The best crime book? Agatha Christie to Ian Rankin - eight authors pick their favourite
Spike Island hosts its inaugural literary festival next week.
On the first weekend in September, Spike Island will host its inaugural literary festival, featuring readings and workshops by luminaries of crime fiction in the most atmospheric of surroundings. We caught up with eight of the participating authors to ask about their favourite crime novel, what makes it a must-read, and how it influenced their own work.
"The crime novels that have lit up my reading life most brightly are the 11 books of the Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell. Spanning the years 1997 (Faceless Killers) to 2014 (An Event in Autumn), the series encapsulates so much of what is wonderful about great literature: fascinating voices, compelling characters, absorbing stories.
"The sense of place (so vital in crime writing) never wanes. Wallander’s development as a character is relentless (sometimes brutal, especially at the horrifying end), but the series is also a critique of society and a deep dive into what it means to be alive."
"I love the big reveal of Agatha Christie, and the current crop of homegrown crime writers is second to none. But for the week that’s in it, it has to be A Murder Inside by Frances Brody, set in 1960s Brackerly Prison, Yorkshire. The newly appointed governor, Nell Lewis, is busy transforming this archaic institution into a modern facility for women.
"But Nell becomes a reluctant sleuth when a corpse is discovered on prison grounds. Ever since my time as writer-in-residence at Cork Prison thirty years ago, I have questioned the nature of incarceration as punishment, retribution or public safety."
"One of my favourite crime novels is Witch Hunt by Ian Rankin. The main character – Witch – is a terrorist and the novel focuses on her return to the UK and the three detectives hunting her down. A propulsive read, it opened the door for me to the rest of Rankin’s work, in particular the Inspector Rebus series. Rankin’s novels contain the essential ingredients for a good thriller – sympathetic characters and a compelling plot.
"I have always enjoyed a series, following familiar characters through the darkest of plots, and the Rebus series remains a favourite. This love of revisiting a favourite character influenced my own trilogy; it was as enjoyable to write about a familiar character as it is to read about one."
"Charles Willeford lists the following as top jobs: lighthouse keeper, jazz musician and baker. This is no affectation, and perhaps is not surprising from a man who was orphaned as a child during the Great Depression, lived in relief camps, relied on soup kitchens and travelled with hobos. Hoke Moseley, his homicide detective in New Hope for the Dead, is a ramshackle man with false teeth and good instincts.
"He is at once pathetic and formidable. Containment is not his strong suit, but in the long run his judgement proves astute. Along the way, however, there is room for doubt. The Hoke Moseley novels are luminous character studies and rival the work of the great Raymond Chandler. Elmore Leonard has said no one writes a better crime novel than Charles Willeford."
"A favourite crime novel of mine is Miss Smilla’s Feeling For Snow (1992). The lead character, Smilla Jaspersen, is part Inuit, part Danish. She wears her politics on her sleeve and detests racism. When her neighbour’s son (also Inuit) dies in suspicious circumstances, Smilla takes a closer look and of course spots something the disinterested local police have overlooked.
"The author Peter Høeg writes with a light touch, blending politics and plot with ease. For me, though, the character of Smilla is the standout feature of the book. An outsider, she’s not afraid to ask difficult questions and has a natural affinity for the underdog – inspiring."
"I'm not sure I could ever pick a favourite crime novel, but a standout for me was Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell. This was the first thriller I'd read with a strong female lead, back in the nineties. I loved Scarpetta so much that from then on, my choice of books became all about the character. I write in the same way, each book driven by its characters.
"Today I'll pick up a Scarpetta or a Reacher, Thorn or Parker even without reading the blurb, because I know I'll enjoy them. There still aren’t enough crime books with female leads, but I’m joining a growing number of female crime writers working to change that."
"Recently at Cork City Library, Tadhg Coakley and I talked about our favourite crime novels. The choosing process beforehand was so fiendishly difficult and emotionally demanding it kept me awake at night. And now I’m being asked to whittle that hard-won list down to one! Well, here goes. I might have chosen Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – an acknowledged masterpiece – which l adore. But, in truth, Mystic River by Dennis Lehane might be more of an influence. Brilliant, authentic and utterly compelling, the space Lehane gives to the city of Boston inspired me to try the same with Cork."
"A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine is a book I read twenty years ago, but it’s still one of my favourites. Barbara Vine (a pseudonym used by Ruth Rendell) probably didn’t invent domestic suspense, but she was writing it long before the term came into common usage. A Fatal Inversion has all the ingredients I love in a story: an unusual discovery at the outset, past secrets, and a slow burn unravelling of characters and their motivations. It centres on a group of older teens, living a hedonistic life in a rambling country house during the heatwave of 1976. What happened during that hot summer, and whose bones were found ten years later?
"It reminds me of The Girls by Emma Cline, The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell and The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Prior to reading it, I had been hooked on detective novels; it was revelatory to me that crime novelists could also tell stories about ordinary people facing extraordinary events, without featuring detectives in leading roles. And some years on, with Barbara Vine in mind, those are the kind of books I began to write."
- Spike Island Literary Festival takes place on the weekend of September 2-4. For details, see https://www.spikeislandcork.ie/literary-festival/
