An anthology of mystery and suspense tales includes works by Doyle, Ambler, Steinbeck, Buck, Shaw, McBain, Oates, Malamud, Spillane, Garfield, and other masters of the genre

This book provides an introduction to 24 iconic figures, real and fictional, that have shaped the detective/mystery genre of popular literature. Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection: From Sleuths to Superheroes is an insightful look at one of our most popular and diverse fictional genres, providing a guided tour of mystery and crime writing by focusing on two dozen of the field's most enduring creations and creators. Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection spans the history of the detective story with series of critical entries on the field's most evocative names, from the originator of the form, Edgar Allan Poe, to its first popular running character, Sherlock Holmes; from the Golden Age of Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and Charlie Chan—in fiction and films—to small screen heroes, such as Columbo and Jessica Fletcher. Also included are other accomplished practitioners of the craft of mystery/crime storytelling, including Agatha Christie, Tony Hillerman, and Alfred Hitchcock.

The complete collection of fifteen stories starring one of pulp fiction’s most hardened PIs, with accompanying illustrations It’s hot in St. Louis, and Donahue is looking for a hired gun. An ex–New York cop who got canned from the NYPD after raiding the wrong gambling joint, Donahue has spent four years on the job as a private detective—punishing work that’s turned him from a tough customer into one of the most hard-boiled operatives in the country. A killer named Micky Shane has skipped New York for St. Louis, and Donahue has come to find him. When he does, it won’t be good for Donahue—but it’ll be a whole lot worse for Shane. In his days writing Donahue stories for Black Mask magazine, Frederick Nebel was as popular and well respected as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Although his name is no longer widely known, these classic tales of two-fisted justice have lost none of their grit or their bite.

The humor of Sherlock Holmes, Donald Westlake, Agatha Christie, Michael Innes, and Edmund Crispin are just a few of those discussed. A major point highlighted by this book is simply that wit, slapstick. laughter, and an anything-can-happen motif appear in a significant amount of fiction about crime.

This volume of Contemporary Authors(R) New Revision Series brings you up-to-date information on approximately 250 writers. Editors have scoured dozens of leading journals, magazines, newspapers and online sources in search of the latest news and criticism. Writers appearing in this volume include: Gail Anderson-Dargatz Valerie Martin Isidore Okpewho Philip Roth

Essays taken from Salem Press's Critical survey of mystery and detective fiction, published in 1988.