SELECTED
REFERENCE RESOURCES
FOR DETECTIVE FICTION
The following titles will be of interest to students in English 399
GENERAL (2LB)
P96 .D4 C66 1989
Conquest, J. Trouble is their business: private eyes in fiction, film, and television, 1927-1988. New York: Garland, 1989.
- lists alphabetically authors and characters in private eye fiction
PN3448 .D4 C64 1983
Cook, M.L. Mystery, detective, and espionage magazines. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1983.
- intended as a source for the serious study of popular culture
PR830 .D4 O52 1987
Olderr, S. Mystery index: subjects, settings, and sleuths of 10,000 titles. Chicago: ALA, 1987.
PS374 .D4 C64 1982
Cook, M.L. Monthly murders: a checklist and chronological listing of fiction in the digest-size mystery magazines in the United States and England. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1982.
- indexes digest-size mystery magazine, 1941-80
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
PS128 .C65
Contemporary authors. Detroit: Gale, 1962-
PS129 .D52
DLB=Dictionary of literary biography. Detroit: Gale, 1978-
- biographical and critical material
PR830 .D4 G74 1994
Great women mystery writers: classic to contemporary. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994.
PR888 .D4 S7 1996
St. James guide to crime and mystery writers. 4th ed. Detroit, Mi.: St. James Press, 1996.
- includes English language writers of crime, mystery and thriller fiction who have made an impact on the field
- previous editions entitled: Twentieth-century crime & mystery writers
- entry for each writer consists of a biography, complete list of published works in books forms, and a signed critical essay
- Note: revised edition of: Twentieth-century crime and mysters writers. Chicago: St. James Press, c1991
PR888 .D4 T9 1985
Twentieth-century crime and mystery writers. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985.
- bio-bibliography provides biographical information, lists of writings, and signed critical assessments
PS129 .D52 1978 v.87
British mystery and thriller writers since 1940: first series. Detroit: Gale, 1989.
PS129 .D52 1978 v.77
British mystery writers, 1920-1939. Detroit: Gale, 1989.
PS129 .D52 1978 v.70
British mystery writers, 1860-1919. Detroit: Gale, 1988.
PS8001 .I52
In cold blood. Toronto: Crime Writers of Canada, 1992-
PS374 .D4 S93 1994
Swanson, J. By a woman's hand: a guide to mystery fiction by women. New York: Berkley Books, 1994.
- biographical information
- each entry offers a description of the salient features of the author's style, series characters.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
PN771 .A1 C65
CLC= Contemporary literary criticism, v.1, 1973-
- ongoing series of selected excerpts from critical writings on contemporary authors
PN771 .A1 T93
TCLC=Twentieth-century literary criticism, v.1, 1978-
- excerpts from criticism of works of novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, who died between 1900 and 1960, from the first published critical appraisals
PN761 .A1 N54
NCLC=Nineteenth-century literature criticism
- same as above but limited to writers who lived between 1800 and 1900
PN3377.5 .D4 C74 1981
Crime fiction criticism: an annotated bibliography. New York: Garland, 1981.
- literary criticism on all types of mystery and detective fiction, and on writers of the genre
PN3383 .D4 A42 1985
Albert, W. Detective and mystery fiction: an international bibliography of secondary sources. Madison: Brownstone Books, 1985.
- annotations are often critical as well as descriptive
- most comprehensive bibliography of critical studies
PN3448 .D4 S42 1980
Crime, detective, espionage, mystery, and thriller fiction & film: a comprehensive bibliography of critical writing through 1979. Westport: Greenwood, 1980.
PN3448 .D4 C68 1989
Cox, J.R. Masters of mystery and detective fiction: an annotated bibliography. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1989.
- basic information about the mystery genre
- includes books and articles
PN3448 .D4 C74 1988
Critical survey of mystery and detective fiction. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem Press, 1988. 4 v.
- surveys 270 authors
- signed entries list biographical details, characters, critical analyses; includes bibliographies
PN3448 .D4 B35 1971
Barzun, J. A Catalogue of crime. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.
- a guide for readers of crime fiction and the literature of true crime, this annotated bibliography lists more than 5,000 entries in the genre
PN3448 .D4 H33 1969
Hagen, O.A. Who done it?: a guide to detective, mystery and suspense fiction.New York: Bowker, 1964.
