References
Three books that are paperback, inexpensive to obtain, and contain much information about the mystery as well as offering a wealth of other sources are:
The Mystery Story
, John Ball, ed., Penguin Books, New York, 1976. This collection of essays looks at the mystery from many aspects. It contains lists of favorite mysteries, series detectives, and titles of other informational sources for reference. This is a good book to start with.
The Great Detective
, Otto Penzler, ed., Penguin Books, New York, 1978. This book contains essays by many authors about the detectives they created. It is a good source of material for presenting the author’s view. It also contains a bibliography of the books these men have written as well as a list of those titles of which films have been made.
Detective Fiction
, Robin W. Winks, ed., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1980.
This is a scholarly book containing many essays, and an extensive bibliography of critical works as well as a list of favorite mysteries.
Two books which contain some information but a lot of just plain fun are
Murder Ink
and its companion,
Murderess Ink
, Workman Publishing Co., New York, by Dilys Winn. Mrs. Winn is also the founder of a famous bookstore in New York called Murder Ink which caters only to mysteries.
Mysteries
The following is a list of a few authors whose books I have read and enjoyed. I have listed one or two books which I have enjoyed alongside the author’s name. This is not a complete list of favorites, but the list is intended to offer other mysteries suitable for use in this course. Books are suitable for students of average or better reading ability except where otherwise noted.
Raymond Chandler—
The High Window, The Big Sleep—
Chandler’s hero, Philip Marlowe, is middle aged, somewhat cynical, but a lover and protector of life. Marlowe set the tone for later detectives such as Lew Archer and Travis McGee.
Wilkie Collins—
The Moonstone
—Young love, a missing Oriental diamond, drugs, and Sergeant Cuff make this classic an unforgettable book for the better than average reader.
William Faulkner—
Intruder In the Dus
t—A murder for which a black man has been arrested, Faulkner’s Mississippi, and a white boy who searches for the real killer set the explosive atmosphere for this novel. This is a powerful, but extremely difficult book, and is for the most able and mature readers.
Ian Fleming—
Goldfinger
,
From Russia with Love—
Everyone’s familiar with the English superspy James Bond-007. Exciting, and outrageous fun.
Dashiell Hammett—
The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key
,
The Thin Man
—Hammett combines an excellent style with absorbing stories. Students may have seen movies of
The Thin Man
or
The Maltese Falcon
on television. Hammett’s stories also read well aloud.
Harry Kemmelman—
Friday the Rabbi Slept Late
,
Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out
—Kemmelman’s hero, Rabbi Small, a devout and kind man, uses Judaic law to help find the criminal. The plots are interesting and the novels are generally easy to read.
John Le Carre—
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
,
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy—
What happens when a trained, detached espionage agent begins to care about others? Carre’s heroes find that caring is a severe hindrance in their ruthless profession. This is fascinating, absorbing reading for better readers.
John MacDonald—
The Empty Copper Sea
,
The Green Ripper—
The later novels are well written and concerned about the human condition. T.V.’s Harry Orwell is a spin-off of Mac Donald’s detective, Travis McGee.
Ross MacDonald—
The Goodbye Look
,
The Way Some People Die
,
The Galton Case
—Cast against a panorama of California—These novels are well written, contemporary, and present a humane man, Lew Archer, as detective.
Sayers, Dorothy—
Gaudy Night
,
Five Red Herrings
,
The Nine Tailors
, Ingenious plots, English high life, and most unusual characters make Sayers works enjoyable. Educational television has filmed some of Lord Peter Wimsey’s exploits during the past two years for Masterpiece Theatre. Sayers is not the easiest title to read however.
Gaudy Night and The Nine Tailors
is for more able, dedicated readers.
Georges Simenon—
Margret Goes Home
,
The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By
—The French policeman tracks killers. Terse style and the dark aura of the criminal underground make many of Simenon’s books good reading for the hardy reader.
Rex Stout—
Too Many Cooks
,
Red Threads
—Nero Wolfe tops the scales at 300 pounds, is an expert on orchids, rarely leaves his home, has a sidekick, Archie. Eccentric. Enjoyable. There are other detectives too.
Josephine Tey
A Daughter of Time
,
the Franchise Affair—
Josephine Tey is an excellent writer who draws her plots carefully. A
Daughter of Time
explores the past and the supposed murder of the young heirs to the throne by Richard III. Enjoyable reading for above average readers.