I picked up THE MAMMOTH ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN CRIME FICTION,
edited by Mike Ashley, yesterday. (It's from Robinson in the
UK and Carrol & Graf in the US.) It looks like an
excellent inexpensive reference. It covers crime and mystery
writing, movies and TV since WWII. That includes all the
hardboiled and noir writers we talk about here (including
some dead ones) plus all the others. An author's entry will
include some biographical information, brief reviews of a
couple of books or a series, and more detail for the more
popular or prolific writers. There is also a list of awards
won, home page URL if any, the best book to start with,
advice on similar writers, and a good bibliography.
At least four people on the list are in the book. I looked up
Scott Phillips (THE WALKAWAY, THE ICE HARVEST), and he's not
there, but he only has two books to his name so far. Dennis
Lynds's biblio, for example, takes up an entire page. Pretty
much all the currently working writers who get mentioned on
the list are in the book. (And then there are the legions of
cozy writers and all the rest.) Ashley leaves out spy stories
and thrillers, so Donald Hamilton isn't there, but co-Gold
Medalists Dan J. Marlowe and Richard S. Prather are. 500
writers are included, plus 400 movies and TV shows, and at
the back are lists of all the major mystery awards and a list
of character names so you can find the author's name.
It sells for $21 CDN, which is a great price for a book like
this. There are bigger (and more expensive) references
available, but this is up to date, comprehensive, detailed,
and, when new mass-market paperbacks cost
$12 CDN, cheap.
Bill
-- William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/ : Caveat lector.
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