The Mysteries That Make a Difference

by R.J. Koreto
|
7 books
This is a list of mysteries that influenced me heavily and continue to provide a goal for the fiction I write when it comes to plots, themes, characters, and settings.
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Murder on the Orient Express

A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition
Agatha Christie, 2003
There are many aspects of this book that recommend it, but for me, it's the absolute perfection of the plot that grabs me. For any mystery, the key is a plot that is both unguessable and yet, when revealed, makes perfect sense. That is my goal—and it's hard to think of a book that achieved that better than this one.

Rebecca

Daphne du Mourier, 2001
Characterization and setting grab me every time. Even if this didn't have an amazing plot—and it does—this book would make my list thanks to the haunting personalities: Maxim de Winter, Mrs. Danvers, and Rebecca herself, all seen through the eyes of the confused narrator. The house and its Cornish setting count as a character, too. These characters continue to run around my mind, many years after reading it.

Champagne for One

Rex Stout, 2010
Virtually any Nero Wolfe mystery would fit here, they are so consistently excellent! Stout wrote great plots, but what makes this series so wonderful is the "family" he created, starting with the sardonic P.I. Archie Goodwin. He narrates the stories working for the brilliant, eccentric Nero Wolfe, who never leaves his townhouse, where he caters to his obsessions with food and orchids. Other operatives and police detectives create a delightful group. Every book feels like a family reunion. Any long-running mystery series relies on familiar people and settings whom we grow to love; no one did this better than Stout.

A Murder of Quality

John le Carre, 2002
This is one of the few Le Carré novels that doesn't take place in the world of espionage, but still features subtle spymaster George Smiley. Here, Smiley helps a friend solve an unfathomable murder at a distinguished boy’s school. No writer exceeds Le Carré in probing the dark impulses that drive us and the confused motivations that run our lives. Le Carré books contain no easy answers, and in his morally grey world not one of his all-too-real characters is completely innocent or guilty. I have thought long and hard after each of his books.

The Daughter Of Time

A gripping historical mystery
Josephine Tey, 2011
I love this book for the sheer originality of it and the way Tey creates a delightful page-turner out of history. Laid-up police inspector Alan Grant approaches the story of King Richard III, supposedly guilty of killing his nephews, as a criminal case. With wit and cleverness, Tey gives readers a fresh view of history, in one of the most unusual police procedurals ever written.

Cocaine Blues

Kerry Greenwood, 2005
Sleuth Phryne Fisher is one of the most original and engaging detectives of the last half century, and she occupies the exciting Roaring Twenties. Phryne is so vivid, and so unconventional for the time, it's impossible not to fall in love with her. The plots in her books are both dark and glittering, with a fascinating series of motivations. Every character is well-etched, and Phryne's world is so well-described that you'll think you're in a time machine.

Murder on Marble Row

A Gaslight Mystery
Victoria Thompson, 2005
Thompson's long-running series features midwife Sarah Brandt, who solves mysteries in turn-of-the-century New York City. Not only is Brandt a delightful and engaging sleuth, but Thompson is pitch-perfect in describing old New York. I was born and raised in New York and have set some of my own novels there. No one brings the city to life as beautifully as Thomson does.