1. Famous Mystery Fiction Writers of All Time
Everybody likes a great mystery book, even the female of the species, if they are not reaching for
the hottest romantic novels that is. Now and again the expectation and exhilaration of a detective
story or mystery story can be exactly what's needed.
British mystery fiction authors which women are particularly drawn to are Reginald Hill, who is one
of the top fifty crime fiction authors and has published over twenty books and we mustn't speak
about mystery fiction without mentioning possibly the most famous mystery author of all time,
Agatha Christie.
Agatha Christie was born in 1890 and is well known for writing detective novels featuring the
canny novice detectives, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. Counting the classic murder mysteries,
“Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile”, our monarch of mystery wrote over 80
novels and short story collections.
Progressive American crime fiction novelist, Patricia Cornwall, is generally well-known for her
series of books based on the character, Dr Kay Scarpetta. As a chief medical examiner, Dr
Scarpetta, together with the assistance of her friendly detective, investigate and solve crimes and
murders involving the use of forensic science. It's believed that popular TV series such as CSI
were inspired by these bestselling books.
The Black Dahlia case, as it was called by journalists in 1947, centred upon the brutal murder of
Elizabeth Short. Her body was found on an empty plot; cut in two, mutilated and drained of blood.
This is a true story which received a great deal of newspaper coverage at that time, however the
case remains a mystery to this day. The Black Dahlia and other mystery fiction stories that are all
about real events intrigue and fascinate readers more.
Val McDermid is possibly better known for the “Wire in the Blood” books that are about the lead
character, Dr Tony Hill, a psychological profiler. These mystery fiction books are truly frightening
because of the author’s capacity of seeing inside the mind of a twisted or deranged killer
consequently allowing Dr Hill, a man who is also driven and disturbed, to do what he does best.
The success of the TV series of the same name has thrust these books back into the limelight.
The author tells the story to include every character's viewpoint, including the killer’s, whose
2. identity remains a mystery until the end and with chapters which consistently finish with a cliff
hanger moment it is almost impossible to put them down. This is a specialist crime fiction writer
who is skilled at keeping readers on the hook.
PD James is often believed to be a male writer, but Phyllis Dorothy James is an English mystery
writer most popular for her series of detective books that brought to our attention the character of
commander Adam Dalgliesh.
James's debut novel, Cover Her Face, was published in 1962 and her most recent Dalgliesh
novel, The Private Patient, was published in 2009. PD James is now in the Crime Writing Hall of
Fame and is unmistakably the country's preferred murder mystery novelist.
Not surprisingly all the above novels have transferred successfully onto film, sometimes more than
once because of the nation’s enthusiasm and hunger for even more of these books on film and TV
.
