POLL: Favorite Mystery Category

[Admin]

Let's see which sub-genre of mystery is the most popular!

[ocogdill]

Not sure if whodunit or thriller is my favorite. I love cozies but gravitate more toward the harder edge ones

[JRob]

Another tough question.

I am not sure I can pick an answer for this one because my favorite mystery category likely depends on the type of book I'm reading at a given time. I like a number of authors from each sub-genre so it really makes it impossible to choose just one.

I will say that historical would probably rank lowest of the listed options though.

[bobmrg]

Let's see which sub-genre of mystery is the most popular!

I like a touch of humor. Donald E. Westlake is/was a favorite. John Sandford puts some snappy dialogue in the mouths of Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport.

[Alexandra Sokoloff]

My favorites don't really fit comfortably in any of these categories. Where would people here put Tana French, Belinda Bauer and Mo Hayder?

[Kate Stine, Editor]

Hi Alexandra,
The category "General Mystery" might have been a good one to add to the poll. Unfortunately, I couldn't have more than six categories.

Although you could make a case for Tana French being a "literary mystery." Categorizing books by subgenre is always so subjective!

[Becke Davis]

Let's see which sub-genre of mystery is the most popular!

I like a touch of humor. Donald E. Westlake is/was a favorite. John Sandford puts some snappy dialogue in the mouths of Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport.

I like a touch of humor, too. Donald Westlake is always a winner. Lawrence Block's Burglar series is pretty droll, and I really like Simon Brett's Mrs. Pargeter mysteries. (I'd love to see those put in movie form.)

There are degrees of humor, of course, from witty, snappy dialogue to almost slapstick in parts. Kelsey Browning and Nancy Naigle write about the grannies, a humorous cozy series about elderly detectives. Toni McGee Causey's Bobbie Faye mysteries are fun. Lois Winston's Anastasia Pollock crafting mysteries have some off-the-wall characters, as do Joanna Campbell Slan's cozies.

I occasionally read noir and true crime, although neither is a favorite genre. I really like what I call "cozy-ish" crime. Sometimes these are puzzlers and whodunits, sometimes they are procedurals. I like fast-paced, twisty thrillers but I'm not crazy about gruesome stories. Sorry, that is about clear as mud!