Thank you for this discussion. I lean more towards the thriller with a side of mystery, light on the crime. I do also like cozy mysteries especially if they have cats and a magical element. I just finished reading a mystery called Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R Rendon. Women are going missing from a reservation in Minnesota. It was very atmospheric with the snowy Minnesota winter and the woods playing a major roll. I was filled with dread from all the poor decisions that the gumshoe main character was making to find the missing women. It had an element of a cozy (ie the amateur sleuth) but was heavier on the suspense because there was a perpetrator continuing to do bad things. Not sure what I would call it. My library slapped a “mystery” sticker on the spine which I agree with as a main genre; it’s the sub-genre that I’m not good at.
The thing about crime literature is its fluidity (not unlike fantasy and science fiction), it's kind of hard to pin down what 'crime fiction' is but I think you guys did a good job succinctly describing what crime fiction is, and the many subgenres. Though of course, it can be hard to define crime novels cleanly, because they often run around in different styles in one book. For instance, is Gone Girl a psychological thriller? A psychological thriller with noir elements? Both? How about Millennium books? Crime thriller? Noir crime thriller? All of the above? I give up... Anyway as you guys know, I generally prefer my crime to be more hard boiled and intense. I do like some of the classic mysteries such as Sherlock Holmes, Dupin (aka the original Sherlock), and some of the Poirot novels (Murder on The Orient Express is excellent), but I generally like a harder edge if you will. Good work guys!
It definitely shows you guys put a lot of thought and work into this, and I hope you know how much it's appreciated 🤩 I think psychological thrillers, epic crime (a term of which I had never heard of before) and cozy mysteries are my personal favourites, but I am definitely going to dabble in a few of the other genres based on all your guys' amazing enthusiastic recs! A lot of my favourite fantasies have great mystery/thriller/crime aspects, like Legacy of the Brightwash by Krystle Matar (steampunk detective noir), Mushroom Blues (fungalpunk noir), and The Wickwire Watch (murder mystery cozy-ish steampunk with a dash of horror). Genreblending is just the best! 😛
Holy guacamole this is an epically great Booktube vid!!!!! And tailor made to be informative for someone like me who knows almost nothing about this whole side of the literary world. Granted I have a good feel for these genres and subgenres from movies I’ve watched over the years (especially when I was more of a cinephile than reader in my high school and college days), but I’m interested in exploring these more in books so this was just perfect for me. I recently read a fantasy murder mystery that I loved (Murder at Spindle Manor) and a sci-fi thriller that I loved in Dark Matter, so I def need to try more. What would you recommend for me? I feel like for something outside of spec fic that something on the more epic scale like Power of the Dog sounds up my alley, or maybe trying out a new subgenre like the spy thrillers would be fun.
I’ve been reading thrillers for a while now, and I prefer more literary leaning thrillers. Thanks to you both I’ve recently started reading more crime novels. I truly enjoyed my first Dennis Lehane, Small Mercies, and intend to read more of his works. I will also be reading The Blackhouse, Dissolution, and Ohio soon. Thanks for all your great recommendations. A book in this vein I would highly recommend to you both is The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker. It is a dark character study of an eight-year old girl who kills a young child, but its real focus is the impact of abuse, the way society views criminals, and the idea of throwaway children. I thought it was an intelligent and impactful book I could not stop reading.
This video was great! Why didn't y'all cover my one of my favorite subgenres? Atomic SF Noir Cosmic Horror Such a huge oversight 😤. (The Big Jump by Leigh Brackett is the only book in the genre 😂) I'm gonna need y'all to read some Travis McGee even it means I have to send you the first few in the form of the original 1964 paperbacks 😉. I really appreciate y'all making this. It has helped me sort out the genre in my brain. Thanks!
So if I really enjoyed Winter of Frankie Machine (I promised Yolanda I'd read Power of the Dog next), and loving Dennis Lehane (Ive read Shutter Island and Mystic River) Ed Brubaker's Criminal (just started the 2nd volume)... what should I check out next, especially from the latter two I mentioned?
