Saturday, October 10, 2009

Question for the day...

I've had an email asking for:
...a classic murder mystery story that takes place in an asylum or institution
The only one that sprung to my mind was In Matto's Realm by Friedrich Glauser which was published in 1936.

Any other suggestions are most welcome.

4 comments:

Kerrie said...

What about SHUTTER ISLAND Karen?

Philip Amos said...

P.D James' A Mind to Murder is set in a psychiatric clinic, if that qualifies. Of course, an awful lot of murder mysteries have a university setting, and that covers both 'asylum' and 'institution' very nicely.

Maxine Clarke said...

I was going to say Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane, but Kerrie got there first. However, it's a massive cheat.

More close to Euro Crime is The Reunion by Sue Walker, which was about a group of teenagers being treated in a mental institution.

Then there was a James Patterson novel, from the days when I read James Patterson, When the Wind Blows, which was not at all bad, again about some teenagers who are kept in an intstitution but very different themes from Sue Walker. Patterson later spun off this novel into a teen fiction series called "Maximum Ride", but I haven't read any of those (I think there are about 4 of them).

Karen (Euro Crime) said...

Many thanks for the suggestions. Another suggestion has been - The Black Stocking by Constance and Gwenyth Little (http://www.ruemorguepress.com/catalog/little_blackstocking.html).