Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

This is why I hate Christmas; I know what someone wants but can't find it. My Grandad likes crime novels and spy thrillers, but he's 88 so he doesn't tend to enjoy the recent trend towards loads of swearing and genuinely disturbing, gruesome, and graphically-described crimes. He's read literally every author that puts out the more "tame" crime stuff like Poirot, and every author I know of that lies somewhere in the middle of the two extremes like Rankin, and since I don't particularly enjoy the genre myself I'm completely at a loss; can anyone recommend a new-ish(ie not more than a couple of years old, or he'll have got them already) author/series that fits the requirement? I tried asking around in actual bookstores but the teen till-jockeys working there don't have a clue, they just recommend whatever the manager has told them to sell.

It doesn't quite fit the 'grim and gruesome' criteria as much as others, but there is a new Sherlock Holmes novel by Anthony Horowitz, which may fit the bill. Can't really go wrong with the character who defined the crime genre.

The various Scandinavian authors like Jo Nesbo are pretty new on the UK scene. IDK how much swearing, sex and blood there is.

Alternatively, go for the original detective story -- has he read Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone?

 Kilkrazy wrote:
The various Scandinavian authors like Jo Nesbo are pretty new on the UK scene. IDK how much swearing, sex and blood there is.

Alternatively, go for the original detective story -- has he read Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone?

Unfortunately it's the popularity of those grim Scandinavian works that seems to be feeding the shift in general.

I doubt he'd go for Holmes or The Moonstone, he tends to like stuff on the pulpier end of the spectrum.

Here is a random idea. He's 88? So he's old enough to remember the golden age of radio. Head to radiospirits.com and see if he might like a cd set of some of the old detective shows from the 40s and 50s like Richard Diamond, Phillip Marlowe, Nero Wolfe, The Saint, or (my favorite) Yours Truly Johnny Dollar.

Tony Hillerman for some Native American mysteries?

Elmore Leonard. It's dignified enough that the elderly still enjoy it without being barraged by smut and gore, but mature enough that they don't feel like their being spoon fed some Miss Marple schmaltz.

He did primarily westerns and modern crime novels.

Leonard books are my go-to gifts for loved ones of advanced age, and they usually go over really well.

It's definitely not new, or even newish.... But what about Ian Fleming's works like "Casino Royale", "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", or "You Only Live Twice" ??

Or, what about John Le Carre's works?

Has he got any of Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe books? The last one was finished in 2009.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Here is a random idea. He's 88? So he's old enough to remember the golden age of radio. Head to radiospirits.com and see if he might like a cd set of some of the old detective shows from the 40s and 50s like Richard Diamond, Phillip Marlowe, Nero Wolfe, The Saint, or (my favorite) Yours Truly Johnny Dollar.

He doesn't even own a CD player("Ah'v nae need fir wan, ah'v goat ma wireless!" ), my mum tried to get him a portable one before she died a few years back for books on tape and he wouldn't have any of it.

 MWHistorian wrote:
Tony Hillerman for some Native American mysteries?

Frankly, he's a wee bit racist and he knows I don't like that, so getting him something like that could be interpreted as me being passive-aggressive.

 Jimsolo wrote:
Elmore Leonard. It's dignified enough that the elderly still enjoy it without being barraged by smut and gore, but mature enough that they don't feel like their being spoon fed some Miss Marple schmaltz.

He did primarily westerns and modern crime novels.

Leonard books are my go-to gifts for loved ones of advanced age, and they usually go over really well.

I'll have a look, cheers.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
It's definitely not new, or even newish.... But what about Ian Fleming's works like "Casino Royale", "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", or "You Only Live Twice" ??

Or, what about John Le Carre's works?

I know he's read every Bond novel, and I've seen Le Carre's name on his bookshelves so he's likely read his works too.

 Avatar 720 wrote:
Has he got any of Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe books? The last one was finished in 2009.

Yep he's read those, I distinctly remember getting a speech a few years ago about how much he disliked the TV show compared to the books.

You guys can see now why I'm so stuck, heh.

My Grandfather passed away a few years ago, he was a big reader and loved his crime stuff. I think he's probably read most of the stuff your grandfather has with that regard.

Obviously I can't pick his brain and most of the books went to the charity shop due to the suddenness of his death and having to sort everything out.

The Aubrey–Maturin series starting with "Master and Commander" was a favourite of his. I know you wanted crime, but it might be a different avenue that he could enjoy.

Normally Waterstones is quite good for giving that information but you really need to ask the older staff. Noticed there were a lot of young people in the one in town.

I was going to recommend Nero Wolfe, but it's already been done. Well done, Dakka.

The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin comes highly recommended. I think it has got some strong language, but it was recommended on radio 2 arts, so it's hardly going to be American Psycho.

There is an older Skip Langdon book from the 90s by the same name which sounds pretty pulpy, and seems to be based on the same true story. In fact every Julie Smith novel seems to be on that theme, so you might want to see if he's already read her as her books could contain spoilers.

 Yodhrin wrote:

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Here is a random idea. He's 88? So he's old enough to remember the golden age of radio. Head to radiospirits.com and see if he might like a cd set of some of the old detective shows from the 40s and 50s like Richard Diamond, Phillip Marlowe, Nero Wolfe, The Saint, or (my favorite) Yours Truly Johnny Dollar.

He doesn't even own a CD player("Ah'v nae need fir wan, ah'v goat ma wireless!" ), my mum tried to get him a portable one before she died a few years back for books on tape and he wouldn't have any of it.

