Crime Fiction II: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 1749-1990; A Completely Revised and Updated Edition (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities) [Hardcover]

Allen J. Hubin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0824068912 | ISBN-13: 978-0824068912 | Publication Date: March 1, 1994 | Edition: Rev Sub

The previous edition of this massive reference work was praised by everyone who reviewed it and it was featured on "Booklist's" list of the Best Books of the 1980s. Now expanded and updated through 1990, this unparalleled work has two new features. The first is a roster of more than 4,000 films, including silents and foreign-language movies, based on literary works and listing movie title, studio, year, director, screenwriter, and author. The second new feature in this completely revised edition is a bibliographical listing of individual short stories from more than 4,000 story collections. The only comprehensive work in the field, this volume covers books published in English the world over from Australia to Singapore to Canada. It provides the author, title, U.S., and British publisher and date, for all volumes (except anthologies) intended for adults or featuring an adult protagonist, organized alphabetically by author. A special section features 4,500 series characters and the stories in which they appear; another identifies more than 340 settings and offers extensive lists of books featuring those settings. Indexes are provided to titles, settings, series characters, movies, movie directors, and screenwriters.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This volume updates Hubin's Crime Fiction, 1749-1980 (LJ 2/15/84) and Crime Fiction, 1981-1985 Supplement (Garland, 1988). The author has also expanded the coverage to include titles of short stories in collections and an enlarged listing of films based on crime fiction. More than 80,000 titles are cited. Over half the book is devoted to the author index, which lists titles (with publisher and publication date) of works published under the listed name, with cross references to pseudonyms. For titles representing collections, there is a listing of the works collected. Several indexes provide additional access to the listed works. The settings index is primarily a geographic index, citing Illinois and Chicago, for instance, but not Peoria. Churches and hospitals are listed, but libraries and bookshops are not. The series index lists series by primary sleuth but not secondary sleuths (e.g., Peter Wimsey is listed, but not Harriet Vane). The series character chronology lists characters featured in five or more books by the date introduced. The film index lists, by title, films identified in the title index. Screenwriter and director indexes refer to film title listings. Crime Fiction II is a valuable basic work. While the settings index is not as detailed as in some other works (e.g., Mystery Index, 1987, ALA), what is lost in specificity is more than made up for in comprehensiveness. Recommended for public libraries.
Denise Johnson, Bradley Univ. Lib., Peoria, Ill.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Hubin's Crime Fiction, 1749-1980 was published in 1984, in a single volume, followed by a supplement in 1988. Crime Fiction II cumulates the earlier volumes and extends coverage through 1990. Hubin's intent is to be exhaustive and cover all English-language mystery, detective, suspense, thriller, gothic, and spy fiction, both hard and soft cover. Hubin lists more than 81,000 book titles, almost 20,000 more than in the previous edition and supplement. Magazines, children's fiction, and anthologies are excluded.

The author index takes up the entire first volume. Entries provide a substantial amount of information, albeit in abbreviated form. The entry for Ruth Rendell is typical. The reader is given the year of her birth, a see also reference to her pseudonym (Barbara Vine), and codes for any of 11 reference sources, such as Contemporary Authors and Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers, in which additional information can be found. Next, Hubin provides the name of Rendell's series character, Chief Inspector Wexford, and her setting, England. Titles are listed, in alphabetical order, following the headnotes. Information includes publisher and date of first U.S. and/or British editions. Those of Rendell's titles that feature Chief Inspector Wexford are identified by a W. For authors with varied settings, indicators such as "New Eng." or "Maine, WW II" are given in brackets next to individual titles. Rendell has written several short story collections, and Hubin lists individual titles for each collection, a new feature to this edition. In addition, he indicates which of Rendell's titles have been the basis for films, including for each the date of the film and the names of the director and screenwriter.

Other information found in the author entries can include type of material, such as short stories (when this is not obvious from the book title), play, or novelization. In the case of short story collections, indicators are given for appearances of series characters in individual stories. For collections that consist of both mystery and nonmystery stories, all stories are listed, but either the mystery stories are specifically noted or some more general statement is given. For example, the entry for William Trevor--not normally thought of as a mystery writer--lists two of his short story collections, with the descriptions "some criminous" and "at least one criminous." In all, contents information is given for more than 4,500 collections.

Volume 2 contains several indexes. The title index is followed by a settings index arranged from Academia to Zurich. This index is amazingly comprehensive, with nearly 30 titles listed under Afghanistan, for example. A selective list of representative authors and titles is given for the most-common settings, such as "England." The series index lists all the series and series characters identified in the author index. The "Series Character Chronology" provides more information about particular series characters, including the year of first appearance in a book and an indicator of character type, such as "amateur" or "spy." The film index, which appeared first in the supplement to the previous edition and has now been greatly expanded, lists all the film titles listed in the author index and is followed by a screenwriters index and a directors index.

