Random House New Releases - Literary Criticism & Collections - Mystery & Detective Fiction

Talking About Detective Fiction by P. D. James

2011-05-03T00:30:00-05:00

Talking About Detective Fiction
Written by P. D. James

Trade Paperback, 208 pages | Vintage | Literary Criticism & Collections - Mystery & Detective Fiction | $14.00 | 978-0-307-74313-8 (0-307-74313-6)

P. D. James, the undisputed queen of mystery, gives us an intriguing, inspiring and idiosyncratic look at the genre she has spent her life perfecting.

Examining mystery from top to bottom, beginning with such classics as Charles Dickens's Bleak House and Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White, and then looking at such contemporary masters as Colin Dexter and Henning Mankell, P. D. James goes right to the heart of the genre. Along the way she traces the lives and writing styles of Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, and many more. Here is P.D. James discussing detective fiction as social history, explaining its stylistic components, revealing her own writing process, and commenting on the recent resurgence of detective fiction in modern culture. It is a must have for the mystery connoisseur and casual fan alike.

The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout

2010-06-09T00:30:00-05:00

The Doorbell Rang
Written by Rex Stout

eBook, 192 pages | Bantam | Literary Criticism & Collections - Mystery & Detective Fiction | $5.99 | 978-0-307-75589-6 (0-307-75589-4)

Hired to help society widow Rachel Bruner foil bothersome Feds, Nero Wolfe and his able assistant Archie get in over their heads with highly trained G-men who are adept at bugs, tails, and threats.

Talking About Detective Fiction by P. D. James

2009-12-01T00:30:00-05:00

Talking About Detective Fiction
Written by P. D. James

eBook, 208 pages | Vintage | Literary Criticism & Collections - Mystery & Detective Fiction; Fiction - Mystery & Detective | $11.99 | 978-0-307-59332-0 (0-307-59332-0)

In a perfect marriage of author and subject, P. D. James—one of the most widely admired writers of detective fiction at work today—gives us a personal, lively, illuminating exploration of the human appetite for mystery and mayhem, and of those writers who have satisfied it.

P. D. James examines the genre from top to bottom, beginning with the mysteries at the hearts of such novels as Charles Dickens’s Bleak House and Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White, and bringing us into the present with such writers as Colin Dexter and Henning Mankell. Along the way she writes about Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie (“arch-breaker of rules”), Josephine Tey, Dashiell Hammett, and Peter Lovesey, among many others. She traces their lives into and out of their fiction, clarifies their individual styles, and gives us indelible portraits of the characters they’ve created, from Sherlock Holmes to Sara Paretsky’s sexually liberated female investigator, V. I. Warshawski. She compares British and American Golden Age mystery writing. She discusses detective fiction as social history, the stylistic components of the genre, her own process of writing, how critics have reacted over the years, and what she sees as a renewal of detective fiction—and of the detective hero—in recent years.

There is perhaps no one who could write about this enduring genre of storytelling with equal authority and flair: it is essential reading for every lover of detective fiction.

From the Hardcover edition.

Holy Clues by Stephen Kendrick

2007-12-18T00:30:00-05:00

Holy Clues The Gospel According to Sherlock Holmes
Written by Stephen Kendrick

eBook, 208 pages | Vintage | Religion - Spirituality; Literary Criticism & Collections - Mystery & Detective Fiction | $12.99 | 978-0-307-42624-6 (0-307-42624-6)

If God is the greatest mystery of them all, then why not, in pursuit of God, consult the greatest detective of them all? In this imaginative and surprisingly profound book, Stephen Kendrick reveals Sherlock Holmes as spiritual guide.

Drawing on the teachings of Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism--as well as a host of thinkers as varied as Albert Einstein, Gandhi, and Vincent van Gogh--Kendrick explores the stories of Sherlock Holmes and finds remarkably prescient religious insights. He shows us the link between careful observation of clues and the Buddhist concept of "Bare Attention." He illuminates the parallel between the great sleuth's pursuit of justice and God's actions on the scene of the first murder, when Cain slew Abel. And in the detective's open, engaged mind, Kendrick finds a model for uniting the principles of science with a sincere spiritual quest. The result is a book of inspiration for the modern, skeptical searcher--and an entertaining work that sheds new light on the methods of the world's greatest detective.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Holy Clues by Stephen Kendrick

2000-07-11T00:30:00-05:00

Holy Clues The Gospel According to Sherlock Holmes
Written by Stephen Kendrick

Trade Paperback, 208 pages | Vintage | Religion - Spirituality; Literary Criticism & Collections - Mystery & Detective Fiction | $15.00 | 978-0-375-70338-6 (0-375-70338-1)

The Crown Crime Companion by Mystery Writers Of America, Inc.

1995-05-02T00:30:00-05:00

The Crown Crime Companion The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time
Written by Mystery Writers Of America, Inc.

Trade Paperback, 192 pages | Broadway | Literary Criticism & Collections - Mystery & Detective Fiction | $15.00 | 978-0-517-88115-6 (0-517-88115-2)

The Crown Crime Companion

The Top 100 Mystery Novels Of All Time

Selected by the

Mystery Writers Of America

Annotated by 0tto Penzler and Compiled by Mickey Friedman

For The Crown Crime Companion, the Mystery Writers of America have compiled a list of the best 100 mystery novels of all time, as well as a list of favorites in ten categories.

Fully annotated and reviewed by Otto Penzler, this list of the top 100 mysteries will be a valuable resource to fans, introducing them to new novels and reminding them about books by favorite writers they may have missed.

Each of the ten category lists is introduced by a master of that category:

Classics:

Suspense:

Hardboiled/Private Eye:

Police Procedural:

Espionage/Thriller:

Criminal:

Cozy/Traditional:

Historical:

Humorous:

Legal/Courtroom:

H.R.F. Keating

Mary Higgins Clark

Sue Grafton

Joseph Wambaugh

John Gardner

Richard Condon

Margaret Maron

Peter Lovesey

Gregory Mcdonald

Scott Turow

The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout

1992-06-01T00:30:00-05:00

The Doorbell Rang
Written by Rex Stout

Paperback, 192 pages | Bantam | Literary Criticism & Collections - Mystery & Detective Fiction | $7.99 | 978-0-553-23721-4 (0-553-23721-7)

Random House New Releases - Literary Criticism & Collections - Mystery & Detective Fiction

Talking About Detective Fiction by P. D. James

Talking About Detective Fiction Written by P. D. James

The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout

The Doorbell Rang Written by Rex Stout

Talking About Detective Fiction by P. D. James

Talking About Detective Fiction Written by P. D. James

Holy Clues by Stephen Kendrick

Holy Clues The Gospel According to Sherlock HolmesWritten by Stephen Kendrick

Holy Clues by Stephen Kendrick

Holy Clues The Gospel According to Sherlock HolmesWritten by Stephen Kendrick

The Crown Crime Companion by Mystery Writers Of America, Inc.

The Crown Crime Companion The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All TimeWritten by Mystery Writers Of America, Inc.

The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout

The Doorbell Rang Written by Rex Stout

Talking About Detective Fiction
Written by P. D. James

The Doorbell Rang
Written by Rex Stout

Talking About Detective Fiction
Written by P. D. James

Holy Clues The Gospel According to Sherlock Holmes
Written by Stephen Kendrick

Holy Clues The Gospel According to Sherlock Holmes
Written by Stephen Kendrick

The Crown Crime Companion The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time
Written by Mystery Writers Of America, Inc.

The Doorbell Rang
Written by Rex Stout