In celebration of distinguished author/critic Julian Symons' 80th year, here is the third and final revised edition of his classic history of mystery fiction. The views expressed here are as candid as ever. One bestselling writer is called unreadable, another compared to writers of "strip cartoon stories". But the general tone is warmly appreciative of every sort of book within the genre.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must-have guide for fans of the genre and it's sub-genres,
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This review is from: Bloody Murder: From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel (Hardcover)
A history of the genre which is very good. But the greater value of this publication is that it gives a long time crime novel reviewer's brutally honest opinion of what he has read. And boy oh boy has he read a lot in eighty years! It will be a great time saver for those who want to spend their precious time reading only the best, what qualifies to be called literature. Interesting to see the criticisms he had about many raved about writers such as Thomas Harris, James Ellroy, Andrew Vachss and others who managed to sell so much. Unfortunately this guide was finished around 1990 so there is nothing about writers making their first appearance in the last 20 years. But still a valuable reference.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The first problem facing anybody writing about crime fiction is to stake out the limits of the theme. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
best crime stories, first crime story, crime short story, classical detective story, puzzle element, police novel, crime literature, spy story, detective story writer, crime writers, crime novelist, professional detective, crime writing, crime fiction Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Golden Age, Sherlock Holmes, Ellery Queen, Van Dine, Second World War, First World War, Agatha Christie, Father Brown, New York, The Glass Key, Scotland Yard, John Dickson Carr, United States, Caleb Williams, Michael Innes, Ngaio Marsh, Philo Vance, The Maltese Falcon, Uncle Abner, Anthony Berkeley, Black Mask, Conan Doyle, John Buchan, Francis Iles, Howard Haycraft New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The first problem facing anybody writing about crime fiction is to stake out the limits of the theme. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
best crime stories, first crime story, crime short story, classical detective story, puzzle element, police novel, crime literature, spy story, detective story writer, crime writers, crime novelist, professional detective, crime writing, crime fiction Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Golden Age, Sherlock Holmes, Ellery Queen, Van Dine, Second World War, First World War, Agatha Christie, Father Brown, New York, The Glass Key, Scotland Yard, John Dickson Carr, United States, Caleb Williams, Michael Innes, Ngaio Marsh, Philo Vance, The Maltese Falcon, Uncle Abner, Anthony Berkeley, Black Mask, Conan Doyle, John Buchan, Francis Iles, Howard Haycraft New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
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79
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- Lord Peter : The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories by Dorothy L. Sayers on 4 pages
- The Sign of Four (Penguin Classics) by Arthur Conan Doyle on 4 pages
- Philo Vance : Four Complete Novels (The Benson Murder Case / The "Canary" Murder Case / The Bishop Murder Case / The Scarab Murder Case) by S. S. Van Dine on page 105, page 114, and page 115
- A Study In Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle on page 66, page 67, and page 69
- Study in Scarlet on page 66, page 67, and page 69
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- The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction (Cambridge Companions to Literature) by Martin Priestman on 9 pages
- Methoden der Lösungsverschleierung in Detektivgeschichte und -roman: Ein systematisch-analytische Untersuchung an Beispielen aus der englischen und amerikanischen Detektivliteratur by Daniel Grunwald on 6 pages
- Murder by the Book?: Feminism and the Crime Novel (Narrative Forms and Social Formation) by Sally Rowena Munt on 6 pages
- Forever England: Femininity, Literature and Conservatism Between the Wars by Alison Light on 5 pages
- Something More Than Crime. by Hendrik Rupp on 5 pages
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