The encyclopedia of murder and mystery
by Bruce Murphy
"The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery moves beyond the names and characters every mystery fan knows by heart and expands our understanding of this most popular form of popular fiction. Murphy discusses not only classic practitioners such as Raymond Chandler, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Dashiell Hammett, but also newer talents such as Patricia Cornwell, James Ellroy, and Jonathan Valin and authors ordinarily considered outside the mystery genre."--BOOK JACKET. "Murphy catalogues methods, weapons, poisons, subgenres, famous devices (like the locked room or the snowbound house), movie adaptations, and great series characters like the Continental Op, Hercule Poirot, Kinsey Millhone, and Dr. Kay Scarpetta. He analyzes particular works and writers, from epoch-making originals (such as The Big Sleep and Last Seen Wearing...), to lost classics (Wylder's Hand), to interesting and disturbing examples of work at the fringes of the genre (Devil Take the Blue-Tai1 Fly)."--BOOK JACKET.