Classic Mysteries

Here are some classic mysteries from Goodreads!

Here are some classic mysteries from LibraryThing

And here's a site that includes podcasts and webcasts called classicmysteries.net

Macmillan E books coming to Minuteman!

Dear Library Partner,

Beginning March 1, more than 1,150 eBooks from Macmillan will be available in Content Reserve as a pilot program for US public libraries. The collection of mystery and crime titles from Minotaur Books specializes in thrillers, cozy mysteries, psychological suspense, and hard-boiled crime. Select from must-have mystery authors like Chris Ewan, Ian Rankin, Lee Child, Charles Todd, and more!

Macmillan Library eBook Collection Highlights:

“Pray for Silence” by Linda Castillo “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Julia Spencer-Fleming (award-winning author) “The Tourist” by Olen Steinhauer (award-winning author) “Quiche of Death” by M.C. Beaton “The Lock Artist” by Steve Hamilton “Heartsick” by Chelsea Cain

“A Taint in the Blood” by Dana Stabenow “Blue Heaven” by C.J. Box “Burn” by Nevada Barr “The Real Macaw” by Donna Andrews “A Crimson Warning” by Tasha Alexander

Reading Maps

Courtesy of the Berwyn Public Library

book bitch

Advice from the "book bitch" about conducting the reader's advisory interview!

Great Blog! RA for all

Here's the Link

Keeping up with series

Try Fict Fact

Try KDL What's Next

Try Pauline Dewel's blog...the mystery page turner

Try this

All kinds of mysteries and links to be had in this blog:  amateur, classics, hard boiled soft boiled and some great links as well!

Book Annotation form courtesy of Joyce Saricks

Annotation Form

Author

Title

Publication Date

Number of Pages

Geographic setting

Time period

Series Notes

Plot Summary

Subject Headings

Appeal Points

Frame

Character

Language

Storyline and Pace

Setting

Tone/Mood

Similar Works

Name of Annotator

Lu Lu's picks...MC Beaton and more

I am really enjoying the Agatha Raisin series.  The main character, Ms. Agatha Raisin, like me is in her 50's...Although she laments some slight girth around her waist, not to worry because she still has great legs.  Agatha has moved to the Cotswolds in England after retiring from her career as the head of a Public Relations agency in London.   She is a funny, fesity woman.  Her achille's heel seems to be her interest in Mr. James Lacey, her neighbor.  Their on again, off again romance is fun to follow.  James Lacey, can't live with him, can't live without him.  What's a detective to do?  The characters are lots of fun and the plot keeps me guessing.  Of course, I am no sleuth!  I have read at least five of these so far and I love them!  Oh, and she has two cats!  An appeal factor for cat lovers like myself!

These books are well written.  The scenery, the characters, the plots are all well drawn.  I don't feel like I am reading a formulaic mystery when I read these.


I shall be updating this page....Stay tuned.

amateur detectives From: The Reader's Advisory Guide To Genre Fiction

Please note:  I am quoting directly here from Joyce Saricks Reader's Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, Second Edition, ALA 2009 pps. 201-202.

Here she is talking about the amateur detective:

..Other authors focus on the occupations or hobbies of the sleuths, usually amateur detectives, and the details-about almost everything from scrapbooking to sports-add interest and variety to the plots.  Diane Mott Davidson popularized the cooking Mystery (recipes included) specialty begun by Virginia Rich with her Eugenia Potter series (The Cooking School Murders is first).  Davidson's series feature caterer Goldy Bear (Catering to Nobody starts the series), put gourmet cooking and Mysteries with recipes on the map.  Among amateur detectives, we have herbalists and gardeners (Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles and Ann Ripley's Louise Eldridge), actors-including those who also create greeting cards (Harley Jane Kozak's Wollie Shelley), journalists (Edna Buchanan's Britt Montero), antiuqe and rare book dealers and scouts (John Dunning's Cliff Janeway and Sharon Fiffer's Jane Wheel), ancient and medieval physicians (Ruth Downie's Gaius Petreius Ruso and C.L. Grace's Kathryn Swinbrooke), clergy (Julia Spencer-Fleming's Clare Fergusson and Margaret Coel's Father John O'Malley), psychics (Charlaine Harris's Harper Connelly and Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs), forensic experts (Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan in Quebec and North Carolina and Ariana Franklin's twelfth-century expert in the art of death, Adelia Aguilar), and almost any profession and hobby imaginable.  In the course of the Mystery, readers learn almost as much about the profession or hobby of the detective as they do about the investigation, and for many readers, this is an important satisfaction.

