Authors

This lists the authors that have passed through my mystery collection as of June 2022, “passed through” because I deaccessioned much of the collection when we moved into a smaller Chicago apartment in 2006, keeping only a favorite subset and this list of who was once there.

I now keep only a subset of what I buy—that is, I leave books I didn’t like behind. (Since increasingly I buy electronically, “keep” has different meaning.) For the most part I eschew thrillers and espionage novels, but of course there are exceptions.

Some of these authors test the limits of “mystery,” either as to genre or as to quality—depressingly often, as to both. I owned ’em, so I list ’em. Authors whose books I would definitely buy again (sometimes merely meaning that I did so) carry a single “*”; authors I might even buy in hardcover carry a double “**” (although this is moot in the case of authors who write no more, or those available electronically). I’ll buy books by unrated authors again, too, and by authors I’ve not yet read. Truth be told, I’ll buy and read books I’ve read before, remembering neither the mystery nor the solution. On occasion I won’t realize that until I shelve them, and, if the publisher has changed the cover, perhaps not even then. I remember names badly, so there are authors I’ve failed to rate because I’ve forgotten who they are. Don’t take any of this too seriously.

The list grows over time. Ratings change without notice. Comments or recommendations welcome, preferably by email.