Please continue to enter The Rock Paper Tiger Chase/Action Writing Contest Extravaganza if you have not already! Be sure to do so in the official contest thread.
And as we continue in Rock Paper Tiger week (on sale now!), a very timely question: what is your favorite mystery/suspense/thriller novel of all time?
I was drawn to Rock Paper Tiger because it has incredible style and a very keen sense of place. And a lot of what I loved about it I also love about The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.
What’s your favorite?
Nick says
Oh, so many…
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd may be hard to appreciate now, but that twist in that time period? Astounding. Or if not Christie, Rankin has such beautifully dry, realistic writing. The C. Auguste Dupin stories get props not just because they are the origin of detective fiction, but because they are very good indeed (and would you expect any less from Poe?).
Mystery/crime/suspense/thriller is just great, man. I could never choose one favourite.
Beth S says
Agatha Christie's TEN LITTLE INDIANS. No other author can write it like she did!
Dana Stabenow says
Hands down, The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth. Edge of your seat narration from start to finish, with a true "WTF!!!" reveal at the end.
Mystery Robin says
Is it cheating to say everything by Lee Child? If I must pick, it's Without Fail.
Kristi Helvig says
The Historian.
Anonymous says
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Erika Marks says
Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett. Riveting.
David Thompson says
Arguable that it's a "mystery/thriller," but mine's gotta be Jules Verne's AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS! I reread it whenever I can.
Anonymous says
Havana Bay by Martin Cruz Smith: a better sense of place than any book I've ever read in the genre, equal to Gorky Park in most other ways and with a better ending.
Anonymous says
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton for best high concept idea ever. It was executed well too.
Fleur Bradley: says
THE SAFE HOUSE by Nicci French
In YA, RAT LIFE by Tedd Arnold–brilliant YA crime fiction.
Nice thread, btw, found some good new books for the TBR pile.
Mira says
Oh God, Chuck H., you're right. The Exorcist has to be one of the most scariest books ever written.
You know what else scared me to death? Stephen King's Salem's Lot. I literally could not sleep for a week; I thought a vampire was trying to get in my window.
Luc2 says
A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene.
Jill says
The Ghost by Robert Harris. The MC's actions felt believable, yet the novel remained extremely suspenseful.
I often get frustrated reading thrillers and suspense novels — Why don't the MCs just leave/call the cops/ask the guy over there what's going on/whatever? I know the answer is that otherwise, there's no suspense. But it's nice when an author can craft a tale that doesn't strain credibility or break suspense.
Naomi Johnson says
On any given day my answer will differ. Today my answer is Jim Thompson's THE KILLER INSIDE ME.
Clarity says
"The 39 Steps" by John Buchan, good rollicking English. Keeps the pace well, the hero smooth and the mystery, positively fiendish.
K Simmons says
Definitely Rebecca.
Ironically, I considered picking up The Thirteenth Tale and Eye of the Rose at the B&N yesterday. I held off (budgetary constraints and a pile of unread books three feet high next to my bed), but I'll have to put them on my list.
Sissy says
I'm with Mystery Robin. Anything by Lee Child, but his first one is amazing. The Killing Floor is at the top of my list… I learned so much AND I was entertained!
DG says
Deception Point – Dan Brown
Michael Pickett says
Gone Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane
I think that it applies and I think that it's a great book.
Alyson says
This is usually where I pitch TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD but it's something much more to me than a mystery/thriller. I'd have to hand that to Christopher Priest's THE PRESTIGE, one of the most devilishly tricky novels I've ever had the privilege to read. <3
Becca says
I always tell people my favorite author is Lois Duncan because of her suspense novels. To pick one would be really impossible, especially since I'm rushing this comment out before I have to head out the door.
SquirlGirl says
I instantly thought of REBECCA by Daphne DuMaurier.
J. R. McLemore says
Silence of the Lambs was my favorite until I read No Country For Old Men. I've mainly read more southern gothic and horror novels than I have mystery/suspense/thrillers, but I've got plenty of Raymond Chandler, George V. Higgins, Elmore Leonard, and Agatha Christie waiting for me in my reading queue. I can't wait to get to them!
The Red Angel says
Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. 🙂 Couldn't stop reading, ahh it's soo good.
Anonymous says
Shibumi by Trevanian
Kyla says
I haven't read too many, I admit, but I loved The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. His 11-year-old aspiring chemist protagonist is a hoot.
robin says
I'm a huge Michael Crichton fan (for thrillers), with my favorite being PREY. As far as suspense goes, I like romantic suspense, and both HUNGER GAMES (Collins) and COVER OF NIGHT (Howard) are favorites.
