Murder In Retrospect: A Selective Guide To Historical Mystery Fiction

The pleasures of mystery novels and historical fiction double when the two genres meet in a single book. This detailed guide is the first to document and describe the diverse writings in the growing body of historical mystery literature. Organized alphabetically by author name and series title, the guide covers the works of approximately 70 authors, and contains descriptions of more than 700 works with crime themes (whether strictly in the mystery genre or a mainstream literary novel). For those who want to read historical mysteries in sequence, this is an essential guide; and for those seeking background information on historical mysteries to guide their reading or collection development choices, this book offers a level of detail that facilitates selection.

The pleasures of mystery novels and historical fiction double when the two genres meet in a single book. This detailed guide is the first to document and describe the diverse writings in the growing body of historical mystery literature. Its focus is on the best, most representative, most current and easily accessible publications, with an emphasis on series novels. Most have been released in the past decade, with select classic historical mysteries (e.g., Christie’s Death Comes as the End, 1945) also cited. Organized alphabetically by author name and series title, the guide covers the works of approximately 70 authors, and contains descriptions of more than 700 works with crime themes (whether strictly in the mystery genre or a mainstream literary novel). For those who want to read historical mysteries in sequence, this is an essential guide; and for those seeking background information on historical mysteries to guide their reading or collection development choices, this book offers a level of detail that facilitates selection.

Each series entry names the scene of the crime; identifies the detective and his or her chief associates; notes the series premise; comments on characteristics, features, and overall series quality; and discusses the critical response. Individual series titles (The Cases) are then listed and described in series (or chronological) order. Additional access to titles is provided through detailed indexes: author, title (series and individual), characters, and settings (time and place). Academic, public, and high school librarians will welcome this guide as a valuable reference, readers’ advisory, and collection development tool.

MICHAEL BURGESS is Head of Collection Development at California State University, San Bernardino, and a professional writer and editor. He has written and edited hundreds of books and thousands of articles, many in the areas of literature and popular reading interests. He received his M.S. in L.S. from the University of Southern California in 1970. Then joined the faculty of California State College (later University), San Bernardino, where he has abided ever since. He achieved tenure in 1975, and was promoted in 1978, 1981, and 1984. He currently serves as Head of Collection Development in the John M. Pfau Library at CSUSB. Burgess published his first book, his undergraduate honor’s thesis, in 1970

s ninety-third monograph was issued in 2002. Many of these works have appeared under his professional pseudonym, Robert Reginald.

JILL H. VASSILAKOSis Head of Technical Services and Government Documents Librarian at California State University, San Bernardino.