Reference Guide To Mystery And Detective Fiction

An annotated guide to reference works that document and describe the primary and secondary literature of mystery and detective fiction.

A guide to research on American mystery and detective novels emphasizing the historical development of the genre and major critical approaches to the literature.

Mystery and detective novels are popular fictional genres within Western literature. As such, they provide a wealth of information about popular art and culture. When the genre develops within various cultures, it adopts, and proceeds to dominate, native expressions and imagery. American mystery and detective novels appeared in the late nineteenth century. This reference provides a selective guide to the important criticism of American mystery and detective novels and presents general features of the genre and its historical development over the past two centuries. Critical approaches covered in the volume include story as game, images, myth criticism, formalism and structuralism, psychonalysis, Marxism and more. Comparisons with related genres, such as gothic, suspense, gangster, and postmodern novels, illustrate similarities and differences important to the understanding of the unique components of mystery and detective fiction. The guide is divided into five major sections: a brief history, related genres, criticism, authors, and reference. This organization accounts for the literary history and types of novels stemming from the mystery and detective genre. A chronology provides a helpful overview of the development and transformation of the genre.

This new edition of Bleiler's popular and award-winning guide is a superb reference and research tool, as well as an invaluable aid to collection development. Evaluative reviews of approximately 1,000 reference works on mystery and detective fiction provide in-depth discussions of their contents, strengths, weaknesses, and usefulness, often comparing titles to similar or competing works. Encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, genre guides, national bibliographies, media studies, general reader's guides, web sites, and organizations are just some of the information sources covered in this thorough source. All annotations from the previous edition have been reviewed, revised, and updated; and complete critical reviews of works published since the last edition have been added, including titles released in the present year (2003). More than one third of monographic citations are new to this edition. In a feature new to this edition, Bleiler indexes reference works that provide biographical information on mystery writers, and lists the key websites on these authors. More than 2,500 bio-bibliographic citations to individual mystery writers are given-information that will be particularly useful to those researching specific authors. Organized by publication type for easy access, this work also features a detailed index, making it an essential guide for scholars, researchers, educators, readers' advisors, reference librarians, collection development specialists, and fans.

"1001 Midnights is the essential reference -- and reading -- book for all aficionados of mystery, detective, and suspense fiction. It is comprised of 1001 plot summaries, author biographies, and critical evaluations of classic and important crime and espionage novels, as well as short story collections seminal to the genre. It is an indispensible volume of information and criticisim." --

This supplement covers over 350 titles in the original categories plus more than 200 entries in a new category: mystery anthologies with reference value.

A murdered heiress, a missing necklace, and a train full of shifty, unusual, and suspicious characters leaves Daisy and Hazel with a new mystery to solve in this third novel of the Wells & Wong Mystery series. Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells are taking a vacation across Europe on world-famous passenger train, the Orient Express—and it’s clear that each of their fellow first-class travelers has something to hide. Even more intriguing: There’s rumor of a spy in their midst. Then, during dinner, a bloodcurdling scream comes from inside one of the cabins. When the door is broken down, a passenger is found murdered—her stunning ruby necklace gone. But the killer has vanished, as if into thin air. The Wells & Wong Detective Society is ready to crack the case—but this time, they’ve got competition.