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Classic Detective Novels
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Classic Detectives
Philip Marlow
and Company:
The Classic Detective Novels
Note: my own reading of these classic detective novels was sparked by a wonderful article in American Heritage Magazine, by Lawrence Block called "The Mystery Story" (July-Aug 1993). Get a copy if you can, because it's terrific.
In the
list below, I've marked with a gold star 
the
selections that Block lists as being favorites. You can't go wrong with
anything on the list! Note: some are out of print, or on back order.You
can backorder them, or try your local library.
Anthony
Boucher(1911-68)
Nine-Times-Nine
more
by Anthony Boucher
Fredric
Brown (1906-72)
Murder
Can Be Fun
The
Fabulous Clipjoint
The
Screaming Mimi
The
Night of the Jabberwock
The Wench is Dead
oop
more
by Fredric Brown
James
M. Cain (1892-1977)
The
Postman Always Rings Twice
Double
Indemnity
Ramond
Chandler
Farewell,
My Lovely
The
Big Sleep
The
Long Good-bye
The
Little Sister
The
High Window
Playback
The
Lady in the Lake
Stanley Ellin (1916-86)
the short stories
The
Eigth Circle
more
by Stanley Ellin
Erle
Stanley Gardener (1889-1970)
The
Case of the Sulky Girl (Perry Mason)
All the Selby novels
All
the other Masons
Dashiell
Hammett (1894-1961)
The
Maltese Falcon
The
Continental Op
more
by Dashiell Hammett
Chester
Himes (1909-84)
Cotton
Comes to Harlem
Blind
Man with a Pistol
more
by Chester Himes
John
D. MacDonald (1916-86)
The
Deep Blue Goodby
One
More Sunday
The
End of the Night
One
Monday We Killed Them All
("Start with The Deep Blue Goodby and read them all
in order"-Block)
Ross
MacDonald (1915-83)
The
Doomsters
The
Galton Case
The
Far Side of the Dollar
The
Drowning Pool
The
Wycherly Woman
Ellery
Queen
The Greek Coffin Mystery
oop
The
Chinese Orange Mystery
Calamity
Town
Ten
Days' Wonder
Cat of Many Tails
oop
Jack Ritchie (1922-83) alll the short stories
Jim
Thompson (1906-76)
The
Grifters
The
Killer Inside Me
Pop.
1280
The
Getaway
Charles
Willeford (1919-88)
Miami
Blues
Cornell
Woolrich (1903-68)
The
Bride Wore Black
This is what I'm supposed to be doing when I'm reading instead.