Carolyn Hart talks classic mysteries

Today's guest is Carolyn Hart, who has won so many awards and accolades I could fill a whole blog post listing them. Long known as a proponent of the traditional mystery, Carolyn has won thousands upon thousands of fans around the world for her various series which fit into the mold popular for over a century. She believes -- and I heartily agree -- that the writers of today can learn a lot from our forerunners in the genre. I asked her to talk about the classics and some of her favorites. WARNING: there might be a spoiler or two!

CLASSIC AND BRILLIANT By Carolyn Hart

Classic mysteries are more than icons in a pantheon. Classic mysteries were - and remain - original, captivating, and, for us, instructive.

These books excite my admiration and emulation:

            THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD by Agatha Christie

Christie is, was, and will always be the world’s greatest mystery author . The denouement was utterly unexpected. From that time forward, she was the reigning queen of taking the reader’s preconceptions and casual acceptance of what is presented and using those blinders to fool the reader and ultimately present an ending that scarcely any of them could foretell. For those who protest at the novel’s conclusion, go back to the passage where Dr. Sheppard stands at the study door and wonders if there was anything he had left undone. The genius of that paragraph should inform all of our work.                

TEN LITTLE INDIANS (aka AND THEN THERE WERE NONE) by Agatha Christie

In her autobiography, Christie said she was pleased with this book and that only she understood how difficult it had been to write. Her amazing accomplishment here was to create the perfect characters to exemplify their counterparts in the nursery rhyme. The entire book would have collapsed upon itself if she had not succeeded in bringing to life the particular persons who would behave in just the right way for her plot to succeed. Everything that happens in a mystery depends upon the character of those involved. This is a simple concept. It is a hugely difficult challenge. In a manuscript I just completed, I struggled early on because I couldn’t get the theme to mesh with the action. I realized I had miscast a main character. I went back to the first and Lorraine became the woman she needed to be for the book to work. 

            THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE by Mary Roberts Rinehart

An instantaneous success, Mary Roberts Rinehart was the first author to write a humorous mystery with a female protagonist. Life is real, life is earnest, but a great deal of good fun can be had in a mystery. The woman in jeopardy became a staple of crime fiction from then to now. Rinehart’s wry observations entertain. Engaging readers in a character’s survival and knowing when to entertain readers are lessons we can learn from her.

            THE CASE IS CLOSED  by Patricia Wentworth.

Patricia Wentworth combined romance and mystery with a series sleuth, Miss Maud Silver, whose ability to engage anyone and everyone in conversation helped her ultimately to sift from casual comments revelations that reveal a villain. In this particular book, she also put appealing people in devastating circumstances and the reader roots for them to prevail.             

          CAUSE FOR ALARM by Eric Ambler

Ambler excelled in authenticity. He knew the background, he knew the terrain, he knew what he was talking about. To experience immediacy with the events that led up to WWII, Ambler provides not only first rate excitement, he gives today’s readers a view of how those involved in the run up to war understood the world around them.

            THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR by Josephine Tey

Two women are accused of a crime. The accusations are damming, the evidence presented apparently incontrovertible. Tey creates an oppressive atmosphere, pulls us ever deeper into the despair of the accused women. The characterizations are compelling; the resolution riveting. Making a mystery intensely personal is one of Tey’s great achievements. Her gift to us is the realization that the homeliest background can be spellbinding if we care about the characters.

These authors have in common the ability to create intriguing puzzles and authentic characters. We can read them not only to learn, but to enjoy how well they played the fascinating game of the Mystery.

           

             

 

 

Comments

[Mary Kennedy]

These are fantastic choices! I love the idea that "everything that happens in a mystery depends on the character of those involved." Dean, thanks for posting Carolyn's wonderful comments. I loved Carolyn's GHOST GONE WILD and am eagerly awaiting her next release.

[Dean James]

Carolyn, I so agree! I've read all the books you list, except for Ambler's. I know I have it around the house somewhere, and I really need to dig it out and read it.

[krisneri]

Welcome to the Femmes, Carolyn. Some of these are old favorites of mine, but I'm unfamiliar with a couple of them, so I'll check them out. Speaking of classics -- instant classics -- while I've always enjoyed your contemporary mysteries, I'm really enjoying your WWII novels. too. Surely they are becoming instant classics.

[Carolyn Hart]

Dear Kris - You do know how to lift an author's spirits on a wintry day. Thank you very much for liking the WWII books. It means a great deal for me to have you say that.
This is fun to be a guest of the Femmes Fatale, wonderful writers all. Carolyn

[Dana Cameron]

Thanks for sharing this, Carolyn! I'm dashing off to re/read those books now!

[Toni L.P. Kelner]

I'm with Dana. It's for me to go back and reread some classics. Thanks for the reminders!

[Elizabeth Foxwell]

Thanks for reminding us, Carolyn, of some terrific books. Here is my favorite quote re Ambler, from Michael Gilbert in _Crime in Good Company_: "[Ambler] says that he was an unpleasant child, but produces no evidence of this beyond a single attempt to blow up his own house with nitroglycerin."

[Terrie Farley Moran]

Thank you for your extraordinary insight into the books that shaped the mystery genre. Except for the book by Patricia Wentworth (and thank you for that introduction) I read all of these books and many more by the authors. I was very young when I started reading them and became a life long lover of mysteries. I do appreciate your comments on just what made them so special.

[Carolyn Hart]

Dear Beth - Ah, the charms of Nuchael Gilbert, a delightful writer.

[catriona]

Delicious! Nothing is better than someone saying she loves four books you love too - the Christies, the Tey and the Wentworth - and then suggesting three new ones. Thank you, Carolyn.

[Charlaine Harris]

Great, great, books. I remember reading Mary Stewart's "Nine Coaches Waiting" about six times, and I see now that I was learning from it . . . as you did from all the books you cite.

[Carolyn Hart]

I should certainly have mentioned Mary Stewart though she is younger than the classic authors. She was superb. Remember The Ivy Tree and My Brother, Michael? Carolyn

[Debra H. Goldstein]

What a great reminder of books that are both delightful to read and wonderful "tools of the trade" to learn from.

[xn--hollisterklder-gib]

Even instructors can be bullies in varying degrees. Their disappointed frowns, impatient looks, and unfeeling remarks have a way of making you think you are the only person in the world who cannot master those formulas.
xn--hollisterklder-gib http://www.upplevelsefilm.se/xn--hollisterklder-gib/