The Fine Art of Murder: The Mystery Reader's Indispensable Companion - Hardcover

3.75

20 ratings by Goodreads

9780883659106: The Fine Art of Murder: The Mystery Reader's Indispensable Companion

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0883659107 ISBN 13: 9780883659106

Publisher: Galahad Books, 1995

Features interviews, essays, photographic layouts, and recommended reading lists, with contributions by such notables as Robert Bloch, Dorothy Cannell, and Bill Pronzini

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From Kirkus Reviews:

The latest in a long line of chatty demi-reference books for crime mavens (cf. Steinbrunner and Penzler's Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, Barzun and Taylor's Catalogue of Crime, Dilys Winn's Murder Ink) is as irresistible as its forebears. Its 128 essays and lists, mostly of a few pages or less, cover everything, or almost everything, from regional mysteries (despite no mention of S.K. Epperson's Kansas gothics) to such subgenres as cozies, dark suspense, gay detectives, TV mysteries, and true crime (though there's nothing about courtroom drama, perhaps for legal reasons). Most of the name- brand authors (H.R.F. Keating, Joan Hess, Lawrence Block, Stephen King, Douglas G. Greene, etc., etc.) write with affectionate, often casual mastery; and though no collection this big or broad can hope to maintain a uniform standard throughout--historical glimpses of Doubleday's Crime Club imprint and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine are disappointingly perfunctory--fans impatient with the authors' occasionally cheerleading tone (``If you can't find a Texas author's book to suit your taste, you just aren't trying hard enough'') can find fresh vistas by turning a page, especially if they land on one of editor Breen's useful thumbnail sketches of a subgenre or one of the editors' endlessly arguable lists (``The Ten Most Underrated Mystery Writers,'' ``25 Notable Noir Novels,'' ``50 Great Gold Medal Crime Classics''). Despite inevitable blemishes: a truly indispensable volume. -- Copyright �1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal:

Gorman and his team of editors provide a breezy compendium of nearly anything a mystery fan might find of interest. Sections on every type and subtype of crime and mystery writing are spiced by interviews with writers, booksellers, and editors. One section is devoted to regional writers/detectives from the Midwest, the South, New York, Chicago, and other points of the compass. Sprinkled throughout are lists of recommended titles and favorite books, and there are even descriptions of conventions, fans, fanzines, pulps, mystery magazines, and mystery bookstores (with a lengthy list for visiting or writing). The quality of the writing is uneven: some essays are delightfully witty and insightful, while others are simply narrative lists of books and authors in a genre. Considering the modest price, however, you'll want to buy two copies: one for patrons and one for the reader's adviser.
- Denise Johnson, Bradley Univ. Lib., Peoria, Ill.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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