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The golden age of murder: the mystery of the writers who invented the modern detective story
By Martin Edwards. 2015
Study of an elite, mysterious social network of crime writers called the Detection Club, which began in 1930, and the…
group's continuing influence on print and film storytelling. Founding members Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, and Julian Symons presided over the club for nearly forty years. 2015Talking about detective fiction
By P. D. James. 2009
British author of The Private Patient (DB 67910) and other mysteries examines the genre of detective fiction. Discusses the style,…
plotting techniques, protagonists, and talent of past and current authors, including Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Dashiell Hammett, and Josephine Tey. Also describes her own methods. 2009Twenty-three authors, including Alexander McCall Smith and Robert B. Parker, use various methods to describe the creation of their crime…
series protagonists. Jeffery Deaver provides a lengthy obituary for quadriplegic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme, while Lee Child explains the marketable Jack Reacher. Strong language. 2009City of glass (New York Ser.)
By Paul Auster. 1985
Volume I of the New York trilogy. A wrong number in the middle of the night ensnares Daniel Quinn (once…
a serious poet and essayist, now author of pulps), in a case far more bizarre than any he has invented in his fiction. The caller seeks the Paul Auster Agency, even though Paul Auster is not a detective but a young writer who strongly resembles the Paul Auster who wrote this book. Ultimately, the obsessed Quinn, impersonating Auster, descends into madness. A fast-paced thrillerThe best American essays 2020 (Best American)
By Robert Atwan. 2020
Twenty-four previously published essays spanning a variety of life experiences. Rabih Alameddine discusses living in San Francisco during the height…
of the AIDS crisis, his love of soccer, and working in an English pub-themed diner in "How to Bartend."Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. 2020The best American essays 2018 (The best American series)
By Hilton Als, Robert Atwan. 2018
Collection of twenty-four previously published essays exploring different areas of life. Includes authors such as Noam Chomsky, author of Who…
Rules the World? (DB 86717), and Edwidge Danticat, author of The Art of Death (DB 91841). Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. 2018The best American essays 2021 (The best American series)
By Kathryn Schulz, Robert Atwan. 2021
Collection of twenty previously published essays covering topics many experienced in some form during 2020. Authors include Gabrielle Hamilton, author…
of Blood, Bones, & Butter (DB 73318); Patricia Lockwood, author of Priestdaddy (DB 88242); and Jesmyn Ward, author of Salvage the Bones (DB 74033). Violence and strong language. 2021The best American essays 2019 (Best American series)
By Robert Atwan. 2019
Collection of twenty previously published essays featuring works by Rabih Alameddine, Alexander Chee, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Jia Tolentino. In "Obituary…
for Dead Languages," Heather Altfeld reflects on the deaths of languages when the last speaker dies and the impact of their loss. Violence and strong language. 2019The figure of the detective: a literary history and analysis
By Charles Brownson. 2014
"This book begins with a history of the detective genre, coextensive with the novel itself, identifying the attitudes and institutions…
needed for the genre to emerge in its mature form around 1880. The theory of the genre is laid out along with its central theme of the getting and deployment of knowledge. Sherlock Holmes, the English Classic stories and their inheritors are examined in light of this theme and the balance of two forms of knowledge used in fictional detection--cool or rational, and warm or emotional. The evolution of the genre formula is driven by changes in the social climate in which it is embedded. These changes explain the decay of the English Classic and its replacement by noir, hardboiled and spy stories, to end in the cul-de-sac of the thriller and the nostalgic Neo-Classic. Possible new forms of the detective story are suggested." -- Provided by publisherThe crowded grave (Bruno, Chief of Police #4)
By Martin Walker. 2012
Another delectable serving of mystery and the pleasures of the Dordogne from the newest master of suspense, Martin Walker. It'…
s spring in the idyllic village of St. Denis, and for Chief of Police Bruno CourrEges that means lamb stews, bottles of his beloved Pomerol, morning walks with his hound, Gigi— and a new string of regional crimes and international capers. When a local archaeological team looking for Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal remains turns up a corpse with a watch on its wrist and a bullet in its head, it' s up to Bruno to solve the case. But the task will not be easy, not with a meddlesome new magistrate eager to make a strong impression, an ongoing series of attacks by animal rights activists on local foie gras producers, and a nearby summit between France and Spain approaching— not to mention two beautiful, brilliant women vying for Bruno' s affections. Complicating events even further, the professor in charge of the dig is soon reported missing, leading Bruno to suspect that the past and the present are bound up in dangerous ways. As summer approaches, the wine growing cooler and the fruit sweeter, Bruno's investigations take him indelibly deeper into contemporary Europe' s dark history of terrorist and counterterrorist tactics— and toward a dramatic finale. As savory as foie gras, as piquant as vin de noix, and as richly complex as the region' s truffles, The Crowded Grave is a feast for mystery lovers and Francophiles alike.Athenian Blues
By Pol Koutsakis. 2017
Stratos hates being called a hitman He takes care of problems Permanently Problems that people pay handsomely…
to have solved His clients don t want to know the details but Stratos is conscientious He will only take on a job if his research shows that the targets deserve their fate In the midst of the Greek economic crisis Stratos takes on the highest-profile case of his career The most celebrated lawyer in Greece and his beautiful actress wife both bid for his services but which one is telling the truth Helped by his three childhood friends Drag a homicide cop Teri a high-class transgender sex worker and Maria the love of his and Drag s life he realises that truth is always relative Especially when shattered loves and broken families are involvedA Shortcut to Paradise
By Teresa Solana, Peter Bush. 2007
A writer is murdered at the Ritz on the night she wins an important literary prize, battered to death with…
the trophy she has just won. A satire of the Catalan literary scene dressed up as a hilarious murder mystery.The Stronger Sex
By Anthea Bell, Hans Werner Kettenbach. 2009
Young lawyer Alex Zabel defends industrialist Herbert Klofft in a case for wrongful dismissal being brought against him by his…
former employee and mistress. She is thirty-four, he seventy-eight, a despot, now wheelchair bound and dying of cancer. Alex must deal with a hopeless case, his growing empathy with a repulsive client and his sexual attraction to Klofft's elderly wife.Nights of Awe
By Harri Nykanen, Kristian London. 2004
'Nykänen's twist on Nordic crime fiction may be the most inventive of the year. Ariel Kafka, a middle-aged bachelor, is…
a detective in Helsinki (think early Harry Hole) and, as far as he knows, the only Jew on the entire Helsinki police force, which is why he's picked to head up the investigation of a series of murders that began with two Arabic-looking men who may have been shouting Jewish obscenities as they died. Set during the days leading up to Yom Kippur, this complex tale moves quickly, as Ari attempts to figure it all out. With pressure from his colleagues, police administration, his brother, and the local Jewish community, can he uncover everything before the holiest day in the Jewish calender? The clever combination of classic Jewish themes with the traditions of Nordic crime makes for a refreshing tale with wide appeal. And the subtle humor, combined with a hero who is not completely depressed and alcoholic, makes it even better. Not just for readers of Nordic fiction, this should also be suggested to those who relate to New York Jewish detectives, including Lenny Briscoe (from Law & Order) and John Munch (from Homicide and Law & Order: SVU), as well as readers who enjoy the black humor of Stuart MacBride.' BooklistHarri Nykänen, born in Helsinki in 1953, was a well-known crime journalist before turning to fiction. He won the Finnish crime writing award The Clue in 1990 and in 2001. His fiction exposes the local underworld through the eyes of the criminal, the terrorist, and, most recently, from the point of view of an eccentric Helsinki police inspector.The Sound of One Hand Killing
By Peter Bush, Teresa Solana. 2011
The director of an exclusive New Age meditation centre in a fancy Barcelona neighborhood is murdered, a case for twin…
detectives Borja and Eduard. The murder of a CIA agent simultaneously drags them into an international conspiracy that transports them to China and back. This hilarious mystery novel is a remorseless satire of those practicing pseudo-science and pseudo-spirituality.Involuntary Witness
By Patrick Creagh, Gianrico Carofiglio. 2002
A boy is found murdered in a well near a beach resort A Senegalese peddler is accused in a…
hopeless case soaked in small town racism The Italian judicial process revealed and an affectionate portrait of a deeply humane heroA Fine Line
By Howard Curtis, Gianrico Carofiglio. 1961
"A FINE LINE is a terrific novel, a legal thriller that is also full of complex mediations on the life…
of the lawyer and the difficult compromises inherent in any system of criminal justice. A book that is intensely rewarding at many levels."Scott TurowThe fifth in the best-selling Guido Guerrieri series. When Judge Larocca is accused of corruption, Guerrieri goes against his better instincts and takes the case. Helped by Annapaola Doria, a motorbike-riding bisexual private detective who keeps a baseball bat on hand for sticky situations, he investigates the alleged links to the mafia. Of course Guerrieri cannot stop himself from falling for Annapaola's exotic charms.The novel is a suspenseful legal thriller but it is also much more. It is the story of a judge who, to quote Dostoevsky, "lies to himself and listens to his own lies, so gets to the point where he can no longer distinguish the truth, either in himself or around himself."Behind God's Back
