June 5, 2007
From James Bond to Mary Higgins Clark, a collection of Atlantic pieces on mystery and thriller writing
Pulp Fiction
Relief From Murder (July 1938)
by Howard Mumford Jones
A Harvard English professor takes issue with the gruesomeness of mystery novels.
The Simple Art of Murder (December 1944)
by Raymond Chandler
The noted author explains how to bring a far-fetched story down to earth.
Mystery Stories (May 1957)
by Charles W. Morton
The secret to the appeal of works featuring Inspector Maigret, Mike Hammer, Philip Marlowe, and others.
Remembering Ross Thomas (November 1996)
by Tony Hiss
He made crime fiction a genre of moral consolation in twenty-five award-winning books.
Soft-Boiled (November 1999)
by Stephen Budiansky
Detectives aren't what they used to be.
The Unlikely Father of Miami Crime Fiction (May 2000)
by Marshall Jon Fisher
Although his detectives do precious little detecting, Charles Willeford sparked the modern South Florida mystery craze.
A Grand Contrivance (July/August 2002)
by David L. Ulin
Together, the Easy Rawlins mysteries constitute a sprawling novel of manners about black Los Angeles in the mid twentieth century.
Great Scot (March 2004)
by Christopher Hitchens
Between Kipling and Fleming stands John Buchan, the father of the modern spy thriller.
The Prisoner of Cool (November 2005)
by B. R. Myers
Elmore Leonard's talents have increasingly become cooped up in his hallmark tough-guy aesthetic.
Bottoms Up (April 2006)
by Christopher Hitchens
Ian Fleming, the man behind James Bond, was an all-around repressed pervert, but he also saw past the confines of the Cold War.
Touch of Evil (April 2006)
by B. R. Myers
Inspector Wallander, Inspector Erlendur, Detective Carella, and other favorite characters strike again in this literary round-up.
Dark Passage (September 2006)
by Jon Zobenica
A selective investigation of recent mysteries and thrillers by such authors as George Pelecanos, Robert Goddard, and Mary Higgins Clark.
