Reference Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction (Reference Sources in the Humanities) - Hardcover

Bleiler, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1563083809 ISBN 13: 9781563083808

Publisher: Libraries Unlimited, 1999

Synopsis

Covering a broad spectrum of primary and secondary reference resources about mystery and detective fiction, this annotated bibliography focuses on all print and key electronic sources in the field that are produced in English. Organized thematically, it reviews encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, annotated guides, bibliographies, bio-bibliographies, vade mecums, compendiums, indexes, and so on. Many Web sites are also described. Lengthy, informed reviews often provide evaluative information and compare books to similar or related titles. Essential to researchers, this is a valuable guide for any collection that holds a substantial number of mystery and detective titles, including college, university, public, and some high school libraries.

About this title

About the Author:

RICHARD J. BLEILER is Humanities Reference Librarian, Babbidge Library, University of Connecticut, Storrs.

From Booklist:

As evidence of the enduring popularity of the genre, "a surprising and gratifying number of reference sources to mystery and detective fiction were published between 1998 and 2002." Although the previous version of this useful guide just came out in 1999, Bleiler states, in his introduction, that "the second edition differs significantly from the first edition." One notable difference is that the number of entries has grown from just over 750 to 1,117. Other changes include expanded coverage of genre magazines and material covering radio programs, television shows, and films.

The book's arrangement is generally the same. A section on quotations has been added, and the page on professional organizations has been dropped. As before, the bulk of the text is devoted to biographical resources, and these are now covered in two chapters, one listing collections and pseudonyms, and one listing separately published reference books on individual authors. Except in a few cases, listings for individual authors no longer include Web sites, which means that authors for whom the only available source was Web based are gone. A new appendix indexes the contents of specialized encyclopedias and other reference sources that contain biobibliographical information on mystery writers.

Each of the sections begins with a brief scope note that defines the type of material found in the chapter. Bleiler provides complete bibliographic information and an evaluative annotation for each resource listed. In many cases, the annotations are extensive and detailed.

Because it concentrates on the secondary literature, this volume is useful as an aid to research as well as to collection development and readers' advisory. It complements resources that list mystery titles, such as such as Allan J. Hubin's Crime Fiction IV (The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 2003), or that provide coverage of authors, such as Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage (Scribner, 1998). Current and comprehensive, Bleiler's book continues to be of value in public and academic libraries. REVWR
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Libraries Unlimited
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1563083809
• ISBN 13: 9781563083808
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 391