I am, as you probably know. It's the only kind of trashy fiction I can stand. I prefer the non-trashy variety, but I can read trashy mysteries as long as the writing doesn't make me retch.

If you are a fan, who's your favorite author? And what's your favorite Hitchcock movie?

Me: P.D. James, and after Strangers on a Train, probably Vertigo.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

Answers

Wow, is no one checking the journal on Xmas eve but me? I am not a big mystery fan, but I really do like Patricia Highsmith and wish more people knew about her. Besides Purple Noon, Wim Wenders' "The American Friend" is also based on a later Ripley novel, but I can't recommend that movie (it was sorta boring).

A good adaptation of one of her books is the French movie "The Cry of the Owl" from 1991.

And for the record, it's very hard to pick a favorite Hitchcock film, but I think I love "Rope" the best.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

Actually, my modem appears to be in need of some prunes, is why I haven't checked in.

I love mysteries. This year I discovered, and devoured, all the John Harvey books about Charlie Resnick. I had to order one of them from England.

I like both hard-boiled and cosies, depending on my mood at the time, and historicals if they are well-done. My enjoyment of a book which seemed to be well-researched Pittsburgh in early 1900s was dimmed when she had someone in the Boy Scouts in 1880. So what else was wrong?

Hitchcock. probably Rope. Rear Window, too.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

Ohh yes indeed I love the mysteries. Raymond Chandler, first and foremost. then Ross Macdonald. Also Walter Mosely. And Sue Graften and Anne Perry. And of course the noir movies, supremely rentable. the Big Sleep and Devil in a Blue Dress, and all the Edward G. Robinson ones. Key Largo, even the Maltese Falcon, and of course barbara stanwyck in THE GREATEST: Double Indemnity. The silk, the diamonds, the shoulder pads, the snappy dialogue. love it!!

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

I love some mystery series---Nero Wolfe stories by Rex Stout, or John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee...but there are some mystery series that aren't even trashy. I strongly recommend the Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers....worth rereading again and again, even when you know whodunnit.--Al of Nova Notes.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

I am not really a mystery fan. I can read them and I remember that I plowed through every single Agatha Christie novel I could get ahold of in 6th grade but not really. I would probably like the Sue Grafton stuff though.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

For the movie, probably Vertigo. But I liked Strangers on a Train a lot as well.

For books, I love mysteries. But I'm very conservative about them. It takes a lot to get me to read a new author. I went through an Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers phase in elementary school, although I now don't like either of them as much as I did then. And I never really liked Poirot or Miss Marple, which eliminates much of the Christie Canon. I do highly recommend the Tommy and Tuppence books (_Partners in Crime_, _N or M?_, and at least one more) and the one-shot characters (_The Mysterious Mr. Quin_, _Sparkling Cyanide_). _The Mysterious Mr. Quin_, in particular, is very different from the standard mystery of that era (it is somewhat supernatural).

My recent favorite has been Margery Allingham. I have enjoyed all of her books that I have read (though I didn't like the 1960's era ones as much), and several of them struck me as being quite brilliant. And if you get a chance, watch the Mystery!/BBC adaptations of some of the Campion books. Although I do think they botched _Dancers in Mourning_, which was one of my favorites. _Tether's End / Hide My Eyes_, _Police At The Funeral_, and _More Work For The Undertaker_ also stand out. She combines interesting plots (and believable but unpredictable twists), intriguing characters, and more than competant writing.

I keep meaning to start reading P.D. James (and I read _A Certain Justice_, and liked it a lot) and a few others, but I never seem to get around to it. I can enjoy trashy mysteries sometimes, although they can drive me crazy. Marion Babson stands as my example of how not to write a mystery- she only develops the characters of the sleuths, the victims, and the killer. Once the murder occurs, it is painfully obvious whodunnit. But they can be fun anyway. And yes, I read mysteries with an eye to how they're written, because I have that nagging desire to write them myself sometime. And to that end, it is valuable to see the fatal errors some make, as well as the seemingly unattainable brilliance of others. But I'd still rather read an Allingham.

-- Anonymous, December 25, 1999

I love mysteries. Love 'em. My favorite authors are Josephine Tey, Elizabeth George, Jill Churchill, Polly Whitney, and Lawrence Block's "The Burglar Who" series.

I enjoy series more than one-offs, but I can be very harsh if a favorite series author has a bad outing.

If the characters are strong and interesting, I don't mind if the solution to the mystery is obvious. If the characters are flat and uninteresting, then the book is a loss for me, no matter how intriguing the actual mystery might be.

Unfortunately, I've had a bad run lately, with books that I simply wanted to fling out a window. (Uninteresting characters *and* a stupid plot. Why do they publish these things?)

My favorite Hitchcock would also be the first I ever saw: Rebecca.

-- Anonymous, December 27, 1999

(We just got back from LA where I couldn't get online with my mom's computer. I missed you, Beth!)

Yes, I like mysteries. Particularly Brit ones. I've read all of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell (my favorite), P.D. James, and Ngaio Marsh (she's actually a New Zealander.) And some others - Nicholas somebody (the pseudonym of the guy who's Daniel Day-Lewis' father), another more recent one whose name I can't remember. A male writer who writes about a police officer.

I like some Americans too - Ross McDonald, Ed McBain. That series about the gay detective with titles like "Slate." Jonathan Kellerman used to be good.

I like police procedurals best. I haven't read "A is for..." and shamefully haven't read Chandler yet, but suddenly I have a jones to do so.

I've seen a whole heap of Hitchcock movies because I had two boyfriends who were Hitchcock nuts and we went to Hitch festivals and ssaw things like his silents. I love his films and never get tired of 'em. Better to ask about ones I didn't like - just "Torn Curtain" and "Frenzy". So many great ones. I'd like to go to one of those film festivals right now.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 1999