The mystery story is a kind of writing that need not dwell in the shadow of the past and owes little if any allegiance to the cult of the classics. It is a good deal more than unlikely that any writer now living will produce a better historical novel than , a better tale of children than , a sharper social vignette than , a more graceful and elegant evocation than , a wider and richer canvas than or . But to devise a more plausible mystery than or should not be too difficult. Nowadays it would be rather more difficult not to.
Raymond Chandler