- covers 1841-1969
- bibliographic guide to mystery fiction
PN3448 .D4 N54 1993
Niebuhr, Gary Warren. A reader's guide to the private eye novel. New York: G.K. Hall, c1993.
- does not include references to critical material
- contains over 1,000 full annotations to titles by ninety authors
- arrangement of titles is chronological under name of author, brief synopsis of story
PN3448 .D4 MV53 1995
Vicarel, Jo Ann. A reader's guide to the police procedural New York: G.K. Hall, c1995.
- Police procedural is a novel about police life and work first and a mystery second
- author has annotated over 1115 books by 271 authors
- main index is alphabetical by author
- does not include references to critical material
PN3448 .D4 M8 1974
Mundell, E.H. The Detective short story: a bibliography and index. Manhattan: Kansas State University Library, 1974.
PR830 .D4 H82 1979
Hubin, A.J. The Bibliography of crime fiction, 1749-1975: listing all mystery, detective, suspense, police and gothic fiction in book form published in the English language. San Diego: University of California, 1979.
PR830 .D4 H82 1994
Crime fiction, 1749-1980: a comprehensive bibliography. Enlarged edition. New York: Garland, 1994 + supplement 1981-1985 (PR830 .D4 H82 1984)
- cumulates contents of Crime fiction, 1749-1980 + supplement 1981-85
- coverage extended through 1990 so about 81,000 books are listed
- primary bibliography
PR830 .D4 H82 1994
Hubin, Allen J. Crime fiction II: a comprehensive bibliography, 1749-1990. New York: Garland Pub., 1994.
PR888 .D4 O53 1988
Oleksiw, S. A Reader's guide to the classic British mystery. Boston: Hall, 1988.
- synopses for novels and novellas by 121 British authors published 1900-1985
PR830 .S65 S62 1982
Smith, M.J. Cloak and dagger fiction: an annotated guide to spy thrillers. 2nd ed. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 1982.
PS374 .D4 B52 + index
Hagemann, E.R. A Comprehensive index to Black Mask, 1920-1951: with brief
annotations, preface, and editorial apparatus. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Press, Popular Press, 1982.
- index to the greatest detective fiction pulp magazine ever published.
PS374 .D4 S55 1987
Skinner, R.E. The New hard-boiled dicks: a personal checklist. San Bernardino: Borgo Press, 1987.
- discusses work of 12 well-known authors
PS374 .D4 D54 1982
Hoppenstand, G. The Dime novel detective. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1982.
PS374 .D4 D45 1993
DellaCava, F.A. Female detectives in American novels: a bibliography and analysis of serialized female sleuths. New York: Garland, 1993.
- essays
- profiles of each sleuth
PS374 .D4 J37 1997
Jarvis, Mary J. A reader's guide to the suspense novel. New York: G.K. Hall & Co., 1997.
PS374 .D4 M44 1986
Menendez, A.J. The Subject is murder: a selective subject guide to mystery fiction. New York: Garland, 1986. 2 v.
- bibliography of mystery novels published since 1950
PS374 .D4 S54 1985
Skinner, R.E. The Hard-boiled explicator: a guide to the study of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1985.
- scholarly articles, reference to books, monographs, critical reviews
PS8191 .D4 C36 1996
Skene, Melvin, D. Canadian crime fiction: an annotated comprehensive bibliography of Canadian crime writers from 1817 to 1996, with an introductory essay on the history and development of Canadian crime writing. Shelburne: Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 1996.
INDIVIDUAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES
The Library has a lot of individual bibliographies. Search the library catalogue under subject.
PS3505 .H3224 Z55 1979
Raymond Chandler: a descriptive bibliography. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1979.
PS3525 .I486 Z563 1983
Bruccoli, M. Ross Macdonald/Kenneth Miller, a descriptive bibliography. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1983.
INDEXES
AI3 .R44
Reader's guide to periodical literature, 1901-
AI3 .C242
Canadian periodicals index, 1938-
AI3 .H84
Humanities index, 1975-
PB1 .M64
MLA International bibliography
- 1963 to date available via the library catalogue: Electronic connections and resources
Suggestions, corrections and comments are welcome
For more information please contact
Nora Robins
Liaison Librarian for English
Voicemail: (403) 220-7391