Orig. published in The mystery library, University of California-San Diego Extension. ( )

Originally from the University of California San Diego Extension Library, this has a condescending preface by UCSD's Chancellor. The articles themselves are of higher quality and for the most part are not very academic, which is good, but also not very deep, which is not so good. And of course the whole thing is seriously dated. It would have been nice to get the knowledgeable writers take on later authors such as Joe Gores.

Murder at Large by John Ball - Meandering and disorganized; not sure what his point is, but not without interest. Rating: **

The Mystery Story in Cultural Perspective by Aaron Marc Stein - A good explanation, or theory at least, for why the modern story of detection had to wait for Edgar Allan Poe to invent it. Rating: *** 1/2

The Mystery Versus the Novel by Hillary Waugh - Some interesting tidbits, but it all boils down to "It is a mystery if the author's motive is mystery." Which means that The Brothers Karamazov is not a mystery but The Big Sleep is. Or is it? Waugh doesn't really seem to be able to make up his mind. Rating: ** 1/2

The Amateur Detectives by Otto Penzler - Entertaining whirlwind tour and capsule descriptions of the most famous amateur detectives; some of Penzler's descriptions are very acerbic. Rating: ****

The Private Eye by James Sandoe - Somewhat over-opinionated but useful guide to a few of the author's favorite books. He declares private eye fiction basically dead as of 1976 - which certainly seems a bad judgment 33 years later. Rating: ***

Women in Detective Fiction by Michele Slung - Too-short overview of women writers and (very briefly) women detectives. Rating: *** 1/2

The Ethnic Detective by John Ball - Well done introduction to a number of minority detectives. Makes up (somewhat) for Mr. Ball's earlier contribution to the volume. Rating: ****

The Police Procedural by Hillary Waugh - Waugh explains the origin of this sub-genre and introduces us to some of its practitioners. Rating: *** 1/2

Locked Rooms and Puzzles: A Critical Memoir by Donald A. Yates - Well done description of this classic type of story points the reader to a number of classics in the field. The only drawback is that in discussing these classic locked room situations, the author can't give away the solution. Rating: **** 1/2

The Spy in Fact and Fiction by Michael Gilbert - Opinionated but dated survey of spies in literature, but contains some useful insight into the problems, or lack thereof, faced by authors of such novels. Rating: ***

Gothic Mysteries by Phyllis A. Whitney - Useful introduction to the conventions of writing a gothic novel, though it doesn't make me want to rush out and buy one (or start writing one). Rating: *** 1/2

Death Rays Demons and Worms Unknown to Science by Robert E. Briney - The longest piece in the book and an entertaining and enlightening survey of the conjunction between mystery and science fiction. Includes lots of interesting recommendations. Rating: ****

Patterns in Mystery Fiction: The Durable Series Character by Allen J. Hubin - An exercise in classification, consisting mostly of a long list of series characters; more interesting than it should be. Rating: ***

The Great Crooks by Otto Penzler - Excellent and entertaining introduction to some of the great crooks, marred only by needless mention of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and a couple of other who have no place here. Rating: ****

Name Games: Mystery Writers and Their Pseudonyms by Francis M. Nevins Jr. - Nothing unexpected here, but well written and interesting. Rating: ****

And Why Do We Read This Stuff by E. T. Guymon Jr. - Brief, mostly about first editions. Rating: ***

The Literature of the Subject: An Annotated Bibliography by Robert E. Briney - List of books about mysteries, outdated of course, but will certainly make me pick up a few of them if I come across them. Rating: *** 1/2 ( )