The Lineup
The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives

This is a collection of essays written by crime fiction writers like Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, John Lescroart, and a host of others, describing how they invented the series characters for which they have become so famous. Readers who follow a lot of these authors will find this a ve......more

Entertaining read Leave it to Mr. Penzler to come up with an interesting way to find out about recurring characters in some of the popular series (and help out his independent book store, a sadly dying breed). Besides being fascinated at gaining insight into some favorites, I've also expanded my alre......more

The essays in this collection are written by well-known crime fiction and mystery authors. They tell us how they created the main character that made them famous through either informational essays or short stories that give back story on the characters' history. Some authors' contributions just fel......more

Lots of fun! Each author chose very different ways to write about how their primary characters were born/evolved, grew, interacted with others and so on. The book also had the benefit, for me, of introducing me to some writers and characters whom I'd not encountered before. Great last-thing-at-night......more

A great recurring character in a series you love becomes an old friend. You learn about their strange quirks and their haunted pasts and root for them every time they face danger. But where do some of the most fascinating sleuths in the mystery and thriller world really come from? What was the real-l......more