Benzadmiral
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If you like Ring Lardner, a contemporary of his was Dorothy Parker. The collection The Portable Dorothy Parker has just come out in a new edition -- I spotted it the other day at B & N. Incomparable short stories and fun poems, plus theatre reviews that define the term "snark."
I second and third the suggestions of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries. I reread the Wolfe stories every few years and get something new out of them each time. As P.G. Wodehouse said about Stout's work, you reread them even when you know who the murderer is: "That's writing."
And if you haven't tried him, there's John Dickson Carr, who learned from Ellery Queen and taught lots of other mystery writers how it's done. He specialized in the impossible crime/locked room puzzle for something like 40 years, and he pioneered a new (for its time) genre, the time-travel mystery, as well as blending the historical novel with the mystery. Try to find "The Three Coffins," "The Crooked Hinge," and "Hag's Nook."
I second and third the suggestions of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries. I reread the Wolfe stories every few years and get something new out of them each time. As P.G. Wodehouse said about Stout's work, you reread them even when you know who the murderer is: "That's writing."
And if you haven't tried him, there's John Dickson Carr, who learned from Ellery Queen and taught lots of other mystery writers how it's done. He specialized in the impossible crime/locked room puzzle for something like 40 years, and he pioneered a new (for its time) genre, the time-travel mystery, as well as blending the historical novel with the mystery. Try to find "The Three Coffins," "The Crooked Hinge," and "Hag's Nook."
