Thread: British Crime Fiction....

Originally Posted by Theseus

If we're talking film noir, my favorites are "Touch if Evil", "Out if the Past", "Double Indemnity" and "Night of the Hunter". There is something about Robert Mitchum in "Night if the Hunter" that creeped the Hell out if me the first time I saw it.

I meant to mention Double Indemnity. James M. Cain. What a great flick. +1 on the others mentioned and add Cape Fear for Mitchum. Made in the mid '50s without the glitz and special effects of the DiNiro version. Mitchum as the vengeful ex con is just as menacing if not more so than DiNiro.

Can't believe I forgot Cape Fear.

Yes - Burt was one of the greats! Made a great, if atypical, western too, but my personal favourites are Trapeze, enigmatic The Swimmer and bittersweet Tough Guys. I haven't seen the one you mention, Jimmy - will have to look out for that. The 'redemption' at the end puts me in mind of Cagney's favour for Pat O'Brien in Angels With Dirty Faces, where he pretends to die a coward to stop the street kids idolising him. Father Jerry offers a prayer for Rocky - a kid who couldn't run as fast as him - supposing it was Rocky who got away, then we would have Father Rocky - that would be some sort of preacher, bit like Mitchum's rev. Harry! Superb film.

Originally Posted by Theseus

...There is something about Robert Mitchum in "Night if the Hunter" that creeped the Hell out if me the first time I saw it.

Too true - a real roller-coaster ride of fear! Directed by Yorkshire's very own Charles Laughton (Mutiny on the Bounty, Hunchback of Notre Dame) no less - his only directorial effort. It atmospheric style was based on the moody german expressionist films of the 20s/30s, eg Nosferatu, as you can tell by the lighting and scenes - they knew how to light films back then. Mitchum's mad reverend act was fascinating to watch, especially the scene where he uses the L-O-V-E and H-A-T-E tattooed on his fingers to give a sermon! The remake - Cape Fear - was a terrific film, particularly with Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum from the earlier version featuring in it, but I prefer Night of the Hunter. Mitchum's own early life could be a movie - expelled from school for a fist-fight with a teacher, bumming around on a freight car, ditch digger, boxer, time spent in a chain-gang (and escaping!), writing 'fortunes' for an astrologer's column, short story writer, poet, singer-songwriter, nervous breakdown, actor - he ran the whole gamut! He did a lot of film noir, such as Build My Gallows High (your Out Of The Past), which had contributions from the great James M Cain (author of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity).

Gents,

For those who haven't read them already, Ian Fleming's original James Bond books are always a fun read. Good mysteries and characters; but excellent for (what I will call) "Lifestyle Scenario" writing. Unabashedly English as well, in the best possible way. Moonraker, Casino Royale, and Dr. No are my personal favorites.

I can't vouch for them, but I have been trying to get my hands on some of the Len Deighton books, which starred Michael Caine in the film adaptations. Again, supposed to be great British cold-war era crime/spy fiction.

Great topic, and great thread!

You've probably covered his works already but since no one has mentioned him yet, I'll give you my three top UK crime writer picks: Ian Rankin, Ian Rankin, and Ian Rankin!

I'm slightly biased as Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities, but he is a terrific writer. His Rebus series starts a little slow but just gets better and better. His non-Rebus books are fine too.

Originally Posted by Cangooner

You've probably covered his works already but since no one has mentioned him yet, I'll give you my three top UK crime writer picks: Ian Rankin, Ian Rankin, and Ian Rankin!

I'm slightly biased as Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities, but he is a terrific writer. His Rebus series starts a little slow but just gets better and better. His non-Rebus books are fine too.

Hi,

Read this now and believe it later.... macbride tops Rankin ;-)

I loved Rankins books... but Macbride pushes the envelope just that little bit further.. both for dark stories and black humour...

Starting point is here... "Cold Granite" set in Aberdeen....

DS Logan McRae is having a bad week: his first day back on the job in Aberdeen after a year out on the sick, and four-year-old David Reid's body is discovered in a ditch. Stripped, strangled, mutilated and a long time dead.
But David Reid is only the first; there's a killer stalking the cold granite streets, abducting children, leaving their torn bodies behind.
Then there's Logan's new boss, DI Insch, a bear of a man who doesn't suffer fools gladly and thinks everyone's a fool; the manipulative, crude, chain-smoking DI Steel with an overactive libido; and the bitter Dr Isobel MacAlister, Grampian Police's chief pathologist and Logan's ex. Not to mention Inspector Napier from 'Professional Standards' who would love to throw DS McRae out on his scarred backside. And all Logan really wants to do is see WPC Watson naked...
And as if that wasn't enough to worry about, he has to deal with pushy journalists, dead Edinburgh hoodlums, the mentally ill, and geriatric hit men.
The dead are piling up in the morgue, almost as fast as the snow on the streets, and Logan knows time is running out. More children are going to go missing. More are going to die.
If Logan isn't careful, he's going to end up joining them.

A great start to the series... and they just get better...

His blog is great, and he explains a lot...

Books | Cold Granite

Originally Posted by Chribo

Read this now and believe it later.... macbride tops Rankin ;-)

Thanks for the tip!