The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries Contributor(s): Sims, Michael (Editor)

 The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries Contributor(s): Sims, Michael (Editor)

“The mystery of a bloody murder has been a perennially classic theme, drawing readers to examine what motivates heinous crimes and how the investigative procedure takes us behind the scenes of tragedy. These stories from the 19th and early 20th centuries introduce the earliest detectives, both male and female, that inspired iterations from BBC radio dramas to American television. Sims’s selections showcase evil masterminds, suspect narrators, early female detectives, shipboard murders, and psychological and scientific inquiries. And then, there are Clue-like titles such as ‘The Case of the Pool of Blood in the Pastor’s Study’ that a modern murder mystery fan can’t resist. The [book] features stories by classic authors such as Anton Chekhov, Louisa May Alcott, and Charles W. Chesnutt along with early crime writing luminaries such as Austrian novelist Augusta Groner and the prolific American Geraldine Bonner. Surprises include a dark Irish detective story published 14 years before Poe’s Dupin investigated the doings in the Rue Morgue–sixty years before the debut of Sherlock Holmes–and a Canadian First Nations detective who investigated a century before Dana Stabenow introduced Kate Shugak”–

Biographical Note:
Michael Sims is the author of Arthur and Sherlock, which was a finalist for the Edgar from the Mystery Writers of America, the Gold Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain, and numerous other awards; Adam’s Navel, which was a New York Times Notable Book and a Library Journal Best Science Book; The Story of Charlotte’s Web, which was chosen by the Washington Post and several other venues as a Best Book of the Year; and In the Womb: Animals, the companion book for the popular National Geographic Channel series. For Penguin Classics he has edited several anthologies, including The Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime. He writes regularly for the New York Times and other periodicals, and his work is widely translated around the world.

Review Quotes:
“Throughout, Sims’s choices, which showcase his encyclopedic knowledge of mystery fiction, range from good to great, and place welcome focus on the historic contributions of women to the genre. Even the most well-read mystery fans have good reason to check this out.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

 

“Entertaining, wide-ranging anthology….Includes stories never before reprinted, rebellious early female detectives, and spotlights former stars of the crime field.”
–The North Salem Post