The Top Shelf

We keep writing new books, but there are so many classics out there. What are the crime fiction classics you think every writer should read?

by Dietrich

I think it’s subjective, and we’ve all got our own favorites, but there are crime-fiction classics that I’ve enjoyed reading, then rereading and some of these novels remain among my favorites. While some of the authors are long gone — Elmore Leonard, George V Higgins, Charles Willeford, and James Crumley, Sue Grafton and Agatha Christie — their novels live on in classics like Freaky Deaky, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Miami Blues, The Last Good Kiss, A is for Alibi, And Then There Were None — all of them deserving that top shelf. 

And there are many talented writers with new releases that are sure to become tomorrow’s classics.

After reading Don Winslow’s latest, City in Ruins, the third installment in the Danny Ryan series, it’s a good feeling knowing Winslow’s in fine form and going strong. It would be hard to pick a favorite among his novels, but The Winter of Frankie Machine does stand out for me, and it’s one I highly recommend. It’s about a retired hitman who has a botched attempt put on his own life, and he sets out to find his would-be killer and turn the tables.

James Lee Burke – The Neon Rain was the first in the Dave Robicheaux series, another classic and another great series, right up to his latest and 24th in the series, Clete, which currently sits on top of my reading stack. The tale’s told from the perspective of Dave’s partner Clete as the two of them aim to stop a gang of ruthless drug smugglers.

Karin Slaughter’s This is Why We Lied is the latest in her Will Trent and Sara Linton series. It’s a locked-room mystery of the first order that kept me turning the pages. Excellent writing that’s sure to become a classic series. 

Mick Herron — From the first in his Slough House series, Slow Horses, Herron had me hooked on this bunch of washed-up MI5 spies whiling away what’s left of their failed careers. Book 8 in the series is Bad Actors, in which Jackson Lamb and his slow horses are called on once more to do what they do best, adding chaos to an unstable situation. There’s also a collection of novellas set in the Slow Horses universe titled Standing by the Wall, which I’m looking forward to reading.

James Sallis’s Lew Griffin novels are top-notch reading. The series started with The Long-legged Fly (1992) ending with the seventh, Ghost of a Flea (2001). Lew’s a boozy, jaded, cynical black private detective on a missing person’s case on the mean streets of New Orleans in the 60s. It’s first-rate detective fiction that’s loaded with great characters and fabulous dialogue.

Daniel Woodrell’s Under the Bright Lights was the first in his The Bayou Trilogy and one I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s fast-paced and hard-hitting, and when you read it, you’re sure to go on to Muscle for the Wing and The Ones You Do — another highly recommended series.