A lot of crime writing bloggers lately have been talking about some of their favorite forgotten, out-of-print, or overlooked mystery novels and thrillers. Here are a few of mine, off the top of my head…
THE EIGER SANCTION by Trevanian
SHIBUMI by Trevanian
UNDER COVER OF DAYLIGHT James W. Hall
FLETCH by Gregory MacDonald
THE DA DA CAPER by Ross H. Spencer
DARK RIDE by Kent Harrington
THE ROPE DANCER by Victor Marchetti
THE ONES YOU DO by Daniel Woodrell
UNDER THE BRIGHT LIGHTS by Daniel Woodrell
HE DIED WITH HIS EYES OPEN by Derek Raymond
The WYATT novels by Garry Disher
TEARS OF AUTUMN by Charles McGarry
STILL AMONG THE LIVING by Zachary Klein
THE INNOCENTS by Richard Barre
The CARNEY WILDE books by Bart Spicer
The SAINT novels by Leslie Charteris
The SHELL SCOTT novels by Richard S. Prather
The early MATT HELM books by Donald Hamilton
TIDEWATER BLOOD by William Hoffman
BUTCHER'S BOY by Thomas Perry
THE FIRST DEADLY SIN by Lawrence Sanders
THE NEW CENTURIONS by Joseph Wambaugh
IN LA LA LAND WE TRUST by Robert Campbell (as well as his other Whistler novels)
THE RED CORVETTE by Robert Sims Reid
THE OWL by Bob Forward
THE DETECTIVE by Roderick Thorp
A WHITE MERC WITH FINS by James Hawes
I am sure that I've left out dozens and dozens of other books… and I've intentionally excluded Harry Whittington and Charles Willeford. If I went through the boxes of paperbacks in my garage, I'm sure I could add a lot of other titles/names to this list.
SHIBUMI by Trevanian is one of my all time favorites. I buy a lot of extra copies so I can share it with people.
mmmmmmm razor blade sex…….
I loved the warning to readers not to try it at home!
Nice list. My only real disagreement is I would have just said The Matt Helm novels. But that’s just a matter of taste, I suppose.
It’s a good list – I didn’t realize that the Saint books were forgotten! I’m sad to hear it. I read, and enjoyed, many of them when I was younger.
I’d add the Alba mysteries by Delacorte (Daniel Oldier). The most famous, I suppose, is Diva but there are a few others. They’re wonderfully trashy.