Alyssa says
Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard!
I devoured it in a matter of hours, which was time spent shrieking; murmuring the chilly jewel-like dialogue so I wouldn't forget it; holding my breath; gasping; and biting my lip till it hurt. The writing in this novel is both spare and luminous. It is gorgeous and not one word is out of place or misused, and the story is incredible.
Terry Stonecrop says
I'm tied between Chandler's, The Long Goodbye and Ross Macdonald's, The Wycherly Woman.
Now I have to get The Rock Paper Tiger, if it's compared to The Big Sleep.
Anonymous says
Here's an unrelated question. How many new novels are released each week in comparison to new movies and video games? Seriously. That would be a barometer on the state of fiction these days.
Kate says
I guess I don't read mysteries/thrillers that often! I am however going to read Rock, Paper, Tiger. I read the first few pages on Amazon and I could hardly click "buy" fast enough.
I do remember needing the lights on, preferably SUN light, while reading Beloved. Creepy.
Kate says
I don't know what I was thinking. NCFOM. Hello.
Also, Blood Meridian. The Judge is one scary mo-fo.
Robert Michael says
MYSTERY by Peter Straub was a guilty pleasure read and my wife devoured it–she usually takes months to read a book and she finished it in a weekend. She laid in bed for hours and I would come in and bring her food and ask her "How's it going?" She would shush me and say, "Quiet. I'm at a good part."
This was fifteen years ago while she was pregnant with our third child. We still talk about the book today.
From a purely thriller standpoint: give me Follet and Ludlum or Stephen Hunter. Suspense: King, Le Carre or Rice.
Rollie Raleigh says
A broad Classification/Categorization compels me to cheat.
Thriller – The Day of the Jackal / The Andromeda Strain
Individual Suspense – The Long Goodbye / The Spy who came in from the Cold.
Collective Suspense – On the Beach / The Day of the Triffids
Just Mystery – And then there were none
And these just edge out dozens of other great mystery/thriller/suspense novels I've read.
Anonymous says
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John LeCarre.
(Only one previous mention of LeCarre, really? There's an argument to be made based on his early work that he is the best living writer in English, genre be damned.)
Dave F. says
The Name Of The Rose
by Umberto Eco…
PicardyRose says
REBECCA.I was horrified. Tied for second: MR. TIMOTHY — remember when he was climbing up that building and he's Charles Dickens' Tiny Tim so he's not exactly Jason Bourne and it was Christmas Eve so everything was all icy? — and BURY ME DEEP by Megan Abbott, most of which I read with my jaw dropped.
Anonymous says
Odds Against, Dick Francis.
Jamesmcshane says
Any of the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child. especially Persuader.
Judith Mercado says
LES MISERABLES by Victor Hugo. Yeah, the choice surprised me too, but it's what came to mind immediately in response to your question.
Marian Allen says
I agree with one of the anonymouses: THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett is my all-time favorite mystery. The convoluted plot, believably twisted characters and the quintessential hard-boiled hero, Sam Spade, make FALCON a feast to read and re-read.
I also love all of Michael Z. Lewin's mysteries, though his heroes and heroines tend to be medium-boiled at most.
Oh, and I've named my sleep apnea machine Raymond Chandler. What else COULD I call it, really?
Mel Skinner says
Difficult question. The one that stays with me…
"The Silence of the Lambs" by Thomas Harris.
AndrewDugas says
Ghost Story, by Peter Straub
WARNING: Do not read this book late at night when you're alone in the house.
Elie says
Was Rebecca (also liked Maigret & Cadfael) but now – Maximum Ride ..!
Clare WB says
Rebecca, The Name of the Rose, Presumed Innocent, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre,The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and just about any mystery written by a good writer I guess!
Robin Constantine says
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW by Allan R. Folsom. I literally could not put it down, great page turner.
Lia Keyes says
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
The Name of the Rose by Eco
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Magdalena Munro says
Grendel by John Gardner. It's a retelling of Beowulf from Grendel's point of view and boy oh boy was it thrilling and haunting for me to read. By the way, Nathan, hats off to you for a rather superb job marketing Rock Paper Tiger.
wendy says
Congratulations, Lisa! This is an exciting week for you. I hope Rock Paper Tiger does extremely well. Sounds like it deserves to.
I was puzzling over the answer to the question posed by Nathan when I read another post favouring The Exorcist. It never occurred that this book fitted the mystery/suspense/thriller category, but you could call it a supernatural thriller. In that case I'd have to agree this one is my favourite. I didn't appreciate its strengths when I read it in the 70's, because I was so frightened. But that shows the power of the story, the believability of the characters, and the excellence of the prose.