Link to the book

Amateur Detective Books -- a small sampling

Amateur Detective Novels

This is a very small sample of some of the amateur detective books out there.  

Jane Jeffry Mysteries
Churchill, Jill
Single mother in Chicago solves mysteries in her spare time.  All of the titles are a riff on famous book titles.  
examples: Wars and Peas; The House of Seven Mabels
Other sub-genres: cozy mystery; culinary mystery
Appeal terms: Tone: amusing; Characterization: strong frazzled heroine

Myron Bolitar Mysteries
Coben, Harlan
Sports agent whose clients all seem to get caught up in murder.
examples: Deal Breaker, The Final Detail
Other sub-genres: Hardboiled fiction
Appeal terms: Tone: Disturbing; Subject: Sports; Setting: New Jersey

Goldy Bear Schulz
Davidson, Diane Mott
A caterer who solves mysteries.  All of the titles have something to do with food.
examples: Catering to Nobody, Dark Tort
Other sub-genres: culinary mysteries
Appeal terms: Tone: upbeat, perky; Pacing; leisurely; Setting: small town Colorado

Hannah Swenson Mysteries
Fluke, Joanne
A local bakery owner solves mysteries with the help of her sheriff brother-in-law and her business partner.  Like Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, she finds herself having to choose between two men.  All of the titles contain the name of a pastry.
examples: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, Fudge Cupcake Murder
Other sub-genres: culinary mysteries; cozy myseries
Appeal terms: Tone: suspensful; Pace: leisurely

Benjamin January Mysteries
Hambly, Barbara
An African-American man who is a doctor and a musician moves back to New Orleans in the mid-nineteenth century after the death of his wife, and solves mysteries (usually after he is falsely accused) sometimes aiding a local policeman.  
examples: A Free Man of Color, Sold Down the River
other sub-genres: diversity mystery, historical mystery,
Appeal terms: storyline: intricately plotted; language: compelling; Setting: New Orleans, 1830’s

Annie Laurance
Hart, Carolyn G
Mysteries usually solved by the owner of the mystery book shop, “Death on Demand”
examples: Death on Demand, Murder Walks the Plank
other sub-genres: cozy mystery
Appeal terms: tone: amusing; pace: fast

Henrie O.
Hart, Carolyn G
Retired newspaper reporter who solves mysteries throughout the United States
examples: Death in Paradise, Death in Lover’s Lane
other sub-genres: cozy mystery
Appeal terms: tone: suspenseful; pace: fast

Sebastian St. Cyr
Harris, C.S.
A viscount in early nineteenth century Britain becomes an amateur sleuth after he’s falsely accused of a crime.
examples: What Angels Fear, Why Mermaids Sing
other sub-genres: historical mystery
Appeal terms: pace: fast paced; details: intricate

Nora Gavin
Hart, Erin
A pathologist moves to Ireland after her sister’s murder, and uses her background in forensics to solve cold cases.  
examples: Haunted Ground, Lake of Sorrows
other sub-genres: diversity mystery
Appeal terms: suspenseful; storyline and detail: intricate


Stella Hardesty
Littlefield, Sophie
Stella, the owner of a sewing machine shop, helps women who are victims of domestic violence.
examples: A Bad Day for Sorry, A Bad Day for Pretty
other sub-genres: women in peril
Appeal terms: characterizations: strong female character; tone:violent

Rei Shimura
Massey, Sujata
Follows the adventures of a Japanese-American teacher and antiques dealer who lives in Japan and solves mysteries on her travels.
examples: The Salaryman’s Wife, The Flower Master
other sub-genres: diversity mystery
Appeal terms: tone: suspenseful; setting: Japan

Easy Rawlins
Mosley, Walter
Easy Rawlins becomes an amateur detective after being fired from his job in a factory and his run-ins with the mob.
examples: Devil in a Blue Dress, Six Easy Pieces
other sub-genres: hard-boiled fiction, diversity mystery, historical mystery
Appeal terms: tone:atmospheric; characterizations: strong secondary characters, in addition to a fully fleshed main character; setting: Los Angeles, 1940’s

