Oh, my. Where am I even going to start?

* Wilkie Collins and the entire British Golden Age generation, from Conan Doyle to Christie, Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and Chesterton.
* Historical mysteries, particularly by C.J. Sansom (Shardlake series), Iain Pears, Ellis Peters (Cadfael), and the "Medieval Murderers" round robins (thanks to Bettie and Susanna for the tip).
* The great contemporary British mystery writers (P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, Colin Dexter, Peter Robinson, Val McDermid et al.); not forgetting Ian Rankin for Scotland (who knows, maybe this time next year he won't even qualify for inclusion in "British" any longer).
* Chandler, Hammett and the entire "classic noir" ilk.
* Nero Wolfe and Perry Mason.
* Modern noir and noirish crime fic by Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos and Sara Paretsky -- and of course not to forget, Robert B. Parker.
* Any and all mysteries (well, any and all books, really) that take me on a trip around the world ... if also back in time, all the better, but present times will do just as nicely. Robet van Gulik and Georges Simenon meet Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson in this particular category.

Any and all mysteries, really, provided they're well-written and manage to draw me in within the first 10 pages or less ...

Reply to post #17 (show post):
I love your enthusiasm for the genre!

Please feel free to create a discussion for your favorite mystery author. I've always wanted to find a place to discuss my favorite authors or the one I'm currently reading without it hinging around a particular book. If you have other ideas that you would like to see this group pursue, post those here. Let's have some fun with this!

I tend to binge read mysteries, going through my favorite authors every few years, taking an armful at a time from the other building (garage/office/library) to the house. Just grabbed a stack of Ross McDonald today. Other favorites include John D. McDonald, Hillerman, Chandler and Hammett, Peters (Pargeter), and Elmore Leonard.

I tend to binge read also. When I first discovered Stephanie Plum I think I read 1 to 12 in a week. You really get a feel for the characters that way. (I was on summer vacation with all day free. I would never normally get to read quite that much in one week!)

Oh, you guys have mentioned so many terrific writers that I'm getting excited about getting back to mysteries again. I used to devour them then sort of shifted to literary fiction, but with all the suggestions mentioned I'm heading back.