Hubin's Crime Fiction has long been considered the most comprehensive and authoritative guide to the genre, and now, with the publication of this new edition, it is one of the most current as well. No library that is serious about crime fiction can afford to be without it.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 681 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; Rev Sub edition (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824068912
• ISBN-13: 978-0824068912
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 3.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,084,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable for mystery fans and mystery writers!, October 15, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Crime Fiction II: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 1749-1990; A Completely Revised and Updated Edition (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities) (Hardcover)

This book is a must for any inveterate reader. It lists all the mystery writers, their varied pen names, the characters, book titles, films made from mystery books, and other curiously interesting bits of information. The price is daunting but is well worth it, believe me. This is one of those books that one can spend many happy hours just browsing through. The book is divided into two volumes with Volume 1 being the Author Index with 889 pages of mystery writers listed alphabetically by last name. It includes all known pseudonyms used by a particular author, along with the titles of the works, and the names of any characters created, series or one-shot. It also has the dates of publication and lists the publisher. A few examples of pseudonyms. Did you know that Stephen King also writes under the name Richard Bachman. Of course you did, everyone knows that. But did you know that Dean Koontz, popular mystery writer, also uses the names David Axton, Brian Coffey, Anthony North, Owen West, Deanna Dwyer, K.R. Dwyer, Leigh Nichols, and Richard Paige? How about Donald Westlake, author of the ever-popular 'Dortmunder' series of serio-comedic mysteries. He also uses the names Curt Clark, Tucker Coe, Timothy Culver, Samuel Holt, and Richard Stark. Lawrence Sanders sometimes uses the names Lesley Avaress or Mark Upton. John Creasey, author of the 'Toff' series, has more than a dozen different pen names he uses, and must hold some sort of record for sheer number of nom-de-plumes. Why pen names you ask? The book doesn't answer that question. In fact it doesn't even address it. This tome is strictly a presentation of facts; no long boring narratives. Who knows why an author elects to write under a different name than its own? There must be as many logical, or illogical, reasons as there are authors. Choose your own. Volume 2 is divided into seven sections, to include a Title Index (326 pages), Setting Index (98 pages), Series Index (24 Pages), Series Character Chronology (18 pages), Film Index (136 pages), Screenwriter's Index (48 pages), and Director's Index (29 pages). The Title Index is a veritable treasure trove of information to aspiring writers. It shows which titles have already been used and how often. For instance, did you know that there are five books with the title "Watchers"? Or six called "Tunnel"? There are over 2,100 that begin with the word "Murder" and 700 that begin with "Mystery". This listing alone would be worth its weight in gold to a writer struggling to find that just-so correct appropriate title. The Settings Index is another source of information to the aspiring writer. It lists the locale of all the works listed in this opus. Almost any location is listed, from cities to states to countries. For instance, did you know that there are 15 books listed as happening in Rhodesia, 4 in Monaco, and 9 pages of stories occurring in New York City! The Series Index includes the name of the character listed with its creator. Again, this is invaluable to a new author. Imagine if you will, writing the perfect mystery and sending it off to a receptive publisher only to be rudely informed by a sympathetic editor that the character's name you thought was original has been in used for over 40 years by another author. Embarrassing, to say the least! Not to mention the re-write time involved in changing all the myriad references to your not-so-original creation. The Series Character Chronology lists by year of introduction each series character along with the type of character (inspector, police, detective, priest, lawyer, doctor, etc.) country where usually located, name of the author, and the number of books this character appears in. The Film Index lists movies by title, with the title of the book origin, the author of the book, the studio name, and the year of the movie. The Screenwriter's and Director's Indexes are self-explanatory. To summarize, this book is a joy to own and to the aspiring writer, invaluable with the information that can be gleaned. It is heartily recommended and would make an excellent "special" gift at Christmastime or birthday.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Reference, December 1, 2005

By 

John J. Flaherty "jjf" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crime Fiction II: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 1749-1990; A Completely Revised and Updated Edition (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities) (Hardcover)

I can just echo the substance of remarks of the other reviewers on the contents. As an avid reader of mystery fiction, I can visualize opening a page at random and picking my next book to read. As a computer programmer, I look at books like this and envision how I would write the program that would generate this information. If the author did not use a computer program, I am doubly impressed. This book should be on the shelf of every crime fiction aficionado. If not on your shelf then that of your local library.