It was just a thought (I enjoy listening to a lot of the classic radio shows on SiriusXM on my way to and from work). On the other hand, many of those detective shows originated in book form, so you could still look into seeing if he has any of the books. Raymond Chandler created Phillip Marlowe, Leslie Charteris created The Saint, Rex Stout wrote Nero Wolfe, if that helps you identify what may be on his bookshelves.

Would Tom Clancy be too "modern" for him? Or too far from the standard crime genre?

How about Clive Cussler's Dirk Pit novels? They kind of mate Indiana Jones-style adventure with old-style crime stories.

Tried anything by Kinky Friedman? The adventures of a Jewish cowboy Country & Western-singing, cat loving private eye should have something to appeal to everybody.

 Yodhrin wrote:
This is why I hate Christmas; I know what someone wants but can't find it. My Grandad likes crime novels and spy thrillers, but he's 88 so he doesn't tend to enjoy the recent trend towards loads of swearing and genuinely disturbing, gruesome, and graphically-described crimes. He's read literally every author that puts out the more "tame" crime stuff like Poirot, and every author I know of that lies somewhere in the middle of the two extremes like Rankin, and since I don't particularly enjoy the genre myself I'm completely at a loss; can anyone recommend a new-ish(ie not more than a couple of years old, or he'll have got them already) author/series that fits the requirement? I tried asking around in actual bookstores but the teen till-jockeys working there don't have a clue, they just recommend whatever the manager has told them to sell.

Is he completely closed to the idea of mixed genres? If not, I recommend the Repairman Jack series, which is like Jack Reacher with monsters.

How about Dashiell Hammett? He kind of started the hard boiled detective genre. It is old enough that there is none of the objectionable stuff you mentioned. Right now I'm reading Continental OP. A fun compilation book with 7 stories. Hammett also wrote "The Maltese Falcon", for those too young it was made into a movie staring Humphrey Bogart.

I see that you are in the UK, Hammett being an American author I thought there was a chance he hadn't read an author that was writing books in the '20s and '30s.

Just don't mention to him how much of a Communist Hammett was. That side of him doesn't get into his crime books.

Has he read the Detective Frost books by R.D. Wingfield? Great books. He's a fat, loafish, bumbling at paperwork, but amazing crime solving detective. I highly the recommend them. The tv series was quite good as well. If he's a fan of Poirot, this should be right up his alley.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 Yodhrin wrote:
This is why I hate Christmas; I know what someone wants but can't find it. My Grandad likes crime novels and spy thrillers, but he's 88 so he doesn't tend to enjoy the recent trend towards loads of swearing and genuinely disturbing, gruesome, and graphically-described crimes. He's read literally every author that puts out the more "tame" crime stuff like Poirot, and every author I know of that lies somewhere in the middle of the two extremes like Rankin, and since I don't particularly enjoy the genre myself I'm completely at a loss; can anyone recommend a new-ish(ie not more than a couple of years old, or he'll have got them already) author/series that fits the requirement? I tried asking around in actual bookstores but the teen till-jockeys working there don't have a clue, they just recommend whatever the manager has told them to sell.

Is he completely closed to the idea of mixed genres? If not, I recommend the Repairman Jack series, which is like Jack Reacher with monsters.

Sadly not; I tried to sneak some variety in a few years back by giving him Night Watch(the Discworld one, not the crazy Russian one), since Sam Vimes is essentially a distillation of all the things he likes about crime fiction, but the moment he saw the words "trolls" and "wizards" he was out.

 draugadan wrote:
How about Dashiell Hammett? He kind of started the hard boiled detective genre. It is old enough that there is none of the objectionable stuff you mentioned. Right now I'm reading Continental OP. A fun compilation book with 7 stories. Hammett also wrote "The Maltese Falcon", for those too young it was made into a movie staring Humphrey Bogart.

I see that you are in the UK, Hammett being an American author I thought there was a chance he hadn't read an author that was writing books in the '20s and '30s.

Just don't mention to him how much of a Communist Hammett was. That side of him doesn't get into his crime books.

Well Maltese Falcon is on his shelves, so unfortunately he'll have read any others by the same author he could find. The commie thing would be a benefit if anything; he may be a cantankerous, slightly-racist older gent, but he's Red Labour to the core

 jreilly89 wrote:
Has he read the Detective Frost books by R.D. Wingfield? Great books. He's a fat, loafish, bumbling at paperwork, but amazing crime solving detective. I highly the recommend them. The tv series was quite good as well. If he's a fan of Poirot, this should be right up his alley.

He got most of those in a box set from my mum a few years back.

Thanks for the suggestions though folks; you can see my problem eh

The Walt Longmire series of books. No real x rated gore in those and a damn good read, plus a TV series as well

For quick/light crime novels, I've always liked Stuart Woods' Stone Barrington series. He's been writing the character since the early 90's and there is 30+ novels in the series, and more planned.

They did have some sex/violence in them, but nothing over the top I recall. Pretty par for the course for the genre. They do tend a bit more toward thriller, don't know if that makes a difference.

 Paradigm wrote:
It doesn't quite fit the 'grim and gruesome' criteria as much as others, but there is a new Sherlock Holmes novel by Anthony Horowitz, which may fit the bill. Can't really go wrong with the character who defined the crime genre.

I'll definitely second this. The two of them that are presently out are both really fun reads.

Sorry wrong post.