Ed here: His favorites include some lesser knowns I hold in great regard--Charlotte Armstrong, Norbert Davis, Bill Gault and Wm.O'Farrell. Unfortunately several of his UNfavorites I also hold in high regard. :) 





RAYMOND CHANDLER’S FAVOURITE CRIME WRITERS AND CRIME NOVELS – A List by Josef Hoffmann.

   In his letters and essays Chandler frequently made sharp comments about his colleagues and their literary output. He disliked and sharply criticized such famous crime writers like Eric Ambler, Nicholas Blake, W. R. Burnett, James M. Cain, John Dickson Carr, James Hadley Chase, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers, Mickey Spillane, Rex Stout, S. S. Van Dine, Edgar Wallace. A lot of Chandler’s criticism was negative, but he also esteemed some writers and books. So let’s see, which these are.
   A problem is that he sometimes had a mixed or even inconsistent opinion. When the positive aspects predominate the negative ones I have taken the writer or book on my list.
   The list follows the alphabetical order of the names of the mystery writers. Each name is combined with (only) one source (letter, essay) for Chandler’s statement. I refer to the following books: Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler, edited by Frank MacShane, Columbia University Press 1981 (SL); Raymond Chandler Speaking, edited by Dorothy Gardiner & Kathrine Sorley Walker, University of California Press 1997 (RCS); The Raymond Chandler Papers: Selected Letters and Non-Fiction 1909 – 1959, edited by Tom Hiney & Frank MacShane, Penguin 2001 (RCP); “The Simple Art of Murder,” in: The Art of the Mystery Story, edited by Howard Haycraft, Carroll & Graf 1992.
   I am rather sure that the list is not complete: It does not include all available sources nor all possible writers and books.
         THE LIST:
Adams, Cleve, letter to Erle Stanley Gardner, Jan. 29, 1946 (SL)
Anderson, Edward: Thieves Like Us, letter to Hamish Hamilton, Sep. 27, 1954 (SL)
Armstrong, Charlotte: Mischief, letter to Frederic Dannay, Jul. 10, 1951 (SL)
Balchin, Nigel: The Small Back Room, letter to James Sandoe, Aug. 18, 1945 (SL)
Buchan, John: The 39 Steps, letter to James Sandoe, Dec. 28, 1949 (RCS)
Cheyney, Peter: Dark Duet, letter to James Sandoe, Oct. 14, 1949 (RCS)
Coxe, George Harmon, letter to George Harmon Coxe, Dec. 19, 1939 (SL)
Crofts, Freeman Wills, letter to Alex Barris, Apr. 16, 1949 (RCS)
Davis, Norbert, letter to Erle Stanley Gardner, Jan. 29, 1946 (SL)
Faulkner, William: Intruder in the Dust, letter to Hamish Hamilton, Nov. 11, 1949 (SL)
Fearing, Kenneth: The Big Clock, letter to Hamish Hamilton, Mar. 12, 1949 (SL); The Dagger of the Mind, The Simple Art of Murder
Fleming, Ian, letter to Ian Fleming, Apr. 11, 1956 (SL)
Freeman, R. Austin: Mr. Pottermack’s Oversight; The Stoneware Monkey; Pontifex, Son and Thorndyke, letter to James Keddie, Sep. 29, 1950 (SL)
Gardner, Erle Stanley, letter to Erle Stanley Gardner, Jan. 29, 1946 (but not as A. A. Fair, letter to George Harmon Coxe, Dec. 19, 1939) (SL)
Gault, William, letter to William Gault, Apr. 1955 (SL)
Hammett, Dashiell, The Simple Art of Murder
Henderson, Donald: Mr. Bowling Buys a Newspaper, letter to fredeeric Dannay, Jul. 10, 1951 (SL)
Holding , Elisabeth Sanxay: Net of Cobwebs, The Innocent Mrs. Duff, The Blank Wall, letter to Hamish Hamilton, Oct. 13, 1950 (RCS)
Hughes, Dorothy, letter to Alex Barris, Apr. 16, 1949 (RCS)
Irish, William (Cornell Woolrich): Phantom Lady, letter to Blanche Knopf, Oct. 22, 1942 (SL)
Krasner , William: Walk the Dark Streets, letter to Frederic Dannay, Jul. 10, 1951 (SL)
Macdonald, Philip, letter to Alex Barris, Apr. 16, 1949 (RCS)
Macdonald, John Ross: The Moving Target, letter to James Sandoe, Apr. 14, 1949 (SL)
Maugham, Somerset: Ashenden, letter to Hamish Hamilton, Dec. 4, 1949 (SL)
Millar, Margaret: Wall of Eyes, letter to Alex Barris, Apr. 16, 1949 (RCS)
Nebel, Frederick, letter to George Harmon Coxe, Dec. 19, 1939 (SL)
O’Farrell, William: Thin Edge of Violence, letter to James Sandoe, Aug. 15, 1949 (SL)
Postgate, Raymond: Verdict of Twelve, The Simple Art of Murder
Ross, James: They don’t dance much, letter to Hamish Hamilton, Sep. 27, 1954 (SL)
Sale, Richard: Lazarus No. 7, The Simple Art of Murder
Smith, Shelley: The Woman in the Sea, letter to James Sandoe, Sep. 23, 1948 (SL)
Symons, Julian: The 31st of February, letter to Frederic Dannay, Jul. 10, 1951 (SL)
Tey, Josephine: The Franchise Affair, letter to James Sandoe, Oct. 17, 1948 (RCS)
Waugh, Hillary: Last Seen Wearing, letter to Luther Nichols, Sep. 1958 (SL)
Whitfield, Raoul: letter to George Harmon Coxe, Dec. 19, 1939 (SL)
Wilde, Percival: Inquest, The Simple Art of Murder.