The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery [Hardcover]

Bruce Murphy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1999 | ISBN-10: 0312215541 | ISBN-13: 978-0312215545 | Edition: 1st

An indispensable and lively guide to the world of mystery writing

The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery is an A-Z of whodunit and how it was done. From Edward Sidney Aarons to "Zorak, " Bruce Murphy moves beyond the names and characters every mystery fan knows by heart (Raymond Chandler, Dorothy L. Sayers, Dashiell Hammett, etc.) to talk about newer writers like Patricia Cornwell, and authors not traditionally considered mystery writers, like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Paul Auster. Murphy catalogues methods, weapons, poisons, subgenres, famous devices (like the locked room), movie adaptations, and great series characters like the Continental Op, Hercule Poirot, and Dr. Kay Scarpetta. The encyclopedia is a colorful and comprehensive map of the mystery genre that every mystery lover will want.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The world of mystery and crime fiction has been the subject of a numerous recent reference tomes, from Willetta Heising's excellent Detecting Women and Detecting Men to The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing. The former books are notable for their comprehensive cataloging of contemporary writers, and the latter succeeds by its reliance on a diverse range of authorities. But Bruce Murphy's The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery is much more a reader's book.

Murphy is himself a bibliophile to be reckoned with, as editor of Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia and writer for Critical Inquiry and the Paris Review. What he brings to his reference work, however, is not just the requisite expertise but also a sense of his audience, an attention to prose style, and a passion for mystery as a genre. He writes in his introduction: "The crime story is about consequences. In the mystery novel, infidelity leads to murder; in the 'serious' novel, more often than not it leads merely to divorce and the opportunities for characters to feel sorry for themselves." Throughout, Murphy throws himself into controversy and immerses himself in the minutiae that has always drawn the attention of true mystery fans. Where else might one find, for example, a description of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple tales as requiring "willing suspension of disbelief, because St. Mary Meade seems to have a crime rate to rival Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles. They are also oozing with charm and can be a bit treacly."

The book does fall short in a few areas. Most notably, there are no illustrations, even where a photograph or an etching might be appropriate--especially in relation to film. Also, given that the book is all the product of a single author, some areas are given less weight than might be expected (e.g., Batman, who warranted a major feature in Encyclopedia Mysteriosa, is omitted). Further, the book's great strength--its critical bent--might be seen as a drawback to some fans. For example, the entry on "cozy" treats the subgenre with some disdain, especially dismissing cat mysteries where "realism is not so much ignored as belligerently violated." This criticism, however, points again to why this volume is such a pleasure to read. Murphy chooses to embrace the difficult subjects and let his reader know what he thinks. You will learn from his vast research and--like him or hate him--you will find him entertaining. --Patrick O'Kelley

From Library Journal

Murphy, editor of the fourth edition of Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, has now written an engaging and informative encyclopedia about mysteries. Arranged alphabetically, this volume contains entries on authors, characters, book titles, and subgenres of the mystery genre, as well as themes in mysteries, famous criminal cases, and murder techniques. Entries on characters in series, such as P.D. James's detective Adam Dalgliesh, conclude with short (and, unfortunately, incomplete) bibliographies of the novels in which they appear. Entries on specific novels (of which there are many) provide plot synopses. Entries on themes and subgenres provide names of authors writing in that style or known for using that theme. But the volume contains some analysis as well; often Murphy explains what he sees as each author's strengths and weaknesses and places writers within a literary context. There is no index, but there are useful cross references indicated by small caps in the text of the entry. Recommended for public libraries.
-Cynthia A. Johnson, Barnard Coll. Lib., New York
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 543 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312215541
• ISBN-13: 978-0312215545
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.8 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,955,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alas, Serious Mystery Criticism, March 19, 2000

By 

Patrick B. Ambrose (Riverside, Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery (Hardcover)

