Ron K. (WhidbeyIslander) -
A must-read for the locked room mystery fan. Since copies on Amazon were selling for around $1500, I opted to get a copy as an inter-library loan, which I recommend since it's not a book one rereads every few years.
Adey's 33 page Introduction outlines his views on the genre's books and short stories from 1841's Murders in the Rue Morgue to the 1990 books of current master Paul Halter (he laments that none of Halter's books has been translated from the French, which has since been rectified.)
You'll need a pencil and paper to jot down books he mentions that you will want to search out (some are available here on this web site, but most are rare and unavailable or very pricey.)
The next section of the book is an alphabetical listing (by Author) of 2000 books and stories which involve an impossible crime. Each lists the publication information, the detective involved and a brief sentence about what the impossible crime is. (Happily there is a section at the back with solutions to all the listed works. Don't read these if you plan to search for the books to read; obviously.)
While this is a bibliography and not a work of criticism (although those 33 pages do have some recommendations), I was disappointed that there wasn't more of a thumbs-up or -down notation for most of the books, many of which the author presumably read.
Adey's 33 page Introduction outlines his views on the genre's books and short stories from 1841's Murders in the Rue Morgue to the 1990 books of current master Paul Halter (he laments that none of Halter's books has been translated from the French, which has since been rectified.)
You'll need a pencil and paper to jot down books he mentions that you will want to search out (some are available here on this web site, but most are rare and unavailable or very pricey.)
The next section of the book is an alphabetical listing (by Author) of 2000 books and stories which involve an impossible crime. Each lists the publication information, the detective involved and a brief sentence about what the impossible crime is. (Happily there is a section at the back with solutions to all the listed works. Don't read these if you plan to search for the books to read; obviously.)
While this is a bibliography and not a work of criticism (although those 33 pages do have some recommendations), I was disappointed that there wasn't more of a thumbs-up or -down notation for most of the books, many of which the author presumably read.
