Hier kommen Empfehlungen zu den besten, eher unbekannten Krimi-Autoren und ihren Detektiv-Geschichten: James Anderson, Joan Coggin, Edmund Crispin, Kerry Greenwood, Catriona McPherson sowie ein außergewöhnliches Buch von Emma Healey.
JAMES ANDERSON
Leseprobe: „There was no danger. She was surrounded by friends. Richard´s room was next door. The Peabodys were across the corridor, the Earl and Countess not far away. Nobody was going to hurt her. If there was any burglar about, all she had to do was shout for help.“ (Zitat aus The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy, Ausgabe von 2007.)
Beschreibung: Die Detektiv-Geschichten von James Anderson spielen in der besten englischen Gesellschaft, aufgemischt durch Künstler, Amerikaner, Spione, schöne Sängerinnen, Kino-Stars… Die Handlungen sind schnell, verwickelt und bis zum Schluss spannend. Der Stil: klassische englische Detektiv-Geschichte mit 1920er Jahre Flair, gut nachgemacht. Die Titel der Romane:
- The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy
- The Affair of the Mutilated Mink
- The Affair of the 39 Cufflinks
JOAN COGGIN
Leseprobe: „Glanville was a small seaside town, and it boasted three churches beside various chapels and other places of worship. To Lupin, who had hitherto spend her life in London or in the country it was like some foreign land. In fact it was just as exciting as going abroad (…) Now the public were starting to come in, this was chiefly gathered from the other parishes, as practically everyone in St. Mark´s who was not dumb had been put into the choir. Phyllis Gardner arrived with her church face carefully nailed on.“ (Zitat aus Who Killed the Curate?, Ausgabe von 2001).
Beschreibung: „When Lady Lupin turned her back on the gay society life to marry the Vicar of Glanville, she didn’t expect she’d have to turn detective in this comic detective novel first published in England in 1944 and set at Christmas 1937.“ Joan Coggins Detektivin im Lady Lupin Quartett ist schön, extrem unaufmerksam, nicht sehr klug, aber hilfsbereit. Die Geschichten sind verworren, spannend und spaßig. Allerdings sollte man gut Englisch lesen können, sonst wird das Vergnügen möglicherweise zur Qual… Die Romane sind:
- Who Killed the Curate (1944)
- The Mystery of Orchard House (1946)
- Why Did She Die? (1947)
- Dancing with Death (1947)
EDMUND CRISPIN
Leseprobe: “ `Like the later Wordsworth. I´m living on my spiritual capital.´ `The later Wordsworth.´Mr Spode giggled, and then suspecting he had committed an impropriety, fell abruptly silent. But Cadogan pursued his homiletic regardless. `I crave, in fact, for romance. THAT is why I´m learning to shoot with a revolver. That is also why I shall probably shoot you with it, if you don´t give me fifty pounds.´“ (Zitat aus The Moving Toyshop, Ausgabe von 1977.)
Beschreibung: Die Detektiv-Geschichten von Edmund Crispin gehören zu den verrücktesten, die wir bisher gelesen haben. Sie sind clever, nutzen viele Anspielungen auf „Bildungsinhalte“, sie sind spannend, sehr lustig, oft etwas gewalttätig und haben zumindest eine Sequenz, die an einen Action-Film erinnert. Der Detektiv ist ein Professor – für englische Literatur! – in Oxford. Äußerst unterhaltsam. Unserer Meinung nach sind die besten Krimis von Crispin vor 1950 geschrieben. Hier die Titel:
- The Case of the Gilded Fly, 1944
- Holy Disorders, 1945
- The Moving Toyshop, 1946
- Swan Song, 1947
- Love Lies Bleeding, 1948
- Buried for Pleasure, 1948
- Frequent Hearses, 1950
- The Long Divorce, 1951
- Beware of the Trains, 1953, Geschichten
- The Glimpses of the Moon, 1977
- Fen Country, 1979, Geschichten
KERRY GREENWOOD
Leseprobe: „Have I told you how I feel about four in the morning? Anguish, misery, existential dread, stubbing toe on cat? Oh, I have. Right. Take it as read, then, that I rose, stretched, yawned, washed, and stuffed my XXL body into size XXXL trackies which have seen better years, as indeed have I. (…) My name is Corinna Chapman, and I am a baker. I run a little shop called Earthly Delights on the corner of Flinders Lane and Calico Alley in the city of Melbourne. (…) So, one day I found out I didn´t care about accounts, and I did care about bread, and here I am.“ (Zitat aus Heavenly Pleasures, Ausgabe von 2009.)
Beschreibung: Kerry Greenwood veröffentlicht zwei unterschiedliche Linien von Detektiv-Geschichten. Die Corinna Chapman-Bücher spielen im modernen Australien, verarbeitet werden zeitgenössische Themen und entsprechende Verbrechen. Die Bücher sind spannend, etwas brutal, die Plots äußerst interessant. In der zweiten Linie, den Phryne Fischer-Geschichten, ist die Handlung jeweils im Australien der 1920er Jahre angesiedelt. Die Protagonistin ist jung, schön, reich, mutig und immer bereit, einen attraktiven Mann zu verführen. Alle Romane sind gute Schmöker, auch wenn die Machart eher konventionell ist.
The Corinna Chapman Mysteries:
- Earthly Delights
- Heavenly Plaesures
- Devil´s Food
- Trick or Treat
The Phryne Fisher Series:
- Murder in the Dark
- Cocaine Blues
- Urn Burial
- Death by Water
- … und viele mehr; Verfilmungen der Romane hier…
EMMA HEALEY
Leseprobe und Beschreibung von „Elisabeth is Missing“ hier …
CATRIONA MCPHERSON
Leseprobe: „I am not – and I say this with neither pride nor shame – a sensitive soul. Not one of those women whose recreation lies amongst `things she cannot explain´, sudden powerful convictions of who knows what exactly. I should not go so far as to say I have NO finer feelings, but whenever I compare mine with those of my acquaintance they do seem somewhat coarser in the main. (…) How am I to explain then the conviction I held from the earliest stage of the Esslemont affair that somewhere here was such hatred, malign and unstoppable, that it must lead, as flood-water up and melt-water down, to violent death?“ (Zitat aus After the Armistice Ball, Ausgabe von 2006.)
Beschreibung: Catriona McPhersons erste Detektiv-Geschichte mit Dandy Gilver als Amateur-Detektivin war diese: „After the Armistice Ball is set among the struggling upper classes of 1920s Perthshire as, in the aftermath of the First World War, their comfortable world begins to crumble. Dandy Gilver, her husband back from the War, her children off at school and her uniform growing musty in the attic, is bored to a whimper and a little light snooping seems like harmless fun. Before long, though, the puzzle of what really happened to the Duffy diamonds after the Armistice Ball is swept aside by a sudden death in a lonely seaside cottage in Galloway. Society and the law seem ready to call it an accident but Dandy, along with Cara Duffy’s fiance Alec, is sure that more is going on than meets the eye. What is being hidden by members of the Duffy family: the watchful Lena, the cold and distant Clemence and old Gregory Duffy with his air of quiet sadness, not to mention Cara herself whose secret always seems just tantalizingly out of view? Dandy must learn to trust her instincts and swallow most of her scruples if she is to uncover the truth and earn the right to call herself a sleuth.“
Dandy Gilver Murder Mysteries:
- After the Armistice Ball
- The Burry Man´s Day
- Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains
- Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for a Murder
- Bury Her Deep
- … und viele mehr