Customer Reviews

The History of Mystery (Art Fiction Series)

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Who loves a mystery? Everyone! So, chances are this mystery art book will have wide appeal. Studded with 375 compelling full-color images "The History Of Mystery" takes a magnifying glass to this popular genre opening with Edgar Allan Poe, "Murders In The Rue Morgue," and his unforgettable sleuth, Dupin. Then the author pins down detective stories and film noir before revealing the memoirs of the real Allan Pinkerton.

Along the way numerous clues emerge regarding the works of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald, Erle Stanley Gardner, Rex Stout, Dorothy B. Sayers, Robert B. Parker, and other lesser known but nonetheless capable writers.

Where else would we learn that Erle Stanley Gardner passed the bar in 1911 without ever attending law school or that as a child Mickey Spillane loved to scare other kids by telling frightening stories?

Illustrations include comic strips, pulp fiction covers, and portraits of our favorites - Dick Tracy, Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe as well as their peers from across the pond - Sherlock Holmes, Mrs. Marple and Hercule Poirot.

Collins brings his record sheet up to the present with some fascinating female writers of modern mysteries - Sara Peretsky, Marcia Miller, Patricia Cornwell.

Loaded with little known facts, dramatic data, and startling information "The History Of Mystery" gives comprehensive coverage to the ever intriguing field of crime fiction.

- Gail Cooke

My wife was working as a buyer for a bookstore when she noticed this title in a catalog and knew it was something special I would instantly be drawn to. As a late Valentine, it was perfect, and I must say I am quite pleased with the almost museum-like quality and presentation of this book. From the first ever real American P.I. to modern films, quirky heroes, and comic books, Max Collins manages to cover every base of the detective mystery genre. The historical bits are not boring at all, but often amusing as is the fantastic selection of cover art from pulp magazines through trading cards and television promo art. A slightly tongue-in cheek tribute to a slightly tongue-in cheek style of writing by one of mystery's biggest fans and best contributers, well worth every penny!

Ever heard the term "hours of fun?" Well, this thing just keeps going!
One of the magnificent Collectors Press editions, this handsome, heavy hardbound is a well stocked know-it-all's guide to anything shamus.
Collins did a couple of other books for them, too, and I have a couple of them so, by weird chance, when he was in town a few years ago doing other signings, I got to meet him. Seated at his right was Del Close, founder of Second City; standing nearby were EVENT COMICS publisher Laurie Braddach and writer Howard Johnson, and they all made me feel very welcome to hang around. Thus, I got to know collins' stuff.

Being a mystery writer, Max has a good handle on the genre,
but this is a real show-off book. If you can get a used price, grab it! In Chicago, they blew out of the local bookstore at Christmas.
Kudos to these guys!

Being a fan of the author and the mystery genre in general, I bought "The History of Mystery" some time ago in a used book store and from time to time paged through it to enjoy the many high-quality reproductions of classic pulp magazine and paperback covers. A few days ago, however, I actually decided to read the darn thing like a regular book, from cover to cover. And I got so much more out of it. The text presents a detailed history of the mystery genre: from its modest beginnings, through the explosion of private eye paperback fiction in the 40's and 50's, to the present day with its literally thousands of ongoing private eye and detective series filling bookstores and libraries.

The book is necessarily selective in what it can pay detailed attention to, or even mention, but in the end, "The History of Mystery" will educate you about the origins of the genre and give you many, many ideas about what author or character you may want to visit for yourself the next time you're in a bookstore or library. I see from Amazon's listing that, at this point, it is making the book available only through its network of used bookstores. Trust me, for the fan of mysteries and/or classic pulp and paperback art, it's worth using that network to find a copy.

This book is part of the Collectors Press series that include "The Great American Paperback" and individual volumes on fantasy, horror and science fiction. Essentially, this is a collection of book covers, movie posters, and other visual representations of crime and mystery media from the 1800's to today. "The History of Mystery" is a visual treasure for anyone interested in the genre, and Max Allan Collins' text provides a nice overview of crime and mystery authors and publishing. The only drawback is the same as in all of the Collectors Press books in this series: in many cases the images slightly overlap, with one cutting off a portion of the other. It's not bad enough to ruin the pleasure of the book, but allowing each image to be seen without obstruction would have been a better choice. Highly recommended.

Even more lavish is Max Allan Collins' History Of Mystery, which combines an appreciation for pulp detective fiction art covers to insights on the mystery writing genre's many visions; from its pulp fiction to comic books and fiction writings. Fans of either mystery writing or pulp fiction art will relish this lavish display with its color reproductions of covers.