For the traveler, "Crimes of the Scene" serves as an exceptional reference book, offering lists and reviews of mystery novels that are set in countries around the world. To get the most out of a trip to Paris, try digging into one of the suggested novels featuring Maigret, the city's most celebrated detective. Or to really soak up the scene in the outback, become engrossed in one of Arthur Upfield's Bony adventures. What better way is there to enjoy vacation reading and learn about all the stops along the way than to pore over an atmospheric mystery? In addition to featuring important mysteries that take place in particular foreign countries, each of the twenty-one chapters opens with a brief, entertaining essay that describes how an area's cultural and political climate impacts that area's crime fiction.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
For your next vacation, how about a magical mystery tour? In Crimes of the Scene, Nina King and Robin Winks have crafted the perfect guidebook for globe-trotting mystery aficionados. Visit Paris in the company of Jules Maigret, or explore Moscow with Arkady Renko; fictional detectives often operate in very real cities, and Jerusalem, Istanbul, Calcutta, and Belize are just a few of the settings in which mystery writers have conducted their literary mayhem over the years. King and Winks have included mysteries set in almost every part of the world, with the notable exceptions of the United States and England (both so well represented in the genre that they require guidebooks of their own). Each chapter begins with an essay describing some aspect of that region's mysteries, followed by an annotated reading list of books that have been chosen both for their literary quality and the evocativeness of their settings.
Wherever possible, the editors have tried to include native authors from each featured region, but not every foreign mystery writer's work has been translated into English. Still, the world is well represented, from Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo in Scandanavia to Gopal Baratham in Singapore, plus many places and authors in between. International explorers and armchair travelers alike will find plenty of great suggestions for their next foreign intrigue between the covers of Crimes of the Scene.
From Library Journal
Avid mystery and thriller readers devour everything by their favorite authors and then challenge librarians for new names. King, editor of the Washington Post Book World, along with Winks (Modus Operandi: An Excursion into Detective Fiction, LJ 1/15/82) and a host of contributors, has written an entertaining resource for librarians and their patrons. The 21 chapters overview the mystery/thriller genre in different regions of the world (e.g., France, the Balkans, New Zealand, and the Caribbean but not the United States and Great Britain), and then provide a list of novels, with commentary, that showcase the locale. The majority of authors are British or American, but King includes novels translated into English or available only in a foreign language. Authors range from the world-famous Christie and le Carre to those known only locally. An ideal book for anyone looking to expand his or her mystery-reading horizons; for all libraries. (Index not seen.)?Linda M. Kaufmann, North Adams State Coll., Mass.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best reference work covering mysteries worldwide,
By A Customer
This review is from: Crimes of the Scene : A Mystery Novel Guide for the International Traveler (Hardcover)
Armchair travelers and globetrotters alike will find "Crimes of the Scene" the ideal map to their overseas destinations. Washington Post book editor Nina King and her collaboraters have ransacked memories, libraries and references to compile this extensive list of mysteries set in foreign parts. Here, you can find the best book to read on a canel step in front of the Zanipolo in Venice (Donna Leon's "Death at La Fenice"); the best one about Fiji (Frank Arthur's "Who Killed Netta Maul?") and that Michael Dibdin's "Cabal" is ideal when seeking to roam around Rome, although avoid Ngaio Marsh's "When in Rome," whose "attempts at druggy hipness are merely embarassing." "Crimes of the Scene" is full of laurels and barbs like these, and these clear-eyed critical notes save the book from becoming a dry reference work suitable only for brief consultations.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
CROOK'S TOUR A GREAT SUCCESS!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Crimes of the Scene : A Mystery Novel Guide for the International Traveler (Hardcover)
An imaginative, entertaining combination of two favorite kinds of reading--travel and crime. It'spacked with information that gives the flavor as well as some highlights of many mystery and spy stories. Could also be used as a guide when shopping in bookstores (including amazon.com). CRIMES OF THE SCENE is a great success! Charles Sullivan
3.0 out of 5 stars
CrimeScenes,
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This review is from: Crimes of the Scene : A Mystery Novel Guide for the International Traveler (Hardcover)
The book and the price was fine. However, the subject matter was different than I expected. It is still useful to me, but limited
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