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Ten Women of Mystery
This volume, which examines the special contributions of a number of women mystery writers, sheds light on this significant example of common interests in recreational reading among women and men and the reasons behind the early and continuing uncharacteristic near-equality of both sexes in this field of endeavor.
- GenresNonfictionMystery
310 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 17, 2015
I enjoyed this very much, despite its age (it was published in 1981). It's a series of ten critical essays on the careers of ten female mystery writers, but the authors don't, by and large, get caught up in academic jargon too much, and the whole thing is very specific to the texts and generally readable.
I read backwards through the essays, tackling the unfamiliar names first and saving the ones I knew and loved for last. Since the book turned out to be divided into two sections - "British" first and then "American" - this exposed an interesting bias in my own reading that I wasn't fully aware of till now. The authors in question are Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey, Ngaio Marsh (New Zealander, but placed with the Brits), P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, Anna Katherine Green, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Margaret Miller, Emma Lathen, and Amanda Cross. Of the last five, the only one I have read is Cross, and I stopped with one, not finding her terribly congenial. I may give her another shot. The summaries were enough to convince me that I have no particular desire to read Emma Lathen. Anna Katherine Green and Mary Roberts Rinehart, early American exponents of the genre, sound interesting enough that I should at least try a novel by each. And Margaret Millar, placed among the Americans, in fact started her career in (and located her early novels in) Toronto, Canada, so that in itself is a recommendation. So my reading list has been painlessly expanded by this exercise, if nothing else.
I bought this volume as part of my general sweep of Dorothy Sayers biography and letters, but I wasn't expecting very much of a single chapter in a book that seems directed, its academic origins notwithstanding, to the general market. It was pleasing to see, therefore, that Kathleen Gregory Klein, who wrote the Sayers essay, picked one dominant theme in Sayers' non-fiction writings - the pre-eminent importance of devotion to work - and ran with it in her discussion of the novels. I liked her discovery that nearly all of Sayers' murderers betray their own work/vocation as well as committing the greater betrayal of taking life. The survey of Josephine Tey's career brought back many wonderful memories, and determined me to seek out her Gordon Daviot works to complement the Tey ones (all of which last I have most definitey read). The Ngaio Marsh section gave me a new appreciation of her energy, her longevity, and, of course, of Inspector Alleyn. The chapter on P.D. James was interesting because it was written only half-way through that illustrious career, and therefore was as much notable for what was missing as what was there - but what was there was, I thought, quite perceptive and certainly pointed out (with some well-chosen quotes) how very good the writing was right from the beginning. As for Rendell, I discover I've read less of her than I thought, and few or none of the early novels. She's not in my top tier, but it most interesting to read the reflections of a critic for whom she is in the top tier.
The introduction explains (or at least apologizes for) the omissions of people's favourites from the line-up, the most notable of which are Agatha Christie (but she is much written about) and, rather unforgivably in my opinion, Margery Allingham.
This funny little book goes into the permanent collection for future reference.
I read backwards through the essays, tackling the unfamiliar names first and saving the ones I knew and loved for last. Since the book turned out to be divided into two sections - "British" first and then "American" - this exposed an interesting bias in my own reading that I wasn't fully aware of till now. The authors in question are Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey, Ngaio Marsh (New Zealander, but placed with the Brits), P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, Anna Katherine Green, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Margaret Miller, Emma Lathen, and Amanda Cross. Of the last five, the only one I have read is Cross, and I stopped with one, not finding her terribly congenial. I may give her another shot. The summaries were enough to convince me that I have no particular desire to read Emma Lathen. Anna Katherine Green and Mary Roberts Rinehart, early American exponents of the genre, sound interesting enough that I should at least try a novel by each. And Margaret Millar, placed among the Americans, in fact started her career in (and located her early novels in) Toronto, Canada, so that in itself is a recommendation. So my reading list has been painlessly expanded by this exercise, if nothing else.
I bought this volume as part of my general sweep of Dorothy Sayers biography and letters, but I wasn't expecting very much of a single chapter in a book that seems directed, its academic origins notwithstanding, to the general market. It was pleasing to see, therefore, that Kathleen Gregory Klein, who wrote the Sayers essay, picked one dominant theme in Sayers' non-fiction writings - the pre-eminent importance of devotion to work - and ran with it in her discussion of the novels. I liked her discovery that nearly all of Sayers' murderers betray their own work/vocation as well as committing the greater betrayal of taking life. The survey of Josephine Tey's career brought back many wonderful memories, and determined me to seek out her Gordon Daviot works to complement the Tey ones (all of which last I have most definitey read). The Ngaio Marsh section gave me a new appreciation of her energy, her longevity, and, of course, of Inspector Alleyn. The chapter on P.D. James was interesting because it was written only half-way through that illustrious career, and therefore was as much notable for what was missing as what was there - but what was there was, I thought, quite perceptive and certainly pointed out (with some well-chosen quotes) how very good the writing was right from the beginning. As for Rendell, I discover I've read less of her than I thought, and few or none of the early novels. She's not in my top tier, but it most interesting to read the reflections of a critic for whom she is in the top tier.
The introduction explains (or at least apologizes for) the omissions of people's favourites from the line-up, the most notable of which are Agatha Christie (but she is much written about) and, rather unforgivably in my opinion, Margery Allingham.
This funny little book goes into the permanent collection for future reference.
March 19, 2014
A very interesting look at ten classic mystery writers. I originally looked at it because it had a chapter on Ruth Rendell, but I found the essays on Sayers, Marsh, Tey, and Lathen to be well worth reading - mainly because the essayists found overriding themes that tied together their works. It has inspired me to read the Tey novels that have been sitting on my Kindle unread for years.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews