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The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing
From the penny dreadful, which challenges seekers of sensation to discover the truth in a pattern of gory details; to the twentieth-century detective novel, which offers an intricate puzzle solved through the application of the intellect; to the crime novel, which probes the psyches of the characters, the crime and mystery genre offers readers an intellectual excitement unsurpassed by other forms of fiction. Now The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing provides scholars and fans of this genre with an authoritative yet playful compendium of knowledge about a literature known for its highly entertaining treatment of deadly serious puzzles.
Editor Rosemary Herbert has brought together 666 articles--written by such authorities as Edward D. Hoch, Sara Paretsky, and the late Julian Symons--that will accompany readers in their armchair investigations. Here can be found informative biographies of great mystery writers from Edgar Allan Poe to Rex Stout to Ruth Rendell. Here, too, favorite sleuths--including Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Sam Spade, Nero Wolfe, Adam Dalgliesh, and Kinsey Milhone--keep company with master criminals such as Professor Moriarty and Fu Manchu. Character types--from the country constable to the omniscient sleuth to the femme fatale--sleuth, think, or slink within these pages.
In the great tradition of Oxford Companions, this volume features extended essays on the development of this literature, its subgenres and schools of writing. It also serves as a catalogue of the components of mystery writing, such as famous clues, authorial ingenuity, and even an entry on "The Butler Did It." A strength of the volume is found in linked articles which can guide readers from, for instance, a careful definition of Murder to a delightfully quirky compendium of fictional victims in an article on The Corpse.
Editor Rosemary Herbert has brought together 666 articles--written by such authorities as Edward D. Hoch, Sara Paretsky, and the late Julian Symons--that will accompany readers in their armchair investigations. Here can be found informative biographies of great mystery writers from Edgar Allan Poe to Rex Stout to Ruth Rendell. Here, too, favorite sleuths--including Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Sam Spade, Nero Wolfe, Adam Dalgliesh, and Kinsey Milhone--keep company with master criminals such as Professor Moriarty and Fu Manchu. Character types--from the country constable to the omniscient sleuth to the femme fatale--sleuth, think, or slink within these pages.
In the great tradition of Oxford Companions, this volume features extended essays on the development of this literature, its subgenres and schools of writing. It also serves as a catalogue of the components of mystery writing, such as famous clues, authorial ingenuity, and even an entry on "The Butler Did It." A strength of the volume is found in linked articles which can guide readers from, for instance, a careful definition of Murder to a delightfully quirky compendium of fictional victims in an article on The Corpse.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published December 16, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 15, 2023
Otto Penzler thinks this book is great and he knows a thing or two about this genre (and has written several compendia, as well). Though Rosemary Herbert is Editor in Chief, this book is actually written by almost 200 authors. The format is alphabetical by topic or author or subgenre, etc. It is much the same as how the Encyclopedia Britannica was put together with experts each writing on their familiar ground.
In the first 5 pages of “M” we find:
The MacDonalds, John and Philip
Inspector Maigret
An article on “Males and the Male Image”
Philip Marlowe and
Jane Marple
Go an additional page and you find a discussion of “Marriage” in crime and mystery writing and a piece on Ngaio Marsh
Some might argue that this is a big cumbersome book that might sit gathering dust. Not for me, because now that I have it, I will pull it from the shelf just to see what it says about a particular author or genre (such as Juvenile Girl Sleuths or The British Procedural). However, I didn’t pay the $40+ price and I’m not sure that I would.
I hope that gives you some idea of whether this might appeal to your tastes and interests. As for me, I just spotted an article on “coincidence” that intrigues me.
In the first 5 pages of “M” we find:
The MacDonalds, John and Philip
Inspector Maigret
An article on “Males and the Male Image”
Philip Marlowe and
Jane Marple
Go an additional page and you find a discussion of “Marriage” in crime and mystery writing and a piece on Ngaio Marsh
Some might argue that this is a big cumbersome book that might sit gathering dust. Not for me, because now that I have it, I will pull it from the shelf just to see what it says about a particular author or genre (such as Juvenile Girl Sleuths or The British Procedural). However, I didn’t pay the $40+ price and I’m not sure that I would.
I hope that gives you some idea of whether this might appeal to your tastes and interests. As for me, I just spotted an article on “coincidence” that intrigues me.
December 17, 2025
A hefty (500 pages, two columns per page) encyclopedia — purely a reference work, with its entries alphabetically arranged. This book is arranged topically, not like Steinebrunner’s and Penzler’s Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection (which is also very useful). The entries are conservative, therefore reliable (no postmodern babbling or theorizing), and often illuminating.
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April 12, 20212 copies
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2008
An outstanding resource for reviewers, teachers and anyone with a serious interest in Crime Fiction.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews