The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Boo..., Martin Edwards
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Boo..., Martin Edwards
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The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books

Author: Martin Edwards

Narrator: Gordon Griffin

Unabridged: 11 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Soundings

Published: 12/01/2019

Synopsis

The main aim of detective stories is to entertain, but the best cast a light on human behaviour, and display both literary ambition and accomplishment. Even unpretentious detective stories, written for unashamedly commercial reasons, can give us clues to the past, and give us insight into a long-vanished world that, for all its imperfections, continues to fascinate. This book, written by award-winning crime writer and president of the Detection Club, Martin Edwards, serves as a companion to the British Library's internationally acclaimed series of Crime Classics. Long-forgotten stories republished in the series have won a devoted new readership, with several titles entering the bestseller charts and sales outstripping those of highly acclaimed contemporary thrillers.

About Martin Edwards

Martin Edwards has received the CWA Diamond Dagger, the highest honor in British crime writing, given for the sustained excellence of his contribution to the genre. His novels include Mortmain Hall and Gallows Court, which was nominated for two awards including the CWA Historical Dagger. British librarians awarded him the CWA Dagger in the Library in 2018 in recognition of his body of work. His eighth Lake District Mystery is The Crooked Shore and earlier books in the series include The Coffin Trail, shortlisted for the Theakston's prize for best British crime novel.

Martin is a well-known crime fiction critic, and series consultant to the British Library's Crime Classics. His groundbreaking study of the genre between the wars, The Golden Age of Murder, won the Edgar, Agatha, H. R. F. Keating, and Macavity awards. The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books won the Macavity and was nominated for four other awards, while Howdunit, a masterclass in crime writing by members of the Detection Club, won the H. R. F. Keating prize and was nominated for five other awards.

He has edited over forty anthologies and published diverse nonfiction books, including a study of homicide investigation, Urge to Kill. An expert on crime fiction history, he is archivist of both the Crime Writers' Association and the Detection Club. He was elected eighth president of the Detection Club in 2015, spent two years as chair of the CWA, and posts regularly to his blog, Do You Write Under Your Own Name?

Reviews

Goodreads review by Melindam on September 16, 2017

Arc received by the Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The main aim of detective stories is to entertain, but the best cast a light on human behaviour, and display both literary ambition and accomplishment. And there is a reason why millions of readers continue to appreciate......more

Goodreads review by Sue on December 14, 2017

This is a very interesting and seemingly complete story of the history of the classic crime in novel form, primarily as seen in the so-called Golden Age works and other mysteries of the first half of the 20th century. This collection also presents some forerunners from the 19th century as well as fo......more

Goodreads review by Mara on October 03, 2021

3.5 stars - This was an effective approach to telling the history of the Golden Age of mystery novels, where the author selected a theme in these books (for instance, a country house setting) and then selected several books that illustrated the theme.......more

Goodreads review by Eli on March 17, 2017

I received an ARC of this book for review. I’m going to go ahead and review it early, because it is available for pre-order, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to get a copy ASAP. I love book lists, especially well thought-out published lists like this one from experts in the field. It’s lik......more

Goodreads review by Bev on January 23, 2018

I currently have a love/hate relationship with Martin Edwards. I absolutely love him for all his work on Golden Age detective classics--from his work with the British Library series introducing classic detective novels to new generations to his The Golden Age of Murder which gives all kinds of infor......more

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