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Similar to Agatha Christie? Been looking for YEARS

Posted: 28 Dec 2016, 08:15
by Bad Macaw
Hello!

I'm new here, and I thought maybe you could help me.
I have been looking for YEARS for books that are similar to Agatha Christie's...

I've read so many recommendations, but everything I've tried has been somewhat disappointing. I've accepted the fact that no author is like her, but I'm looking for a series that would at least have the same feel...

I've tried Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh, Anne Perry, and I liked them, but didn't LOVE them.
Obvioulsly, I've read all of Sherlock Holmes, but Agatha Christie is still my favorite.
The one series I LOVED was Amelia Peabody, by Elizabeth Peters, but I've been through all of them already. Iss Fisher was OK, but I actually prefer the TV series to the books.

Sometimes I search for "Cozy mysteries", but I always end up with some sickening sweet book about some woman who owns a bakery or a tea shop or a doughnut shop and solves mysteries in her spare time.
That is not what I mean by cozy.
I want stories to read rolled up in a blanket when there's a storm outside.

I'm looking for stories that:
-are set in England, Nova Scotia, a creepy old house, an island...
-are set in the begging of the 20th century (so no technology please)
-NOT the new Poirot books by Sophie Hannah (I tried the first and hated it. that is NOT Poirot)

Can anybody help?
Thank you!
:tiphat:

Re: Similar to Agatha Christie? Been looking for YEARS

Posted: 05 May 2017, 04:20
by CaitlynLynch
Gosh, that's very specific. The only author I can even think of who writes CLOSE to that is Daphne Du Maurier.

Re: Similar to Agatha Christie? Been looking for YEARS

Posted: 12 Jun 2017, 12:20
by advicesbooks
Nowadays, there are many authors who write great mystery novels like Agatha Christie. I suggest you The Last Train, by Michael Pronko. This is an excellent mystery novel I just finished reading.

Re: Similar to Agatha Christie? Been looking for YEARS

Posted: 20 Jun 2017, 09:56
by Storygamer88
You have hard criteria and it's not perfect but The Westing Game is a Newberry winners that is similar in many aspects to And Then There Were None. I liked it more personally actually.

Re: Similar to Agatha Christie? Been looking for YEARS

Posted: 01 Aug 2017, 22:34
by L C Gatica
I remember reading The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King years ago and enjoying the new novel involving Sherlock Holmes. The book is set in early 20th century England. The series now has 14 books. And The Beekeeper's Apprentice received the Agatha Award for Best Novel in 1994. That might be another place to check for similar books--the list of Agatha Award winners.

Re: Similar to Agatha Christie? Been looking for YEARS

Posted: 03 Aug 2017, 18:40
by MissMarple
Have you tried Patricia Wentworth, Margery Allingham or Ellis Peters?

Re: Similar to Agatha Christie? Been looking for YEARS

Posted: 04 Aug 2017, 04:05
by Alice Heritage
Have you tried Patricia Wentworth, Margery Allingham or Ellis Peters?
I was going to suggest Margery Allingham, whose books would meet all your criteria. I'd recommend "The Tiger in the Smoke", which I read and reread because it was so fascinating. Ruth Rendell is quite similar to Christie with her plots and situations - she's late 20th century, but her earlier books are set in the 1960s and 1970s. Oh and there's also P.D. James, who also meets all your criteria apart from being late 20th century, but like Rendell's, some of her books are pre-information age. Good luck!