Ask HN: What are some captivating fair play mystery books that you've read • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are some captivating fair play mystery books that you've read

#11

Post by 2143 » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 3:05 PM UTC

ashraful wrote: post #6

MollyRealized wrote: post #4

Can you define what 'fair play' means in this context, for those of us unfamiliar with the term?

"Fair play" in mystery novels means the author gives you all the clues up front, so you have a shot at solving the mystery just like the book's detective.

Ah! Okay!

I've observed while reading Sherlock Holmes that we the reader isn't provided with all the information Holmes has. (I still like it though).

TIL "fair play" was the term for it.

Re: Ask HN: What are some captivating fair play mystery books that you've read

#12

Post by ezedv » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 5:26 PM UTC

I recently got immersed in "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series by Alexander McCall Smith. These books blend captivating mysteries with a strong sense of fair play and moral values. The protagonist, Precious Ramotswe, approaches each case with compassion and integrity.

Re: Ask HN: What are some captivating fair play mystery books that you've read

#13

Post by rcshubhadeep » Wed, Aug 09, 2023, 6:35 AM UTC

hiyer wrote: post #9

Not sure if it's Fair Play, but, apropos of Japanese detective fiction, I found the works of Seishi Yokomizo [1] absolutely amazing. His works are very atmospheric and quite dark, but - dare I say it - better than even Agatha Christie's IMO. Unfortunately, I could only find 4-5 of his books translated to English. Keigo Hagashino's (the author of Devotion of Suspect X) Detective Kaga series is pretty good as well. 1.…

Absolutely love his Honjin Murders. And I may as well go ahead and read others also.

Thanks to everyone for suggesting all the interesting things here.

Cheers!