If the mystery genre has lacked anything over the past century it's serious criticism. Aside from Jon L. Breen's reviews in Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine and Marilyn Stasio's pieces for the Times Book Review, mysteries have been virtually ignored by critics despite their permanent presence on bestseller lists. Bruce Murphy's The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery satisfies this need for insightful, intelligent commentary. Mr. Murphy provides a thorough analysis of mystery fiction from Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin to Bill Pronzini's nameless detective and even includes literary greats who have given the mystery a try-Jorge Louis Borges, William Faulkner, and Chester Himes to name a few. The mystery is also dealt with internationally through explorations of Manuel Vazquez Montalban, Paco Taibo, and Mario Vargas Llosa. Moreover, Mr. Murphy provides etymological histories of terms often encountered in the mystery novel and dispels common misconceptions readers have about the true purposes of agencies like INTERPOL. No subgenre is ignored: cozies, malice-domestics, psychological suspense, police procedurals, and the hard-boiled novel are all given equal attention. Brilliant, but forgotten crime writers like Charles Willeford, often ignored in other encyclopedias and bibliograpies, are finally given the respect they deserve. And cozy novelists Leo Bruce and Patricia Wentworth are rarely examined in the depth that they are here. Bruce Murphy's The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery is for every reader. Besides being comprehensive and informative, the book is just plain fun to read-a must for home libraries and coffee tables.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Opinionated, informative and entertaining, March 28, 2000

By 

Sheila L. Beaumont (South Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery (Hardcover)

Yes, this book is biased, and in many cases my opinion differs from that of the author. (I love cozies and cat mysteries, for example.) Still, Mr. Murphy's writing style is most engaging, and I find that it's fun to mentally argue with him as I read. "The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing" is more comprehensive and objective than "The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery," but there is much to learn and enjoy here that is not in the Oxford book. I see the two books as complementary rather than as competing. If you are a mystery fan, and if you can possibly afford it, get both.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Gift for a Mystery Buff - Fun to Browse, May 27, 2005

By 

Michael Wischmeyer (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery (Hardcover)

This 543-page compilation, The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery by Bruce Murphy, will likely appeal to mystery buffs, especially those interested in authors from past years.

Some entries are quite short, while others like Ellery Queen spanned two pages. Most entries are authors, but we also find classic titles like The Postman Always Rings Twice, Coffin for Dimitrios, Fer-De-Lance, The Big Clock, Murder on the Orient Express, and The Roman Hat Mystery.

My favorites were always present: Colin Dexter, P. D. James, G. K. Chesterton, Robert Van Gulik, Ellery Queen, John MacDonald, Ross MacDonald, Nicholas Blake, Cornell Woolrich, Dorothy Sayers, Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Arturo Perez-Reverte, and Dashiell Hammett.

Lesser known authors include Fergus Hume (The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, 1886), Maurice Leblanc (Arsene Lupin stories, early 1900s), R. Austin Freeman (Dr. Thorndyke stories, 1907- 1930s), Cyril Hare (Suicide Excepted, 1939), and Elliot Paul (The Mysterious Mickey Finn, 1939). I recall only two searches in which I was unsuccessful: R. T. Campbell (Bodies in a Bookshop, 1946) and H. F. Wood (The Passenger from Scotland Yard, 1888).

Many writers known in other literary genre at one time or another penned mystery stories. Examples include Mario Vargas Llosa, Charles Dickens, Honore De Balzac, Isaac Asimov, Henry James, Edgar Allen Poe, Ray Bradbury, Alexandre Dumas, Friedrich Durrenmatt, Jorge Luis Borges, Mark Twain, and J. Sheridan Le Fanu.

For those readers that not only enjoy reading books, but also reading about books and authors, The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery by Bruce Murphy would make a good gift.

Caution: The list price for The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery by Bruce Murphy is rather high, and the prudent buyer should look for substantial discounts. I paid a small fraction of the list price for a new hardbound copy (ISBN 0312215441). It is also available in soft cover (ISBN 031229414X).