I have a friend who is having a birthday in late September, and I was thinking of buying her a good non-fiction book on mysteries. (She loves mysteries, but I’d rather not take the chance of buying something fictional she may already have.) Something like a pop history on the history of the mystery genre, how it has developed over time, etc.
Any suggestions?
Thanks for your help.
(Moderator…this seemed to be where this best fit, but feel free to move it.)
For a good title, you can’t beat Robert E. Skinner’s The New Hard Boiled Dicks!
Well, it’s not pop history, but how about this one?
Killer Books - A Reader’s Guide to Exploring the Popular World of Mystery and Suspense by Jean Swanson, et al.
Here’s the link to it at amazon -
HYH,
tygre
Scribe: I recommend Francis M. Nevins’ “Royal Bloodline: Ellery Queen, Author and Detective” even though it focuses on one author rather than the entire genre. It may be out of print as it was published in 1974, but it is an excellent critical study of Ellery Queen’s work. IMO, if your friend likes mysteries, your friend should love Ellery Queen.
I don’t know if she’s a Christie fan, but if she is, Agatha Christie’s Autobiography is excellent!
If you can find them, “Murder, Ink” and “Murderess Ink” are wnderful histories of the mysteries (hey, that rhymes!) The books are 25 years old, though, so you’ll have to look in used-book stores or use the out-of-print sellers on the 'Net.
Scribe—bump this thread back to the top when Ukelele Ike comes back from vacation on the 5th. He’s the mystery maven here.
LOL…I think her husband might have a few questions though. 
(And as I’ll likely give the book to her at church, I’d have to say “Just trust me…open it later, okay.” )
Eve…thanks! I’ll remember to bump next week.
Thanks for the suggestions thus far. Any more?
This is only obliquely related to mysteries, but “Hitchcock/Truffaut” is an excellent book on the films of the master of suspese. It’s an interview that Truffaut conducted with Hitchcock in the late 60’s, and covers every one of his films, from the silent era to “Topaz.”
Then there’s the “Annotated Sherlock Holmes”, the perfect book for the die-hard Holmesian.
Well, it’s out of print, but if you can find it (there are a number of out-of-print book search engines on line), I recommend Daniel Cohen’s “The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes,” which gives rundowns on such historical cases as Jack the Ripper, Judge Crater, Lizzie Borden and D. B. Cooper.
I have this problem with my mom–she loves mysteries, and I love to give them as gifts, but I can’t keep track of which author she has read. We’re lucky enough to have an all-mystery bookstore. I go in there and ask the owner to get me a grab bag of recommendations, focusing on writers he thinks are underrecognized. That’s been a safe bet every time, he has always gotten me stuff my mom hadn’t read.
You might be able to do something similar if you’ve got a big (good) bookstore with a knowledgeable staff. Or ask on some mystery discussion list (seems I have a friend who moderates one–if you want to do this, let me know and I’ll ask her) and then you can get the books online so selection isn’t an issue.
Just a thought!
Thanks for all the good suggestions so far.
Do any of you have any other suggestions?
Ike? Y’wanna jump in here?
Yeah…do an out-of-print booksearch for a copy of 1001 MIDNIGHTS: THE AFICIONADO’S GUIDE TO MYSTERY AND DETECTIVE FICTION, edited by Bill Pronzini & Marcia Muller, Arbor House, 1986.
880 pages jam-packed with information on hundreds of crime novels, both classics and worthy-of-study forgotten books, featuring concise and opinionated essays by dozens of very schmart people in the mystery world.
It’s one of my favorite reference books on the genre.
Still in print and worthy of reading is THE OXFORD COMPANION TO CRIME & MYSTERY WRITING, edited by Rosemary Herbert, Oxord, 1999.
If you want to go cheaper, try H.R.F. Keating’s CRIME & MYSTERY: THE 100 BEST BOOKS, Carroll & Graf, 1987.
(Thank you for the compliment, Eve.)
Thanks, Ukelele Ike.
Thanks for all the cool suggestions, everyone.
I found a second-hand copy of the revised edition of Murder Ink, and gave it to my friend today. She was really happy with it and thought it was a cool present.
She says she almost started reading it during the sermon, so she must have really liked it.