Detective & Mystery Fiction Genre
Websites | Readers' Advisory Books | Definition | Keywords for Searching
Websites
ARRT Mystery Genre Study - The Adult Reading Round Table (ARRT) studied the Mystery genre from 1996 - 1997. Includes information about the storyline, setting/background/tone, characteristics, pacing, and read alikes. Sub-genres include: classic authors, female and male private detectives, police procedurals, great detectives, serial killers, historical mysteries, cozy mysteries, amateur detectives, non-series mysteries, crime novels, and comic/capers.
-- Review from http://www.arrtreads.org/
ClueLass and the Mysterious Home Page - ClueLass.com provides background information for newcomers and other interested parties. Bloodstained Bookshelf contains new releases of mystery, crime, and detective fiction scheduled for this and future months. Searchable archives of recent and past releases. Deadly Directory Online is a comprehensive international guide to the mystery fiction community. ClueLass Crypt is archive of mystery-related information, advice, and reference material. -- Review from http://www.cluelass.com/
Mystery Reader - Includes an author directory and hundreds of book reviews. Reviews are broken down by detective and mystery sub-genres.
-- Review from http://www.themysteryreader.com
Poisoned Pen - Links to new releases, recommended reading, awards, conferences, and an events calendar for the Phoenix, AZ area. Also includes links to mystery author websites, mystery websites, and the Poisoned Pen Press. -- Review from http://www.poisonedpen.com
Stop - You're Killing Me - A resource for lovers of mystery, crime, thriller, spy, and suspense books. Includes over 2,100 authors, with chronological lists of their books (over 23,000 titles), both series and non-series. Features include an author, character, and location indices, as well as read-alikes and award winners. -- Review from http://www.stopyourekillingme.com
Readers' Advisory Books
Gumshoes: A Dictionary of Fictional Detectives
Brunsdale, Mitzi. (2006). Gumshoes: A dictionary of fictional detectives. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
One hundred fifty fictional detectives--"sleuths, snoops, cops, or hard-boiled PIs"--are represented in this who's-who in whodunit literature.
User-friendly A-Z listing contains summary data for each imaginary detective that could easily fill a rap sheet: vital statistics, aliases, profession (including not just criminal investigation but just about every field of employment: priest, bounty hunter, dog trainer, freelance writer, and chef), location, time period, associates, nemesis and nemeses, significant others, and personal beliefs about justice. Analytical essays sum up the chief characteristics of each detective series and are followed by lists of the novels and short stories in the series, other important works by the author, selected sources, major awards, and in some cases a Web site. See also references point the reader to similar series, some covered in the volume and some not.
-- Review from http://www.amazon.com
Great Women Mystery Writers
Lindsay, Elizabeth Blakesley. (2007). Great women mystery writers. Westport, Conn : Greenwood Press.
Provides alphabetically arranged entries on 90 great women mystery writers. Each entry provides a biography, a discussion of major works and themes, and primary and secondary bibliographies. The book closes with appendices of award winners and a selected, general bibliography. -- Review from http://www.amazon.com
Mystery Readers' Advisory
Charles, John, Joanna Morrison, & Candace Clark. (2002). The mystery readers' advisory: the librarian's clues to murder and mayhem. Chicago: American Library Association.
Librarians from Scottsdale, AZ provide an introduction to the mystery genre and offer tips and techniques for providing advice to mystery readers in the library. They include some of their own bibliographies, but refer readers elsewhere for fuller ones. They also include a brief history of the genre to pass on to readers new to it.
-- Review from http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org
Read 'em Their Writes
Niebuhr, Gary Warren. (2006). Read 'em their writes: A handbook for mystery and crime fiction book discussions. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited.
A guide for mystery book clubs. Reveals how to organize your group, get participants, select book club titles, prepare for the meeting, and conduct discussions. Book club themes, inside tips, and background material and sample questions for 100 of the best mystery titles for discussion are included. A list of 50 additional mystery titles to discuss and an index conclude the work. This is the first book club guide devoted solely to the mystery genre.
-- Review from http://www.amazon.com
Make Mine a Mystery
Niebuhr, Gary Warren. (2003). Make mine a mystery: A reader's guide to mystery and detective fiction. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited.
Chapters correspond to three types of detectives--amateur, public, and private--with several variations, such as lawyer detectives and ex-cop detectives. Under each writer, titles are grouped by detective and arranged in chronological order by publication date. This grouping by detective is useful because it corresponds to the way mysteries tend to be chosen and read. Each title entry includes publisher, date, and a brief annotation. An appendix lists print and electronic resources, organizations, and publishers. The volume concludes with author, title, character, subject, and location indexes. -- Review from http://www.amazon.com
Definition
Detective fiction has become almost synonymous with mystery. These stories relate the solving of a crime, usually one or more murders, by a protagonist who may or may not be a professional investigator. This large, popular genre has many subgenres, reflecting differences in tone, character, and setting.
Mystery fiction, technically involving stories in which characters try to not discover a vital piece of information which is kept hidden till the climax, is now considered by many people almost a synonym for detective fiction. The standard novel stocked in the mystery section of bookstores is a whodunit.
Crime fiction stories, centered on criminal enterprise, are told from the point of view of the perpetrators. They range in tone from lighthearted "caper" stories to darker plots involving organized crime or incarcerated convicts.
-- Review from http://en.wikipedia.org
Keywords for Searching
Crime stories
Detectives
Detective and mystery stories
Gentleman detective stories
Murder mysteries
Mysteries
Mystery and detective stories
Mystery stories
P.I. stories
Private detective stories
Private investigator stories
Who-done-it stories
Who-done-its
Whodunit stories
Whodunits
-- From http://authorities.loc.gov/