The Oxford Book of American Detective Stories

by Tony Hillerman (Editor), Rosemary Herbert (Editor), Herbert Hillerman

Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" launched the detective story in 1841. The genre began as a highbrow form of entertainment, a puzzle to be solved by a rational sifting of clues. In Britain, the stories became decidedly upper the crime often committed in a world of manor
homes and formal gardens, the blood on the Persian carpet usually blue. But from the beginning, American writers worked important changes on Poe's basic formula, especially in use of language and locale. As early as 1917, Susan Glaspell evinced a poignant understanding of motive in a murder in an
isolated farmhouse. And with World War I, the Roaring '20s, the rise of organized crime and corrupt police with Prohibition, and the Great Depression, American detective fiction branched out in all directions, led by writers such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, who brought crime out of the
drawing room and into the "mean streets" where it actually occurred.
In The Oxford Book of American Detective Stories , Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert bring together thirty-three tales that illuminate both the evolution of crime fiction in the United States and America's unique contribution to this highly popular genre. Tracing its progress from elegant
"locked room" mysteries, to the hard-boiled realism of the '30s and '40s, to the great range of styles seen today, this superb collection includes the finest crime writers, including Erle Stanley Gardner, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, Rex Stout, Ellery Queen, Ed McBain, Sue Grafton, and
Hillerman himself. There are also many delightful Bret Harte, for instance, offers a Sherlockian pastiche with a hero named Hemlock Jones, and William Faulkner blends local color, authentic dialogue, and dark, twisted pride in "An Error in Chemistry." We meet a wide range of sleuths, from
armchair detective Nero Wolfe, to Richard Sale's journalist Daffy Dill, to Robert Leslie Bellem's wise-cracking Hollywood detective Dan Turner, to Linda Barnes's six-foot tall, red-haired, taxi-driving female P.I., Carlotta Carlyle. And we sample a wide variety of styles, from tales with a strongly
regional flavor, to hard-edged pulp fiction, to stories with a feminist perspective. Perhaps most important, the book offers a brilliant summation of America's signal contribution to crime fiction, highlighting the myriad ways in which we have reshaped this genre. The editors show how Raymond
Chandler used crime, not as a puzzle to be solved, but as a spotlight with which he could illuminate the human condition; how Ed McBain, in "A Small Homicide," reveals a keen knowledge of police work as well as of the human sorrow which so often motivates crime; and how Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer
solved crime not through blood stains and footprints, but through psychological insight into the damaged lives of the victim's family. And throughout, the editors provide highly knowledgeable introductions to each piece, written from the perspective of fellow writers and reflecting a life-long
interest--not to say love--of this quintessentially American genre.
American crime fiction is as varied and as democratic as America itself. Hillerman and Herbert bring us a gold mine of glorious stories that can be read for sheer pleasure, but that also illuminate how the crime story evolved from the drawing room to the back alley, and how it came to explore
every corner of our nation and every facet of our lives.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Crime, Detective

686 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 1996

About the author

Tony Hillerman, who was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, was a decorated combat veteran from World War II, serving as a mortarman in the 103rd Infantry Division and earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. Later, he worked as a journalist from 1948 to 1962. Then he earned a Masters degree and taught journalism from 1966 to 1987 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he resided with his wife until his death in 2008. Hillerman, a consistently bestselling author, was ranked as New Mexico's 25th wealthiest man in 1996. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Dennis Goshorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got the book from the local library to read the Cornell Woolrich story "Rear Window," the basis for the Hitchcock movie of the same name. I won't do the usual and say the book is better than the movie. I hate it when people do that—the book (short-story) was different than the movie. Each can stand on its own. I love tracking down original works that were made into movies. This was more satisfying than most.

Jimmy Stewart's character is still there, as is his detective friend. Much of the plot remains the same and Woolrich does a good job of making the "stage" come to life in the mind's eye. The ending, which I won't spoil, is different, but it's not one of those, 'oh, why did they ruin the movie' endings—both the movie and the story endings are equally satisfying. Gone is the housekeeper, replaced by someone named Sam and the Grace Kelly character is a movie feature only.

Good read. This book uses the title "Rear Window" for the short-story, but I understand its original title was "It Had To Be Murder."

[Bruce Snell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of detective stories written by American authors from the mid 1800s to the present time. It provides an opportunity to sample a lot of authors that I was either unaware of or unfamiliar with. I discovered that I am not a fan of Edgar Allen Poe's detective fiction, and that most of the work in the style of Poe was not to my taste. But at the same time I learned that a number of authors, such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ellery Queen and Sue Grafton have written enough to keep me in reading material for years to come.

