Murder ink: The mystery reader's companion [Paperback]

Dilys Winn (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 522 pages
• Publisher: Workman Pub (January 1, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894800043
• ISBN-13: 978-0894800047
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,885,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mystery Must, August 2, 2003

By 

ffoulkes "ffoulkes" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder ink: The mystery reader's companion (Paperback)

Whether you love a good hard-boiled or classic who-done-it, this book is for you. Murder Ink covers all aspects of the mystery genre from Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Cristie, the history of the Scotland yard, famous mystery quotes, rules on writing ransom notes, famous villians, red herrings, and the mystery in film and on stage. Both the British and the American mystery novel are covered, along with a good deal of matrial from France and other European countries. I've been reading mysteries and mystery "companion" books for a long time and never have I found one so comprehensive.

5.0 out of 5 stars If you love mysteries then you should have this, July 21, 2011

By 

James D. Crabtree "Doc Crabtree" (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder ink: The mystery reader's companion (Paperback)

This book is a great collection of articles, cartoons, drawings and puzzles sure to make a mystery reader smile. Match the detective with the sidekick, learn how to conduct a frisk search, read the history of the trenchcoat, learn what mystery movie role Jerry Stiller would have liked to have played, read how to pick a good lawyer and see the rules of poison penmanship. Actually, even if you're not a big mystery fan I think you would still find something to enjoy. Although dated from the 1970s it covers all the classics and is just plain fun.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Articles About Murder Mysteries, April 24, 2008

By 

Acute Observer (By the Shore NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder ink: The mystery reader's companion (Paperback)

The type used for this book is the font of Baskerville. If you don't understand that you probably won't like this book. It contains scores of articles grouped into 14 chapters. There is a great range of authors that include writers and experts. You will find them of varying quality. This book with its many viewpoints complements the "Encyclopedia of Mystery & Detection". Be prepared for their bias and personal opinions that is not justified by facts. This book has such a wide variety of articles that everyone will find something of interest. But you may find a lot that doesn't interest you.

The "Hall of Infamy" on page 6 lists "The Valley of Fear". Doyle's story involves mistaken identification, a constant error in the real world (see Borchard's "Convicting the Innocent"), and the error from jumping to conclusions. "Trent's Last Case" is called a "cornerstone" on page 20. I wonder how many of those award-winning novels are in print today (pp.40-42)? This could apply to other novels from that era. Ione Paloma says G.K. Chesterton concocted a creative scheme for hiding a victim (p.187). I am not an eye-witness, but this has happened enough to be part of fiction. Isn't there a story in the Bible about King David?

One important article is "The Pinocchio Machine" (pp.362-363). Did Oswald tell the truth? The problem with "lie detectors" is they are not 100% accurate (p.364). Another problem is the use of a machine to determine the facts instead of the evidence and a jury. Was the article on page 365 printed for comic relief? Does poverty cause crime (p.383)? Another article that is quite humorous because of its seriousness is asking if mystery fans are "potential murderers" (pp.437-443). The opinion of Rex Stout is also funny. Did he overlook anything? Did Jung and Freud read mysteries (pp.444-445)? Is there a relationship between eating corn flakes and Crohn's disease (p.447). Or between crossword puzzles and murder mysteries?

Brian Garfield wonders about his fan mail concerning guns (p.468). Its what they know, and, they expect some reality in their fiction. Are detective stories a new version of medieval morality plays (p.468)? There is an interesting article on sporting events used in mysteries (pp.485-487). It does not list any short stories of A. Conan Doyle ("Silver Blaze"). The 'Index' has references to the books and names.
[I learned what a "police procedural" novel is. The oldest surviving story in early English may be a murder mystery that is solved by detective Beowulf. He administers justice like Mike Hammer.]