Bloody Murder: From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel

by Julian Symons

Overview

In celebration of distinguished author/critic Julian Symons' 80th year, here is the third and final revised edition of his classic history of mystery fiction. The views expressed here are as candid as ever. One bestselling writer is called unreadable, another compared to writers of "strip cartoon stories". But the general tone is warmly appreciative of every sort of book within the genre.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780892964963
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	02/01/1993
Series:	Literature Series
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	349
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

	Preface to the Third Edition	ix
	Prologue: The Guilty Party	xi
1.	What They Are and Why We Read Them	1
2.	The Two Strands: Godwin, Vidocq, Poe	19
3.	Dickens, Collins, Gaboriau: The Pattern Forms	38
4.	Interregnum	57
5.	The Case of Sherlock Holmes	66
6.	The Short Story: The First Golden Age	79
7.	The Rise of the Novel	95
8.	The Golden Age: The Twenties	104
9.	The Golden Age: The Thirties	123
10.	The American Revolution	143
11.	Simenon and Maigret	155
12.	"Mr. Queen, will you be good enough to explain your famous character's sex life, if any?"	161
13.	The Short Story's Mutations	179
14.	Crime Novel and Police Novel	191
15.	Big Producers and Big Sellers, Curiosities and Singletons	238
16.	A Short History of the Spy Story	258
17.	The Crystal Ball Revisited	282
	A Postscript for the Nineties	291
	Index	327