A Catalogue of Crime/Being a Reader's Guide to the Literature of Mystery, Detection, and Related Genres

Rating:
Summary: Great for what it is: a *catalogue*
Review: "~Be warned: this is not an anthology of short works. It is a very extensive listing of crime fiction spanning 125 years."~ literature of Sherlock Holmes: studies and annotations of the tales, nonfiction parodies, and critical pastiches

Rating:
Summary: Top Crime Reference Guide!
Review: Here are over 5,000 mystery titles briefly noted, each in about one paragraph. Alphabetically arranged by author and title, each short comment can guide you right thruough to which books may be worth your time. True, not all the comments are subjective, and you may disagree with many, as I feel they underrate SS Van Dine and JD Carr, and overrate Christie and Sayers. Rex Stout is among Prof. Barzun's favorites, a good pick, and many lesser known authors are given a royal treatment.S. Grafton is noted, with the conclusion that followups to "A is for Alibi" may never go to 26 titles ! All in all , one of the best browsers and references on this subject!

Rating:
Summary: A Crime of a Catalogue
Review: What could have been a very useful source of information about mysteries turned out to be a reference book to which I no longer refer. Page headings would have made it much more useful (as in an encyclopedia). Under an author's name, only some titles are included, but not necessarily the best, as a negative summary of the title seems to be as likely as positive. I find the book useful for dipping into for suggestions, but not necessarily for finding the best information. The most useful part was a list of "must-read" books at the end.

Rating:
Summary: A Crime of a Catalogue
Review: What could have been a very useful source of information about mysteries turned out to be a reference book to which I no longer refer. Page headings would have made it much more useful (as in an encyclopedia). Under an author's name, only some titles are included, but not necessarily the best, as a negative summary of the title seems to be as likely as positive. I find the book useful for dipping into for suggestions, but not necessarily for finding the best information. The most useful part was a list of "must-read" books at the end.