The Great Detectives: The World's Most Celebrated Sleuths Unmasked by Their Authors

by Otto Penzler

The origins of literature’s finest crime fighters, told by their creators themselves

Their names ring out like gunshots in the dark of a back alley, crime fighters of a lost era whose heroic deeds will never be forgotten. They are men like Lew Archer, Pierre Chambrun, Flash Casey, and the Shadow. They are women like Mrs. North and the immortal Nancy Drew. These are detectives, and they are some of the only true heroes the twentieth century ever knew.

 

In this classic volume, Otto Penzler presents essays written by the authors who created these famous characters. We learn how Ed McBain killed—and resurrected—the hero of the 87th Precinct, how international agent Quiller wrote his will, and how Dick Tracy first announced that “crime does not pay.” Some of these heroes may be more famous than others, but there is not one whom you wouldn’t like on your side in a courtroom, a shootout, or an old-fashioned barroom brawl.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mystery, Reference, Anthologies

285 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Otto Penzler is an editor of mystery fiction in the United States, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, where he lives.

Otto Penzler founded The Mysteriour Press in 1975 and was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years.

Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977, and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994, and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003.

Reviews

[Jan C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting set of essays by authors about their detectives, some of whom seem to take on lives of their own. A little surprised to see Dick Tracy and his author included. He had just finished school in Chicago and submitted some writing to the Tribune and it was suggested that he turn his story into a strip, originally called Detective Tracy soon changed to Dick. It filled a gap in the crime riddled Chicago of the '30s.

Others included are Ross Macdonald, Ngaio Marsh, Michael Innes, Christianna Brand

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otto Penzler asked a group of famous mystery writers to describe their creations:

"On what real-life people might their heroes be based? How did the adventures come to be written? Did they like their creations? What is the secret of inventing a character who will outlive its author?"

When this book was initially published in 1977, many classic mystery writers were still alive, and Otto Penzler was fortunate enough to convince them to contribute to this book. Forty years later, many of them are still familiar to mystery readers:

Ngaio Marsh (Roderick Alleyn)
Michael Innes (John Appleby)
Ross Macdonald (Lew Archer)
Inspector Cockrill (Christianna Brand)
Pierre Chambrun (Hugh Pentecost)
The 87th Precinct (Ed McBain)
Matt Helm (Donald Hamilton)
Mr. and Mrs. North (Richard Lockridge)
The Shadow (Maxwell Grant)
Michael Shane (Brett Halliday)
Virgil Tibbs (John Ball)
Dick Tracy (Chester Gould)

John Ball's chapter is done as an interview between himself and Virgil Tibbs, who has his share of misgivings about Ball's portrayal of him. Brett Halliday gives a very entertaining account of how he created Mike Shayne and his disillusionment with the movie series (they based on the movies on books that Halliday did not write, which he said lost him quite a bit of money). Chester Gould is just as law and order as his creation. Why do the criminals in "Dick Tracy" look so ugly? "All murderers are ugly, regardless of their visage." (Chester Gould) Ed McBain's affectionate account of the 87th Precinct is my favorite chapter in the book. It's one of my father's favorite series, and one he returns to time and again.

There are also some lesser known authors and detectives:

Father Bredder (Leonard Holton)
Flash Casey (George Harmon Coxe)
Captain Jose Da Silva (Robert L Fish)
Fred Fellows (Hillary Waugh)
Duncan Maclain (Baynard H. Kendrick)

And many others.

The Bredder series should be better known. A tough World War II veteran and priest, Bredder has some memorable adventures. These books have a very distinctive presence - you can really sense the fight between good and evil in them.

Some authors and their creations have stood the test of time, but others, such as Coxe and Kendrick, have largely been forgotten. Coxe is mostly known today for creating Flash Casey, who was featured on the "Casey, Crime Photographer," radio show. This was a case of the radio show being more interesting than the books. Coxe's books have not aged well. His other series, which features news photographer Kent Murdock is okay, but rather forgettable. His writing lacks the spark of superior writers like Agatha Christie and Brett Halliday.

Kendrick's blind detective, Duncan Maclain, was intended to be a more realistic answer to Ernest Bramah's Max Carrados, a blind superman capable of totally unrealistic feats. Kendrick's account of how and why he created Maclain is fascinating and touching. Surprisingly, Maclain underwent a metamorphosis and became - for one season at least - a blind investigator named "Longstreet" played by James Franciscus in the early 1970s TV show of the same name.

[Joe Noir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a little dated now, and some of the detectives profiled have fallen out of favor. There are good essays from the creators of Matt Helm, The Shadow, Mike Shayne, and Quiller. One by the creator of Nancy Drew is a waste of time. Otto Penzler did much better with the more recent book THE LINEUP: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives (Little Brown 2009), in fact, it won an Edgar award. Read it instead of this book.

[Kay Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essays by the authors of early to mid twentieth century detective stories (this was first published in the 70s), describing how they developed their main characters (or in some cases how they sprang onto the page full blown). Fun if you're a fan of older detective series (I've read several of those in the book), but especially good if you are interested in the creative thinking behind them.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otto Penzler edited this excellent collection. He selected various authors to tell the story behind the creation of the famous detectives they created. I enjoyed Penzler’s introduction to the book. One of the highlights is his comparison of detectives to superheroes, especially the popular ones that readers want to continue reading about case after case. Penzler also wrote an introduction to each author and detective which gave excellent background for those authors I didn’t know.The book appears to be a new release of a book originally written in the late 1970s. The bibliography/filmography at the end of the book doesn’t go beyond 1977.

The book includes 26 authors with a variety of writing styles including Ed McBain, Hugh Pentecost, Ross MacDonald, and Dell Shannon with detectives ranging from hard boiled PIs, Scotland Yard detectives, a Los Angeles priest, to a teenage girl detective. Also interesting was the story behind The Shadow and Dick Tracy. Each author has their own way of talking about their characters, and I really enjoyed reading this book, even when I was not familiar with a particular author or detective.

Fans of classic mysteries will enjoy this behind the scenes looks at famous detectives from those who created them. Mystery readers in general will enjoy the book and will probably find a few “new” authors to try. After reading all of the authors’ stories, I have to say I am thankful for rain since Dame Ngaio Marsh and others said they started writing because they were looking for something to do on a rainy day.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though most of the detectives filling these pages are now out of favor, if you've been reading mysteries for half a century or longer you'll recognize most of the characters. There are some notable omissions - Peter Wimsey, for instance - but many authors who could have been included are now dead or were perhaps unwilling to appear. A useful reminder that older mysteries seem quaint and genteel by comparison to what appears to day - not better, but very different.

[Brenda at MyShelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

An update version that has me searching out the mystery writers I was not familiar with... A quick, fasinating read... I read the ebook version...