Detective Fiction

My Journey

Everybody has a story about how they became a reader.  Which genre and author's that they went through on their journey to being the reader they are today.

Mildred McBride's mother is responsible for making a passionate reader out of me.  When I was about nine, she asked if I was a reader.  I probably gave her a blank stare and mumbled answer.  She went into the house and came out with a book that she said I could take home.  It was one of the Sugar Creek Gang series (this was in the late 40's) and I devoured my first mystery.  I went back the next day to return it, and she asked me if I'd like another?  I made the daily trip to her door until I'd gone through the dozen or so books she had.  I doubt that I thanked her properly for starting me on this path?  I'm thanking her now.

What's your story?

Favorite Authors

A couple of years later, I spotted an Ellery Queen book on a neighbor's shelf and asked if I could read it.  The great detective's power of reasoning, and the sophisticated New York City setting hooked me and EQ became my first favorite.  It also made me a regular library visitor.

A couple of years later I spotted a Fredric Brown paperback  in a used book rack.  I'm sure the cover art got me first, but the connection was Chicago.  I was born there, and Brown based his Ed and Uncle Am detective team there.  This led me through all of Brown's quirky books, and into the land of the pulps.

Perennial and Current Favorites -  an endless list