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Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction, The
A detective fiction anthology filled with award winning short stories, information on the authors who wrote them, discussion about the history and evolution of the genre, and important literary criticism.
496 pages, Paperback
First published July 23, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 2, 2009
I’m using this book in my Literary Genres: Detective Fiction class this semester, so I skimmed it to determine which readings to assign, and now I’ve been reading it thoroughly as the class works their way through it. Lots of good stories and some decent commentary. Thoughts:
* The book is divided into 3 sub-sections: the amateur, the private investigator, and the police detective. I’ve combined this setup with Gary Hoppenstand’s reading of additional sub-genres such as Hard-boiled and Avenger. We also have a unit on Feminist detectives and one on Supernatural detectives.
* The commentary in the book is decent, with solid introductions by Mansfield-Kelley and Marchino, and good essays from Maida and Spornik, Chandler, Kaufman and Kay, Panek, and McBain. The other essays tend to get a little too enthusiastic (from a fan perspective) for my taste.
The stories are a solid mix of the three subsets above. Some thoughts on my favorites:
* Poe, “Murders in the Rue Morgue” – this story’s historical importance demands that it be included, but as a mystery, it’s a pretty big cheat.
* Doyle, “Silver Blaze” – Like Robert Ray, I’m enamored of the two awesome phrases in the story: “the curious incident of the dog in the night time,” and “the immense significance of the curried mutton.”
* Christie, “Witness for the Prosecution” – an excellent story that’s tighter than most of Christie. Alas, one of the commentary articles gives away the ending. I warned students to read the story first. Disaster averted!
* Sayers, “The Haunted Policeman,” and Carr, “The House in Goblin Wood” – classics of the “puzzle game” genre, and lame. It turns out I don’t have much taste for the short story puzzle game.
* Queen, “My Queer Dean” – spoonerisms are important in today’s society.
* Maron, “Deborah’s Judgement” – an excellent example of the more thoughtful character studies produced since women invaded the P.I. genre in the 1970s. Nice.
* Hammett, “The Gutting of Couffignal” – the avenger detective in full regalia here. Not that interesting.
* Chandler, “Trouble Is My Business,” worth reading for the title alone.
* Grafton, “The Parker Shotgun,” excellent. Great characters and a tight mystery. Plus, great title. See Chandler.
* Paretsky, “Skin Deep,” Haywood, “And Pray Nobody Sees You,” and Rozan, “Going Home.” Each tight and entertaining. The last one especially captures the noir sensibility that runs through much PI fiction.
* McBain, “Sadie when she died,” Rankin, “The Dean’s Curse,” and Howard, “Under Suspicion” all sizzle along nicely. I can take or leave the other Police mysteries in the set.
Overall, a nice selection of short form detective fiction, and a good introduction to the genre. I encourage readers to tackle the stories first and return to the commentary afterward, though I believe the only spoiler occurs in the Maida/Spornick article.
* The book is divided into 3 sub-sections: the amateur, the private investigator, and the police detective. I’ve combined this setup with Gary Hoppenstand’s reading of additional sub-genres such as Hard-boiled and Avenger. We also have a unit on Feminist detectives and one on Supernatural detectives.
* The commentary in the book is decent, with solid introductions by Mansfield-Kelley and Marchino, and good essays from Maida and Spornik, Chandler, Kaufman and Kay, Panek, and McBain. The other essays tend to get a little too enthusiastic (from a fan perspective) for my taste.
The stories are a solid mix of the three subsets above. Some thoughts on my favorites:
* Poe, “Murders in the Rue Morgue” – this story’s historical importance demands that it be included, but as a mystery, it’s a pretty big cheat.
* Doyle, “Silver Blaze” – Like Robert Ray, I’m enamored of the two awesome phrases in the story: “the curious incident of the dog in the night time,” and “the immense significance of the curried mutton.”
* Christie, “Witness for the Prosecution” – an excellent story that’s tighter than most of Christie. Alas, one of the commentary articles gives away the ending. I warned students to read the story first. Disaster averted!
* Sayers, “The Haunted Policeman,” and Carr, “The House in Goblin Wood” – classics of the “puzzle game” genre, and lame. It turns out I don’t have much taste for the short story puzzle game.
* Queen, “My Queer Dean” – spoonerisms are important in today’s society.
* Maron, “Deborah’s Judgement” – an excellent example of the more thoughtful character studies produced since women invaded the P.I. genre in the 1970s. Nice.
* Hammett, “The Gutting of Couffignal” – the avenger detective in full regalia here. Not that interesting.
* Chandler, “Trouble Is My Business,” worth reading for the title alone.
* Grafton, “The Parker Shotgun,” excellent. Great characters and a tight mystery. Plus, great title. See Chandler.
* Paretsky, “Skin Deep,” Haywood, “And Pray Nobody Sees You,” and Rozan, “Going Home.” Each tight and entertaining. The last one especially captures the noir sensibility that runs through much PI fiction.
* McBain, “Sadie when she died,” Rankin, “The Dean’s Curse,” and Howard, “Under Suspicion” all sizzle along nicely. I can take or leave the other Police mysteries in the set.
Overall, a nice selection of short form detective fiction, and a good introduction to the genre. I encourage readers to tackle the stories first and return to the commentary afterward, though I believe the only spoiler occurs in the Maida/Spornick article.
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December 18, 2025The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction, ed. by Deane Mansfield-Kelley and Lois A. Marchino
"The author must play fair with his reader; he cannot say, "At that moment Graspingham Featherhill bent over and picked up a small object that lay all but hidden on the rug; after studying it carefully for a moment, he slipped it covertly into his side pocket. " If the detective saw the object, the reader must see it too and be given the same chance to apply it as a clue to the solution of the mystery."
"The author must play fair with his reader; he cannot say, "At that moment Graspingham Featherhill bent over and picked up a small object that lay all but hidden on the rug; after studying it carefully for a moment, he slipped it covertly into his side pocket. " If the detective saw the object, the reader must see it too and be given the same chance to apply it as a clue to the solution of the mystery."
March 6, 2019
Read for a class.
Nice array of detective stories arranged into different categories that was easy to figure out but my favourite was the essays included by the authors of the stories.
One pet peeve was that a lot of the essays spoiled the short stories, so if you’re using this for a class maybe schedule the essays for AFTER the equivalent story.
Nice array of detective stories arranged into different categories that was easy to figure out but my favourite was the essays included by the authors of the stories.
One pet peeve was that a lot of the essays spoiled the short stories, so if you’re using this for a class maybe schedule the essays for AFTER the equivalent story.
March 7, 2024
A lot of good stories if you like detective fiction !!!!
May 21, 2025
Great selection of short stories. My favorite one was Under Suspicion, such an interesting plot twist.
December 18, 2016
Mansfield-Kelley includes such a wide variety of stories while effectively exemplifying key pieces from the detective fiction genre's periods. They included essays from various scholars and authors add context, provoke thought and challenge the reader to analyze pieces independently.
February 15, 2014
Great variety of detective stories. I found the essays to be fairly useless--I just can't imagine my students getting much out of them. The stories, however will work well for the detective fiction class I'm teaching.
July 23, 2015
We used this in a composition class. I loved, loved, loved it. There were so many great detective fictions. Our professor did a great job of teaching us how to write for academia by having us analyze each story.
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March 12, 2009collection of critical essays and short story detective fiction
July 21, 2016
This is a great novel if you are teaching a detective fiction course. Has numerous short stories from wonderful authors. I use this book in the class I teach for high school seniors!
August 26, 2011
I am reading this for a class in detective fiction. Very interesting.
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April 10, 2017it is good
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews