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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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