Masters of Mystery and Detective Fiction

For more than a century, the mystery and detective story has been among the most popular forms of fiction in bookstores and libraries. Some writers (Edgar Allan Poe or Dashiell Hammett, for example) have attracted a considerable body of critical response; others have been the focus of less scrutiny. This bibliography is intended for the student, general reader, or mystery buff who needs some basic information about the mystery genre and its representative authors. Selective, rather than exhaustive, it serves as an introduction. Entries on the life and work of seventy-five writers from Margery Allingham, Raymond Chandler, and Amanda Cross to P.D. James, John D. MacDonald, Edgar Allan Poe, Ellery Queen, and Georges Simenon appear.