Mystery 101

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is What Books Would be On Your Syllabus if You Taught X-101. I chose mystery. Maybe it's cheating because it's easy, but there it is.

1. The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Alan Poe - Widely believed to be the first published detective story, this would be on the list for obvious reasons.

2. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - Close on Poe's heels, Collins' novel includes red herrings and false alibis which became tenets of the mystery genre.

3. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Because duh.

4. Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie - The first Miss Marple mystery. She is my favorite Christie detective.

5. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - Because there much be a noir selection.

6. A is For Alibi by Sue Grafton - I really like the detective in this series, Kinsey Millhone.

7. One For the Money by Janet Evanovich - For a light twist.

8. Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon - Because of course I would include her.

9. Feta Attraction by Susannah Hardy - Because there definitely needs to be a mystery with a punny title.

10. Dog on It by Spencer Quinn - Dog as detective. A Must Read.

And because there are actually 16 weeks in a semester, I'm going to keep going because there are more.

11. Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley - Because it's a modern take on the original noir novel.

12. Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran - Because this main character is so very different from your usual heroine. She takes a break from solving mysteries to relax with a crack pipe. I wouldn't want to be her friend, but she is intriguing for sure.

13. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - As a study into the unreliable narrator, because I just can't stand to do Gone Girl, even though that's probably an even better example.

14. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Lauire R. King - An example of historical mystery that takes us back to Sherlock Holmes.

Okay. I'm good. That does it. What would you teach and what would be on your syllabus?