly how the criminal pulled it off and got away scot free.
And if you want to focus on the "espionage" rather than the "fantastic", there's always the pure, cheesy WWI adventure-pulp of the Richard Hannay series. Make no mistake, they're crap - but they're entertainingly crap, with all the over-the-top period Rule Britannia stereotypes you could possibly want . Who knew Frisians were such shiftless drunks?
On preview, Quinbus touched a couple of these.
posted by ormondsacker at 2:25 PM on April 13, 2009
Some overlooked pre-WWI investigators, besides your Holmes and Dupin:
Father Brown, a priest who takes a psychological approach to solving entertaingly outre mysteries.
Dr. Thorndyke, "the scientific detective", who anticipated CSI by ninety years and invented the Columbo-style "inverted" mystery. "The Red Thumbmark" is the classic.
The Old Man in the Corner, by Baroness Orczy (aka the "The Scarlet Pimpernel" lady) - a weird old sorehead in a coffehouse narrates a convoluted unsolved mystery, then lays out exactly how the criminal pulled it off and got away scot free.
And if you want to focus on the "espionage" rather than the "fantastic", there's always the pure, cheesy WWI adventure-pulp of the Richard Hannay series. Make no mistake, they're crap - but they're entertainingly crap, with all the over-the-top period Rule Britannia stereotypes you could possibly want . Who knew Frisians were such shiftless drunks?
On preview, Quinbus touched a couple of these.
posted by ormondsacker at 2:25 PM on April 13, 2009
ormondsacker, I take exception to singling Buchan out as crap in this context (it wasn't a question specifically about about literary merit) -- the whole genre is pulpy, always was and always will be, even if the occasional literary gem floats in the dross. Buchan knew how to write a rollicking good adventure story and he wasn't trying for high art. If you want crappy jingoistic pulp try Sapper's Bulldog Drummond books (they weren't written till a little after the period requested though).
Also to get back on track, Kipling's Kim also mostly fits your criteria: though it's not really a mystery, quite a lot of it is about minor international intrigue and the "Great Game," all in what is now a fairly topical area of the world.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 3:58 PM on April 13, 2009
Also to get back on track, Kipling's Kim also mostly fits your criteria: though it's not really a mystery, quite a lot of it is about minor international intrigue and the "Great Game," all in what is now a fairly topical area of the world.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 3:58 PM on April 13, 2009
You could try Fantômas, which is both the pulpiest of the pulp and was somehow read devotedly by literati in France, England and Germany.
posted by pkuras at 9:33 PM on April 13, 2009
posted by pkuras at 9:33 PM on April 13, 2009
Came in to suggest Buchan too. I think to say they're crap is misleading. They're an interesting mixture of subtle and stereotypical. You might want to start with Huntingtower (etext), where the main character is a grocer whom Buchan describes almost tenderly. There's a 1922 review of it here.
You may find the racism, sexism and xenophobia of his writing difficult to take, however.
Also, Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, by Baroness Orczy (of the Scarlet Pimpernel) might be worth trying - I haven't read it, but looks like it fits your criteria.
Edgar Wallace? Have only read The Four Just Men and find him too simplistic myself, but it depends what you're after.
There are some good websites on the history of detective fiction and thrillers which might help you find other books
posted by paduasoy at 1:34 AM on April 14, 2009
You may find the racism, sexism and xenophobia of his writing difficult to take, however.
Also, Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, by Baroness Orczy (of the Scarlet Pimpernel) might be worth trying - I haven't read it, but looks like it fits your criteria.
Edgar Wallace? Have only read The Four Just Men and find him too simplistic myself, but it depends what you're after.
There are some good websites on the history of detective fiction and thrillers which might help you find other books
posted by paduasoy at 1:34 AM on April 14, 2009
The Shadows of Sherlock Holmes is a decent selection of short stories from, mostly, the earlier part of the Holmes period; lots of different authors, so worth looking through to see what appeals to you.
Seconding Chesterton - Father Brown, and also The Man Who Was Thursday which is sort-of mystery-thriller-fantasy.
The Raffles stories are from the 1890s but they're interesting in the context of war and its influence on mystery-like stories - they're about a gentleman thief and do culminate in him and his sidekick going off to the Boer War.
The first Bulldog Drummond novel is 1920, presumably written earlier, and features an ex-World-War-I officer.
posted by severalbees at 3:42 AM on April 14, 2009
Seconding Chesterton - Father Brown, and also The Man Who Was Thursday which is sort-of mystery-thriller-fantasy.
The Raffles stories are from the 1890s but they're interesting in the context of war and its influence on mystery-like stories - they're about a gentleman thief and do culminate in him and his sidekick going off to the Boer War.
The first Bulldog Drummond novel is 1920, presumably written earlier, and features an ex-World-War-I officer.
posted by severalbees at 3:42 AM on April 14, 2009
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posted by Zed at 10:12 AM on April 13, 2009