Murderess Ink: The Better Half of the Mystery

by Dilys Winn

Psst. Murderess Ink proves, beyond a reasonable doubt, that women in the mystery are round dead as often as men, commit just as many murders as men, make just as many wisecracks as men, drink just as much booze as men, and in the final analysis, the female is not only deadlier than the male, but wackier.

Snooping on:
~the shadiest ladies in mystery fiction--the nanny, the cook, the grieving widow, dear old mum
~the man who proposed to Miss Marple
~the knitting brigade
~the plot to immortalize Christie
~the hard-boiled skirts in the Chandler novels
~the crimes against Snow White

More than 50 fearless contributors, over 100 statements in the mystery's defense, enough mug shots to make Interpol jealous, and a bloody good time (in matching color).

Genres: Mystery, Reference, Nonfiction, Crime, Books About Books

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Dilys Winn was an Irish author. She was born in Dublin, Ireland but moved to the USA when she was only one year old with her family in 1940. She graduated from the Baldwin School in Philadelphia and Pembroke College, afterward, she landed a job as an advertising copywriter.

She founded Mystery Ink. in 1972, America's first bookstore devoted solely to the mystery genre, she sold the bookstore in 1975 to free up time to work on a tome of essays and opinions on mystery fiction, which still remains a favorite in the mystery genre today.

in the 90s Winn moved to West Keys, Florida and opened up her second bookstore, Miss Marple’s Parlour, and began reviewing mystery stories for Kirkus Reviews, she had hundreds of reviews under her belt before she retired in 2013.

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

A companion book to Murder Ink, which featured mysteries of all sorts, this volume focused exclusively on the feminine side of the genre: victims/sleuths/culprits/authors. I enjoyed the articles which highlight authors such as Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Josephine Tey, and Ruth Rendell (among others). And I also appreciated that a great number of the pieces were written by detective novelists themselves. Less enjoyable were some of the pieces that were written as if one were in the midst of one mystery or another or which framed ordinary events (such as a luncheon among mystery writers) as mysterious or top-secret affairs. These bits seemed either forced or too coy (and sometimes both). Coming to the book decades after it was written probably didn't help--some of it seems very dated. But there is still a great deal of interesting information and I even managed to glean a few more titles to add to my always-growing "To Be Found" list.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was published as a companion piece to the earlier "Murder Ink". While "Murder Ink" focused on male and female writers/adventures/books, "The Better Half of the Mystery" focused more on female writers/adventures/books, but many of the writers/books here previously appeared in the original work.
Still, I bought this when it came out in 1979 and it still sits on my Reference Shelf at my home library, so I have had it here for almost 40 years. And like "Murder Ink" I enjoy visiting my old friends within these pages on occasions.

[Judith Shadford · Rating 3 out of 5]

A second reading after multiple decades...well, since it was first published. I'm more critical now, impatient with the perpetuation of plotlines and useless complications, with the whole concept of "red herrings". Interesting historically, maybe. But by the last 50 pages, even in the light, semi-ironic tone of the book, our current society has produced so many real-life horrific crimes against women and children, that it just wasn't light and semi-ironic any more. Of an era, well-done-ish. But...

[Clarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about mysteries written by women, especially during the golden age of mystery writing. I loved this book in my teens, must be more than 30 years ago now, maybe more. I wish I hadn't gotten rid of my copy. This book started me reading Dorothy Sayers, and other authors. Although oddly what I remember best is the chapter about norland nurses. Norland is a British agency that produces very superior nannies (as we Americans would say).

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference book (covering the great many ladies that have written a great many great books).
I keep pulling it out to check on someone... (better reading than Wikipedia) ... I see that I have not listed it on my GoodReads shelves, so doing so now.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Murderess Ink: The Better Half of the Mystery! Published in 1979, it was not quite as old as Murder Ink (1977), also edited by Dilys Winn. The pages in my copy were not quite as yellow. It was dated, but still had a lot of relevant and interesting articles written by a variety of writers. The focus was on women, both murderesses and female victims. It took me months to read, doing an article or two at a time. Murderess Ink is an enjoyable and informative read, if you can find a copy. It's definitely worth the search!

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this a long time ago too