Anthony F. Franco
Baring-Gould, William S.
Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street
. New York: Penguin Books, 1982.
A book which gives an identity to all the personages who lived in or frequented the brownstone on West Thirty-Fifth Street. A must for Nero and Archie fans.
Baring-Gould, William Stuart.
Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World’s First Consulting Detective
. New York: Bramhall House, 1962.
A book which breathes life into a supposedly fictional character.
Carr, John Dickson.
The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
. New York: Harper and Row, 1949.
Excellent biography of one of the champions of the detective story.
Christie, Agatha.
An Autobiography
. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1977.
An interesting personal look at one of the most clever and skillful authors in literature.
McAleer, John.
Rex Stout: A Biography
. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1977.
The definitive biography of the man who acts as Archie Goodwin’s literary agent.
Ramsey, Gordon C.
Agatha Christie: Mistress of Mystery
. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1967.
Excellent treatment of Dame Agatha and her talents.
Riley, Dick and McAllister, Pam, ed.
The Bedside, Bathtub
,
and Armchair Companion to Agatha Christie
. New York.: Ungar, 1979.
An enlightening and fun book for Agatha Christie fans. Introduction by Julian Symons.
Robyns, Gwen.
The Mystery of Agatha Christie
. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1978.
A superb view of a truly outstanding literary personage.
Stout, Rex and Editors of The Viking Press.
The Nero Wolfe Cookbook
. New York: Penguin Books, 1981.
Just for fun. A look at the diet of America’s gourmet detective.
Symons, Julian.
Great Detectives: Seven Original Investigations
. Illustrated by Tom Adams. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 198i.
An excellent survey of seven fictional detectives. Breathes life into each of them.
Toye, Randall.
The Agatha Christie Who’s Who
. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980.
A companion book for any Agatha Christie fan.
Wallechinsky, David and Wallace, Irving.
The People’s Almanac
#2. New York: Bantam Books, 1978.
Several tidbits of information concerning Arthur Conan Doyle.
Winks, Robin W., ed.
Detective Fiction: A Collection of Critical Essays
. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1980.
A handy tool for all readers of detective fiction. Several outstanding selections include: “The Omi of Crime” by Dorothy L. Sayers; “Detection and Literary Art” by Jacques Barzun; “The Writer as Detective Hero’s by Ross MacDonald; “A Detective Decalogue” by Ronald A. Knox.
Winks, Robin W.
Modus Operandi: An Excursion Into Detective Fiction
. Boston: David R. Godine, 1982.
A book which must be read more than once. New readers of detective fiction should read Winks first, read several stories, and then reread the treatise and refer to it at subsequent intervals.