[Michael Compton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent anthology that takes a stab at providing a representative, if not comprehensive, overview of the development of the American detective story, from Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue," to Tomny Hillerman's own "Chee's Witch." The anthology contains all the usual suspects, with a couple of surprising omissions (No Dashiell Hammet???), probably due more to difficulties with copyrights than editorial choices. Women are well represented, and there is an effort to provide stories that are both historically significant and of high caliber, which isn't always in perfect balance. As one might imagine with stories dating back over a hundred years, a lot of the material is dated, in content, style, and cultural attitudes, but most readers who have an interest in this kind of fiction will likely be forgiving. Some of the best stories, in fact, are some of the oldest, which only serves to illustrate how a good writer can transcend his or her times. There are a lot of unexpected gems--Brett Harte's satire of Sherlock Holmes is a particular favorite, as is the rollicking adventure by Caroll John Daly, who pioneered the ethically challenged anti-hero all the way back in 1922. There are also some surprising flops--Cornel Woolrich's undercooked "Rear Window" was a big disappointment, but on the plus side, it's a great object lesson on the genius of Alfred Hitchcock, whose film version is exponentially superior. I also found the stories by Rex Stout and Ellery Queen silly, if not downright painful. They may be giants in the field, but I don't see myself going back to either of them. Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason tale, by contrast, was good fun. Other writers of note--William Faulkner, Raymod Chandler, Ross MacDonald, Ed McBain, Sue Grafton--ensure that there is a wide range of quality tales for all tastes.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this for the Bellem story-- which doesn't in any way disappoint-- but I'm enjoying the rest of the collection too. Highlights are: Carroll John Daly, Bellem, Melville Davisson Post, Susan Glaspell, Woolrich and Chandler's story, which is a pretty good one.

Funny, but I find myself actually agreeing wholeheartedly with Chandler's "The Simple Art of Murder" at the midway point of this collection. The stories that pay less attention to "unique" plot twists are the better ones, without question. Not that I ever thought the man was wrong, but I hadn't really ever considered it such a very great problem. Seeing the preponderance here, I can sympathize with the man. This was the company he was joining: who could blame him for a little froth and bile? The more Conan Doyle-ish, the worse, and there are more than a few pastiches here, including one by John Dickson Carr that is a real "treat".

On balance, kind of silly. But a fun read.

[Richard Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading many, many mystery anthologies, mostly concentrating on stories from the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s, which I just love. I've read several dozen very large anthologies and another dozen or two more reasonably long ones. Of all those books, this is THE BEST. Every story is excellent. Of the 33 stories, I had already read 9 in other anthologies.

Among the finest stories herein, you'll find Cornell Woolrich's "Rear Window," one of the all-time great stories, Jacques Futrelle's brilliant "The Problem of Cell 13," Susan Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers," and Ross Macdonald's "Guilt-Edged Blonde." I had read all of these in other books. You might be interested to know that in my extensive collection of "Best Of" anthologies, the Futrelle title appears in 6 books, the Glaspell is in 6, the Macdonald is in 5, and the Woolrich is in 4.

While I am loving all these old anthologies, after each story in this book, I sit back and think, "This is by far the best book in my collection."

If you have any interest in the finest in mystery short stories, this is the book for you.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent research volume for readers interested in the detective genre's origin. It starts with an overview of how the detective story came about, how it changed, and where it is now. The overview contains a fascinating description of the early "rules" detective genre writers had to use (much of which are valuable today across all genres).
Some stories are dated although their technique and craft are not. Some stories are so genre tropish I laughed out loud (especially when the writing kept me engaged while the tropes cracked me up).
Perhaps the best use of this book is for people wanting to explore the genre without needing a compass. It's all here, from Poe to Hillerman, and worth a look.

[Ricky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book sitting on a bookshelf for ages. I finally picked it up to fill in the gap between books on hold from our local library. Glad I fid.

Found it interesting and enjoyable to follow the evolution of the genre. I'm assuming that there are more recently published collections, which I hope to find.

[PAUL DEWSON · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all anthologies you get some really excellent stories and some very mediocre. This is no exception. Unfortunately there are only a few truly excellent stories the majority are pretty poor, especially the early ones. Of course it's all a matter of personal preferences but on balance I prefer good British detective fiction every time .

[David William · Rating 3 out of 5]

The downside was the book started with stories from the 1800s. The stories got better as they approached the present.

[Benjamin Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of 33 detective stories contains some great classics, including “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Footprint in the Sky”, “Rear Window”, and “From Another World”. Not all of the inclusions are up to that level of quality, but enough are for me to recommend it.

Full review (with spoilers) on my blog.

[R. David · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual with mystery anthologies some were mediocre, a couple were disappointing, some were good and some were exceptional. I enjoy reading mystery short stories for relaxation. With only two or three exceptions the book was worth the read.