In Reference to Murder: Author R&R with M.B. Courtenay

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Barry Ergang's FFB Review: THE MURDER BOOK (1971) by Tage la Cour & Harald Mogensen

 

From the massive archive….

 

 

Despite its title, The Murder Book is not a primer full of methods about how to commit the ultimate crime. Subtitled "An Illustrated History of the Detective Story," the book uses photographs, paintings, movie stills, cartoons, sketches, book and magazine cover art and interior illustrations, along with limited amounts of text, to give the reader a broad overview of the genre's development rather than an in-depth examination of the sort one finds in, for instance, Howard Haycraft's classic Murder for Pleasure: The Life and Times of the Detective Story.  

 

As the prolific mystery writer and critic Julian Symons says of the authors in his brief forward, "Tage la Cour is a bibliophile with a crime fiction library containing several thousand volumes, most of them in English. He is famous in Denmark as a critic and anthologist of crime fiction. Harald Mogensen, the literary editor of 'Politiken,' has an interest in the crime story which is both emotional and analytical.

 

"The two of them are in the forefront of an immensely well-informed Scandinavian group of writers and critics who are interested not just in reading the latest books, but in discussing the background and history of the crime story."

 

As one would expect, the book opens with Poe, "the father of the detective story," and ends with Georges Simenon and his Inspector Maigret. In between, also predictably, are pictorial and textual discussions of such luminaries, among others, as Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Conan Doyle, G.K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Raymond Chandler.

 

Besides Simenon, other noteworthy French authors such as Emile Gaboriau, Gaston Leroux, Honore de Balzac, Eugène Sue and Maurice LeBlanc are given the attention they deserve. Other countries' contributions are given space as well, so the reader learns something about authors and, sometimes, characters, from Argentina, Austria, Australia, China, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, and Sweden. Lesser-known authors from the United States, England and elsewhere also get their share of recognition.

 

One can argue that the book's subtitle is a misnomer because not every book mentioned is, at its core, a detective story. Various subgenres are given consideration, among them supernatural tales, stories of terror, and spy stories.

 

There are a few typos here and there throughout the book an editor should have caught, as well as a few spoilers. I was amused by the authors' references to Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels as being set in the "87th District" and "Station 87."

 

An attractive volume that is fun to browse through, The Murder Book is more suited to, and more likely to be found in the library of, the hardcore aficionado/student of mystery fiction than that of the casual reader.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4bZBgkz

 

 

Barry Ergang ©2012, 2024

 

Some of Derringer Award winner Barry Ergang’s work can be found at Amazon and Smashwords.

Lesa's Book Critiques: BUCKEYE BOOK FAIR

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The Rap Sheet: Speaking Parts

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FFB Review: The Disrespectful Interviewer: Thirteen Interviews with Authors by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

 

From the massive archive….

 

Usually author interviews are done with the idea of civility and respect.  The same old questions can always be found in nearly every interview. Then there is this book and how Lauren Baratz-Logsted (LBL) does them. The Disrespectful Interviewer: Thirteen Interviews with Authors features interviews with a sarcastic tone along with plenty of references to the afternoon soap General Hospital.

The lineup subjected to both praise and ridicule is: Jon Clinch, A.S. King, Chris Cleave, Tish Cohen, Greg Logsted (her husband), Kristy Kiernan, Lynn Price, Joseph Finder, Lisa McMann, Lev Raphael, Adriana Trigiani, J. A. Konrath, and the interviewer herself, Lauren Baratz-Logsted. As noted in the introduction, the point of these interviews is to do things different than the standard and often boring interviews that exist everywhere.  The 13 interviews in this book ran between November 2009 and October 2010 as LBL’s regular column feature on BiblioBuffet. While the literary e-zine is no more, the interviews live on here.

Along with the usual mention of books they have done, the authors involved clearly enjoy the process and give just as good as they get. This give and take results in the occasional reader snicker. Even if some of the authors here are familiar to you, these interviews will show a different side to them than you have ever seen before. Books are the main focus as well as General Hospital for LBL, but negative and/or bad reviews also play a major role here. Along with finding out about some backstory on these 13 authors you will also find some more books to read in The Disrespectful Interviewer: Thirteen Interviews with Authors.

 

 

Material supplied by the author in exchange for my objective review. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2013, 2023

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