Catherine LeVendeur
Newman, Sharan
A young woman, who starts out as a novice at a convent in France during the twelfth century solves mysteries while also re-examining whether she wants to be a nun.
examples: Death Comes as Epiphany, The Wandering Arm
other sub-genres: historical mystery
Appeal terms: tone: atmospheric; settings: France, 12th century; details: lush

Faith Sibley Fairchild
Page, Katherine Hall
A caterer and minister’s wife solves mysteries in her small town in Massachusetts  (Think Cabot Cove except not in Maine)
examples: The Body in the Belfry, The Body in the Vesibule
other sub-genres: cozy mystery, culinary mystery
Appeal terms: pace: leisurely; tone: humorous

Vicky Bliss
Peters, Elizabeth
Art historian Vicky Bliss uses her expertise to solve crimes.
examples: Laughter of Dead Kings, Street of the Five Moons
other sub-genres: romantic supsense
Appeal terms: tone: funny; language: witty

Omar Yussef
Rees, Matt Beymon
A Palestinian school teacher solves crimes in his spare time, as well as observing the political situation around him.
examples: The Collaborator of Bethlehem, The Fourth Assasin
other sub-genres: diversity mystery, political thriller
Appeal terms: pace: fast; language: gritty

Joe O’Loughlin
Robotham, Michael
A psychologist living in London who has also just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease gets caught up in sleuthing after he’s falsely accused of a crime.
examples: Suspect, Shatter
other sub-genres: noir, suspense
Appeal terms: tone: disturbing; setting: London

Reverend Clare Fergusson
Spencer-Fleming, Julia
Clare is the first female Episcopal priest in Millers Kill, New York, who also was a helicopter pilot during the first Iraqi War.
examples: In the Bleak Midwinter, Out of the Deep I Cry
other sub-genres: romantic suspense
Appeal terms: tone: suspenseful; pace: fast

Alan Gregory
White, Stephen
A psychologist in Colorado profiles murderers, and offers assistance to the deputy DA, who becomes his girlfriend.
examples: Privileged Information, Higher Authority
other sub-genres: psychological thriller
Appeal terms: tone: suspenseful; language: compelling

Susan Henshaw
Wolzien, Valerie
Local PTA president solves murder in another town that is equally as violent as Murder She Wrote’s Cabot Cove.
examples: Murder at the PTA Luncheon, A Good Year for a Corpse
other sub-genres: cozy mystery
Appeal terms: setting: Connecticut; characterization: strong female protoganist

Meg Langslow
Andrews, Donna
Everyone with whom Meg, a sculptor/blacksmith, associates seems to be become entangled in murder.  All of the titles are either a play on a movie title, a book title, or a famous line and feature an animal’s name.
examples: Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon, The Penguin Who Knew Too Much
other sub-genres: humorous mystery; romantic mystery
Appeal terms: tone: offbeat; pace: fast

Flavia de Luce
Bradley, Alan
Flavia is eleven years old, lives with her widowed father in 1950’s England, and likes to solve mysteries.  Think Nancy Drew as an elementary school student but written for an older audience.
examples: The Sweetness and the Bottom of the Pie, The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag
other sub-genres: adult mystery with young adult appeal
Appeal: tone: upbeat; storyline: plot-driven (as opposed to character-driven)

Cat Who Mysteries
Braun, Lillian Jackson
Jim Qwilleran is a crime reporter who solves mysteries with his two cats, Koko and Yum Yum.
examples: The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, The Cat who Turned On and Off
other sub-genres: cozy mystery, animal mystery
Appeal: tone: heartwarming; characterization: strong characters

Temple Barr and Midnight Louie
Douglas, Carole Nelson
More cat mysteries, this time getting solved by Temple Barr, a publicist, and her large cat, Midnight Louie.  Many of the titles are published under multiple names.
examples: Crystal Days, Cat on a Blue Monday
other sub-genres: animal mystery
Appeal: tone: suspenseful; language: witty

Mrs. Murphy Mysteries
Brown, Rita Mae
More cats!  Mary Minor Haristeen, a postmistress, investigates mysteries with her cat, Mrs. Murphy
examples: Wish you were Here, Murder on the Prowl
other sub-genres: cozy mystery, animal mystery
Appeal: tone: amusing; pace: fast

