Mystery, Detective, Spy and Summer

[Jim3k]

I'm partial to reading mystery, detective and spy novels. Over the summer, so far, I've binge-read all but one of Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther books and am working on the ninth. Earlier, I even reached back for James Fenimore Cooper's "The Spy" and Joseph Conrad's "Secret Agent." Also two Stella Rimingtons.

Of course, over the years I've read many others. Anyway, knowing how intellectually lightweight everyone else here is, except for Sage, () I thought I'd ask if anyone has any such novels they want to recommend. It doesn't have to be contemporary, but I suspect everyone here has already read Deighton and LeCarré, so I'd try for off-the-beaten-path recommendations.

Given my current obsession, I will recommend all nine of the Bernie Gunther novels quite highly. Start with the books comprising the Berlin Noir trilogy. March Violets, the first of the trilogy, is the best place to start.

[Blue in the Face]

This definitely veers towards the intellectually lightweight side of things, but I tend to like the Bond novels. I've read some of the post-Fleming ones, and some weren't bad, but the originals are certainly my preference. Fun, breezy reads.

A much more involved book is I Am Pilgrim, about a retired spy / forensic expert pressed back into service to find a terrorist. It's pretty long and detailed, but it really sucks you in and moves quickly, weaving the various storylines together.

[duke23]

This isn't off-the-beaten-path at all, but one of my favorites in the genre is Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal.

One that I read recently that is more contemporary in both style and content is Olen Steinhauer's The Cairo Affair.

Finally, Child 44 is probably the best book I've read this year. It's not really in the spy genre, but is a mystery with the main character as a detective in the security force of the Stalin-era Soviet Union.

[Olympic Fan]

Just by coincidence I received a catalogue today from Daedalus Books, announcing their annual Mystery sale. Daedalus offers a huge variety of books (plus CDs and DVDs). To check out their mystery offerings, visit:

http://www.daedalusbooks.com/Product...rCategoryID=10

Last summer I bought a wide variety of mysteries from them -- most of which combined historical fiction with the detective novel.

I think my favorites were a series of mysteries by Boris Akunin (who wrote originally in Russian) about Erast Fandorin, an investigator for Czarist Russia in the late 19th Century. One reviewer suggested that Akunin is a cross between Gogol, Tolstoy and Arthur Conan Doyle.

Start with The Winter Queen and go from there:

http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Queen-B...nin+in+english

[Jim3k]

Enjoyed Akunin's Winter Queen. Going for the second Fandorin novel, The Turkish Gambit, now.

[rthomas]

I'm really curious about ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’ by David Lagercrantz. Loved the first three Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series. If anyone has read it, let us know whether it is a read. Or a knock off. It's getting pretty good reviews.