Illuminating and quite inspiring...and was a fun diversion ...from reading :)
I enjoyed reviewing the books he suggested. Each chapter as probably already stated is devoted to a different aspect of the ' genre'. He mentions some solid favourites and told me about some I'd never heard of before. Some of these I've listed and a few I've already reserved at the library or mooched. A number of his reviews are no longer available sadly a couple of the authors he discusses have died. Am still debating whether to add Ian Rankin's year of death into my library copy. Sssh. RIP Ian :(
From his topic division I've ruled out Organized crime as an interest and also Foreign bloodshed ...such as Wallender and co. Treason !
I felt somewhat breathless on reading it, like he was rushing. However he clearly knows his subject and has very strong opinions.
But ...no Stuart Macbride devoted piece? Or Alex Gray? ( though I may of missed it) . "Elementary!",And ironic that as soon as I'd finished this I picked up...a Stuart Macbride.
Totally recommend . ( )

This is certainly a very comprehensive book. It was reviewed by Margaret at the blog "BooksPlease", and I thought it would be a good source for some new mystery reads, even if I am already suffering under the weight of a massive TBR list already. And since I'd like to think I'm fairly knowledgeable about the genre, I thought it would be neat to see what recommended books I'd already read, and what the book had to say about my favourite authors (not to mention what books would be recommended for said authors).

There are a total of 15 chapters, ranging from the origins of crime fiction to crime in translation, with chapters chronicling gangsters, police procedurals, amateurs, the world of espionage, the golden age and more. Along the way the big names receive their own separate sidebars and a "top five" list of best books, with mentions of noteworthy film and TV adaptations (or ones to steer clear of).

Interestingly, the top five for a given author would sometimes not include the book being showcased for a particular author (for example, the "showcase book" for the Falco series by Lindsey Davis was The Body in the Bathhouse, but the top five were The Silver Pigs, The Iron Hand of Mars, Time to Depart, The Accusers, and Saturnalia). This was part of a rather odd trend in some of the blurbs where the guide would be highlighting a book by someone, for example Peter Robinson, and say "While this book is not as assured as In a Dry Season, it does X and Y well." If the book you're recommending is not as good as another book by that author, why not just recommend that book? I can understand not wanting to hype a book to death for fear of artificially raising expectations, but if you're going to recommend a book as a starting point for an author, stand behind it completely.

And speaking of the recommendations, some of them were kind of off-kilter for me. Perhaps there is something wrong with me, but I would not necessarily have recommended these titles for these authors:

- A Surfeit of Lampreys, by Ngaio Marsh: This one dragged a bit for me. Not sure what I would have recommended in its place -- Marsh is one of those authors where personal plot preference is paramount -- but I seem to recall enjoying Photo Finish.
- Voices, by Arnaldur Indridason: Good, yes, but Silence of the Grave is better, in my mind.
- The Man Who Went Up in Smoke, by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo: Perhaps I was in the wrong mood for this one, but Martin Beck couldn't do very much with the investigation in this one. The Laughing Policeman had a more interesting plot.
- Firewall, by Henning Mankell: I would have thought Sidetracked would be a more obvious choice (and indeed is my go-to recommendation for Wallander).

Of course, the point of such guides is to be a starting point for discussion...

Another thing that kind of rubbed me the wrong way was the writing style. Breathless superlatives, lit-crit jargon littered with borrowed foreign words and expressions (sine qua non, fin de siècle, zeitgeist, métier), and lots of big words and overused adjectives (how many detectives can be considered "doughty"?). Perhaps this book is not meant to be read in a marathon session or three for that reason. Yes, there is some element of hyping with all of these books, but it wears on you after a while.

But overall, I enjoyed seeing what the author put forward as the best examples of the genre, and while this book hasn't really added too many new authors to my list, it's reminded me of old ones I used to read more often: Minette Walters, James Lee Burke, Tom Clancy, John le Carré... and it's also sparked an interest in revisiting Dostoevsky. And I have a couple of new series/authors to check out but haven't settled on a particular title yet (Lindsey Davis, Edward Marston's Domesday series).

In short, if you're looking for new recommendations on the mystery front, this is a good place to start. Just take your time with it. ( )