#24in24, Banned Mystery/Thriller Books

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It's the end of the year, time to take stock of all that I read in the past year and all that I want to read in 2024. 

In the past year, I racked up quite a few statistics. Here is my quickie review: 

Blog Posts                              75

Books Reviewed                    67

Movies Reviewed                    1

Library Card Savings    1088.27

As for my plans for next year, I am going to participate in the #24in24BannedBookChallenge. This blog is dedicated to expanding my literacy in the genre in which I primarily write, mystery. Here is a list of 24 mystery and thriller books that have been banned or challenged over the years. In addition to finishing my Agatha Christie Series and my Anne Perry Series, I am going to read these 24 banned book in 2024. I have sourced this list from a couple of places, so follow the links below to find out where I got my inspiration. Speaking of Agatha Christie, one of her books has made the list. I will get into more detail about it in the blog post, but it's not surprising. I own, or have owned at least four of the books on this list. I remember reading one additional book. I have seen adaptation, and I have possible read at least four more books on the list. That still leaves me with...at most 15 new stories.

About this list, it was a little bit hard to put together. By and large, despite tone and queasy subject matter, these books are not frequently banned. I suspect that is because mystery books are for adults, and so few of them are taught in schools. The one that are banned, frequently are. Books like The Tell Tale Heart, A Study in Scarlet, And Then There Were None among them. Of those previous three, the only one I was taught was The Tell Tale Heart. Hmm. Well, here's the list, probably in the order which I will read them. 

The Da Vinci Code                                                                        Dan Brown

A Study in Scarlet                                                                          Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Tell Tale Heart                                                                        Edgar Allen Poe

Snow Falling On Cedars                                                               David Guterson

The Picture of Dorian Grey                                                           Oscar Wilde

Gone Girl                                                                                       Gillian Flynn

Mystic River                                                                                  Diane Lahane

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time                     Mark Haddon

The Maltese Falcon                                                                       Dashiell Hammet

The Thin Man                                                                                Dashiell Hammet

The Postman Always Rings Twice                                                James M Cain

Double Indemnity                                                                          James M Cain

Solomon's Graveyard                                                                    Johnathan Latimer

Once Upon a Crime                                                                       Mike Kerrigan

American Psycho                                                                           Bret Easton Ellis

Dead Folks                                                                                     Jon A Jackson

Nineteen Minutes                                                                          Jodi Picoult

And Then There Were None                                                          Agatha Christie

A Time to Kill                                                                                John Grisham

Killing Mr. Griffin                                                                         Lois Duncan

The Dead Zone                                                                              Stephen King

I, The Jury                                                                                      Mickey Spillane

Vengeance is Mine,                                                                       Mickey Spillane

The Gun is Quick                                                                          Mickey Spillane

A quick shout out to Australia, which is the sole place I can find which attempted to ban some of these books. I do not know what they have against Mickey Spillane, but hey, they got me over the line. I own The Da Vinci Code and of course, A Study in Scarlet. Those will be my first two reads of the year, while I wait for my first set of books to be pulled from my library's shelf. Then I will be foillowing the pattern of one Anne Perry, one Agatha Christie, and one from the list until the 24 are completed. Then I will read Chester Himes' Brooklyn Detective series. 

You don't have to read as many books as I read in a year, just read a few. And check then out of your local library. I am sure they have something you will like reading. Until we meet again, happy reading. 

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https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/banned-and-challenged-mystery-books-to-read-now/#

https://thrillingdetective.com/2019/09/24/banned/

https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade2019

https://www.marshall.edu/library/bannedbooks/and-then-there-were-none/

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/list/banned-books/?page=1