This volume updates Hubin's Crime Fiction, 1749-1980 (LJ 2/15/84) and Crime Fiction, 1981-1985 Supplement (Garland, 1988). The author has also expanded the coverage to include titles of short stories in collections and an enlarged listing of films based on crime fiction. More than 80,000 titles are cited. Over half the book is devoted to the author index, which lists titles (with publisher and publication date) of works published under the listed name, with cross references to pseudonyms. For titles representing collections, there is a listing of the works collected. Several indexes provide additional access to the listed works. The settings index is primarily a geographic index, citing Illinois and Chicago, for instance, but not Peoria. Churches and hospitals are listed, but libraries and bookshops are not. The series index lists series by primary sleuth but not secondary sleuths (e.g., Peter Wimsey is listed, but not Harriet Vane). The series character chronology lists characters featured in five or more books by the date introduced. The film index lists, by title, films identified in the title index. Screenwriter and director indexes refer to film title listings. Crime Fiction II is a valuable basic work. While the settings index is not as detailed as in some other works (e.g., Mystery Index, 1987, ALA), what is lost in specificity is more than made up for in comprehensiveness. Recommended for public libraries.
Denise Johnson, Bradley Univ. Lib., Peoria, Ill.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Hubin's Crime Fiction, 1749-1980 was published in 1984, in a single volume, followed by a supplement in 1988. Crime Fiction II cumulates the earlier volumes and extends coverage through 1990. Hubin's intent is to be exhaustive and cover all English-language mystery, detective, suspense, thriller, gothic, and spy fiction, both hard and soft cover. Hubin lists more than 81,000 book titles, almost 20,000 more than in the previous edition and supplement. Magazines, children's fiction, and anthologies are excluded.
The author index takes up the entire first volume. Entries provide a substantial amount of information, albeit in abbreviated form. The entry for Ruth Rendell is typical. The reader is given the year of her birth, a see also reference to her pseudonym (Barbara Vine), and codes for any of 11 reference sources, such as Contemporary Authors and Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers, in which additional information can be found. Next, Hubin provides the name of Rendell's series character, Chief Inspector Wexford, and her setting, England. Titles are listed, in alphabetical order, following the headnotes. Information includes publisher and date of first U.S. and/or British editions. Those of Rendell's titles that feature Chief Inspector Wexford are identified by a W. For authors with varied settings, indicators such as "New Eng." or "Maine, WW II" are given in brackets next to individual titles. Rendell has written several short story collections, and Hubin lists individual titles for each collection, a new feature to this edition. In addition, he indicates which of Rendell's titles have been the basis for films, including for each the date of the film and the names of the director and screenwriter.
Other information found in the author entries can include type of material, such as short stories (when this is not obvious from the book title), play, or novelization. In the case of short story collections, indicators are given for appearances of series characters in individual stories. For collections that consist of both mystery and nonmystery stories, all stories are listed, but either the mystery stories are specifically noted or some more general statement is given. For example, the entry for William Trevor--not normally thought of as a mystery writer--lists two of his short story collections, with the descriptions "some criminous" and "at least one criminous." In all, contents information is given for more than 4,500 collections.
Volume 2 contains several indexes. The title index is followed by a settings index arranged from Academia to Zurich. This index is amazingly comprehensive, with nearly 30 titles listed under Afghanistan, for example. A selective list of representative authors and titles is given for the most-common settings, such as "England." The series index lists all the series and series characters identified in the author index. The "Series Character Chronology" provides more information about particular series characters, including the year of first appearance in a book and an indicator of character type, such as "amateur" or "spy." The film index, which appeared first in the supplement to the previous edition and has now been greatly expanded, lists all the film titles listed in the author index and is followed by a screenwriters index and a directors index.
Hubin's Crime Fiction has long been considered the most comprehensive and authoritative guide to the genre, and now, with the publication of this new edition, it is one of the most current as well. No library that is serious about crime fiction can afford to be without it.
See all Editorial Reviews
