Quick reminder -- today is the LAST day you can enter my giveaway! There haven't been a lot of people entering yet, so you might have a really good chance at winning something. Go enter, if you haven't yet!
Today, I've finally got a few minutes to answer the official party tag :-) So, here we go!
1. ...a historical setting?
The Hound of the Baskervilles by A. Conan Doyle. That's one of my top ten favorite books of all time, and my favorite mystery. While its setting was contemporary at the time it was written, it's now a historical one for us!
My favorite filmed adaptation is the 1988 version starring Jeremy Brett, which is practically perfect in every way :-D
2. ...a modern setting?
This is a toss-up between Bones (2005-2017) and Castle (2009-2016). I absolutely love both shows, for my usual reason that I really enjoy hanging out with the characters. If I had to pick a favorite episode for each of them... I probably couldn't. Too many fun ones!
3. ...a lone detective?
The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler is my favorite book by my favorite author, and it is completely splendid. Private investigator Philip Marlowe may be on his shiniest white knight behavior in this one.
4. ...a pair of sleuths?
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King. Sherlock Holmes takes on an apprentice? Who's an obstinate, headstrong teen girl? My only regret about this book is that I never read it when I was an actual teen girl myself. I would have loved it. I do love it, anyway, but I could have loved it for longer than I have, you know?
5. ...a professional/police detective?
Definitely Laura (1944). Detective Mark MacPherson (Dana Andrews) is simply marvelous. I really just never get tired of that movie!
6. ...an amateur detective?
Probably The Blue Dahlia (1946). Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) doesn't set out to be a detective, but the only way he can figure out how to clear himself of his wife's murder is to find who actually did kill her, so off he goes.
7. ...a young sleuth?
I'm going with The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Yes, I love Trixie Belden and Frank and Joe Hardy a whole lot. But Turtle Wexler is in a special league all her own, folks.
8. ...an aging detective?
Hmm. Maybe Hell on Frisco Bay (1955). Former policeman Steve Rollins (Alan Ladd) is released from prison after serving time for a crime he didn't commit, and he sets about tracking down those who really did it. He's not some young, tough, snarky guy, but a tired man who got middle-aged while in prison and has to lean more on his brains than his physical strength than he might have years ago.
9. ...a cozy feel?
I'm not hugely into cozy mysteries, but the Drew Farthering mysteries by Julianna Deering are pretty cozy and comfy, except for all the dead bodies that keep turning up. They're set in England in the 1920s and are probably the best Christian historical fiction mysteries I've ever read.
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10. ...a shocking reveal?
A Family Affair by Rex Stout shocked me so much the first time I read it! Don't read it if you aren't familiar with the characters already, as it won't be nearly as shocking if you aren't. But if you are, well, it's pretty darn intense. I really love the Nero Wolfe mysteries by Stout, and if you like snappy dialog, mid-1900s settings, and complicated plots, definitely try them out.
This is my last entry for my We Love Detectives Week party! Don't forget to enter the giveaway and play the games -- I'll be drawing winners for the giveaway and posting answers and scores for the matching game tomorrow.
Ha! For the 'police/professional detective' question, we both said Laura. XD Mark is simply The Best.
ReplyDeleteThe Blue Dahlia and Hell on Frisco Bay both sound really good--especially the latter. I'm sure I'll watch both at some point.
Eva, great minds think alike, eh? Mark really is The Best <3
DeleteYou know I will watch pretty much any Alan Ladd movie with you at the drop of the hat, so whenever you get access to one of those, I'd be up for a buddy-watch. I think you'd like him in both.
My library has a pitifully small Alan movie collection, BUT they do have both The Blue Dahlia and The Glass Key (haven't seen that either)--and they're both on their way to my branch right now! I'll let you know when I get them in, and then we can plan accordingly.
DeleteEva, yeah, my library system has only 4 of his movies too. And only 2 of those are on DVD, the others are e-videos you can watch online. That's awesome your library has those ones, at least!
Delete"His shiniest white knight behavior" made me grin! I'm certainly curious about The Lady in the Lake now. I never really knew what it was about before looking up your review this week.
ReplyDeleteKatie, well, uh... the thing with Marlowe is that he's usually a pretty *tarnished* white knight... but he's fairly shiny in that one. I mean, he's never a bad guy, but he is willing to do what needs doing to solve a case or fix a problem, including wade through the gutter and get his hands a little dirty in the process.
DeleteSo many good choices in your answers!
ReplyDeleteI don't know why I never thought of tv shows as detective mysteries... they certainly are! And pretty much the only tv show I watch anymore is NCIS, so that's crime solving.
The Beekeeper's Apprentice is a FAVORITE of mine. Such a good story.
I enjoyed The Big Sleep. I think I need to try more Ray Chandler. And Rex Stout is on my TBR list. My reading time is so limited lately. I will get through the TBR list eventually... maybe.
Thanks, AnnMarie!
DeleteThere are soooo many wonderful crime-solving shows. I love NCIS! Or, at least, I watched it faithfully for about a decade, and then I ran out of time to watch TV regularly, so I haven't watched it in a while. But I still am super fond of it :-)
High five to another fan of Beekeeper's Apprentice!
Rex Stout is really fun. As is the early 2000s TV show A Nero Wolfe Mystery from A&E that stars Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton -- if you can find some of those to watch, they are absolutely wonderful! My husband was just mentioning how fun they are, and he rarely praises TV shows or movies.
Darn it, I forgot about The Westing Game! Such a good one, and Turtle really is supremely delightful.
ReplyDeleteThe only other one I'm familiar with on here is The Hound of the Baskervilles! Such fun. I really must revisit old Holmes one of these days...
Miss Megan, I love The Westing Game so much that I make myself wait at least 5 years between rereads so some of it will be fresh again :-)
DeleteHolmes is always a good idea :-D
Of these, I'm only familiar with The Hound of the Baskervilles. Which is a shame because I'm getting giddy just reading about these others because they sound SO AMAZING. It has been too long since I watched some noir movies. Or read mysteries. This blogathon is greatly inspiring me....
ReplyDeleteChloe, well, now you have some new movies and books to check out! Always a good thing, eh? And yes, I'm definitely getting some ideas for new things to read and watch from everyone's posts :-)
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