By Harri Nykanen, Kristian London. 2015
Praise for Harri Nykänen's Nights of Awe:"The clever combination of classic Jewish themes with the traditions of Nordic crime makes…
for a refreshing tale with wide appeal. And the subtle humor makes it even better."--Booklist"Professional responsibility and ethnic affiliation clash in Nykänen's intriguing first novel. The resolution will satisfy noir fans."--Publishers Weekly"Ariel Kafka wins the award for most intriguing name for a fictional detective, and it suits this impressively labyrinthine mystery series."--Time OutThe second in the Ariel Kafka series.There are two Jewish cops in all of Helsinki. One of them, Ariel Kafka, a lieutenant in the Violent Crime Unit, identifies himself as a policeman first, then a Finn, and lastly a Jew. Kafka is a religiously non-observant forty-something bachelor who is such a stubborn, dedicated policeman that he's willing to risk his career to get an answer. Murky circumstances surround his investigation of a Jewish businessman's murder. Neo-Nazi violence, intergenerational intrigue, shady loans--predictable lines of investigation lead to unpredictable culprits. But a second killing strikes closer to home, and the Finnish Security Police come knocking. The tentacles of Israeli politics and Mossad reach surprisingly far, once again wrapping Kafka in their sticky embrace.Harri Nykänen, born in Helsinki in 1953, was a well-known crime journalist and is now dedicated to writing fiction. The first in the Ariel Kafka series was Nights of Awe. Nykänen's work exposes the local underworld through the eyes of the criminal, the terrorist, and now from the point of view of an eccentric Helsinki police inspector.Fever
By Mike Mitchell, Friedrich Glauser. 1896
Praise for Friedrich Glauser's other Sergeant Studer novels:"Thumbprint is a fine example of the craft of detective writing in a…
period which fans will regard as the golden age of crime fiction."-The Sunday Telegraph"In Matto's Realm is both a compelling mystery and an illuminating, finely wrought mainstream novel."-Publishers Weekly"A despairing plot about the reality of madness and life, leavened with strong doses of bittersweet irony. The idiosyncratic investigation of In Matto's Realm and its laconic detective have not aged one iota."-Guardian"With good reason, the German-language prize for detective fiction is named after Glauser. . . . He has Simenon's ability to turn a stereotype into a person, and the moral complexity to appeal to justice over the head of police procedure."-The Times Literary SupplementWhen two women are "accidentally" killed by gas leaks, Sergeant Studer investigates the thinly disguised double murder in Bern and Basel. The trail leads to a geologist dead from a tropical fever in a Moroccan Foreign Legion post and a murky oil deal involving rapacious politicians and their henchmen. With the help of a hashish-induced dream and the common sense of his stay-at-home wife, Studer solves the multiple riddles on offer. But assigning guilt remains an elusive affair.The third in the Sergeant Studer series.The Lie
By Mike Mitchell, Petra Hammesfahr. 2003
"...One shares Susanne's belief that she must try to carry the deception off. Whether she will succeed keeps the reader,…
peering over Susanne's shoulder at all the traps, turning the pages of this remarkable book."--The Independent (UK)Praise for Petra Hammesfahr's The Sinner:"The Sinner is best psychological suspense novel I have read all year."--Daily Telegraph"Dubbed Germany's answer to Patricia Highsmith, Hammesfahr should win new fans with this novel."Publishers Weekly"Demonstrates why she is one of Germany's bestselling writers of crime and psychological thrillers. It's grim, delves deep into the human psyche, and keeps you gripped."The Times (London)Nadia and Susanne look uncannily alike, but one of the women is seriously rich and the other is destitute. When Nadia asks Susanne to spend the weekend with her husband so that she can sneak off with a lover, how can Susanne refuse the outrageous payment on offer? Nadia and her husband barely speak to each other and he will be working most of the weekend. Easy money, or so it seems.One Friday afternoon Susanne drives Nadia's Alfa to her beautiful suburban villa with its indoor pool and glass doors opening onto the sloping lawn. This first stay is followed by others, as an apparently harmless game becomes a deadly web of lies.Petra Hammesfahr, born in 1951, has not had an easy life: she left school at thirteen and became pregnant by an alcoholic husband at seventeen. She published her first novel when she was forty and has since written over twenty crime and suspense novels. Petra also writes scripts for television and film. She has won numerous literary prizes, including the Crime Prize of Wiesbaden and the Rhineland Literary Prize.