Claire Malloy
Hess, Joan
A bookstore owner who solves mysteries and has a complicated relationship with her daughter.
examples: Strangled Prose, Busy Bodies
other sub-genres: soft-boiled mystery
Appeal: characterization: strong secondary characters; setting: Book Depot adds atmosphere

Amelia Peabody
Peters, Elizabeth
Egyptologist, Amelia Peabody, is considered a spinster in the Victorian age (in the first book, anyway), and solves mysteries during her travels to Egypt.  
examples: Crocodile on the Sandbank, The Curse of the Pharaohs
other sub-genres: historical mystery
Appeal: characterization: minor characters become more fully realized as the series progresses; setting: Egypt, Victorian Age

Miss Marple
Christie, Agatha
Before Jessica Fletcher was a busybody attracting murder everywhere she goes, there was Jane Marple, a woman who never came across a mystery she couldn’t solve.
examples: The Murder at the Vicarage, The Tuesday Club Murders
other sub-genres: classic mystery
Appeal: characterization: Smart female lead; tone: suspensful

Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries
McCall Smith, Alexander
Moralist Isabel becomes caught up in investigating when she’s a witness to a tragic death.
examples: The Sunday Philosophy Club, The Right Attitude to Rain
other sub-genres: cozy mystery
Appeal: tone: upbeat; language: engaging

Flower Shop Mysteries
Collins, Kate
Florist, Abby Knight, seems to always find herself caught up in murder (and also dating different men)
examples: Mum’s the Word, Snipped in the Bud
other sub-genres: romantic mystery
Appeal: tone: amusing; pace: fast

Eleanor Roosevelt Mysteries
Roosevelt, Elliott
The former first lady solves crimes, sometimes with other members of the White House staff.  
examples: Murder and the First Lady, The White House Pantry Murder
other sub-genres: historical mystery
Appeal: setting: White House, 1930’s - 1940’s; storyline: plot driven

Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries
Bebris, Carrie
The lead couple from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice find themselves becoming mystery solvers starting with their wedding.  All of the titles are a play on Jane Austen’s books.  Also look for the Jane Austen mysteries by Stephanie Barron, in which Austen herself plays detective.
examples: Pride and Prescience, The Matters at Mansfield
other sub-genres: literary mystery, historical mystery, cozy mystery
Appeal: tone: romantic; language: engaging

Charles Dickens Mysteries
Palmer, William J
Gritty and steamy mysteries involving Dickens and his friend, novelist, Wilkie Collins.
examples: The Hoydens and Mr. Dickens, The Detective and Mr. Dickens
other sub-genres: historical mystery, literary mystery
Appeal: tone: suspenseful; detail: atmospheric, prurient

Edgar Allan Poe Mysteries
Schecter, Harold
The writer teams up with real historical figures, such as Davy Crockett and PT Barnum, to solve crimes.
examples: Nevermore, The Mask of Red Death
other sub-genres: historical mystery
Appeal: tone: disturbing; setting: 19th century United States

The Westing Game
Raskin, Ellen
Occupants in a house must use clues to figure out who murdered the building’s owner.
other sub-genre: Young Adult
Appeal: tone: secretive, humorous; characterization: fully fleshed out characters

Britt Montero
Buchanan, Edna
A crime reporter in Miami often finds herself solving crimes that baffle even the police department.
examples: You Only Die Twice, Contents Under Pressure
other sub-genres: diversity mystery (Britt is Cuban-American)
Appeal: tone: suspenseful, serious

Seneca Falls Historical Mysteries
Monfredo, Miriam Grace
Seneca Falls librarian, Glynis Tyron, solves mysteries during the 19th century.
examples: Seneca Falls Inheritance, North Star Conspiracy
other sub-genres: historical mystery, cozy mystery
Appeal: language: compelling; setting: Seneca Falls

Miss Zukas
Dereske, Jo
A Washington State librarian solves mysteries in books with some very fun titles.
examples: Miss Zukas and the Library Murders, Out of Circulation
other sub-genres: cozy mystery
Appeal: setting: Washington State; characterization: strong female librarian (yeah baby!)

Appeal Factors, Annotations and More

These are courtesy of the New Jersey Regional Cooperatives:  Reader's Advisory:  The Complete Specturm

Appeal factors from NLS

Read Alikes

Nice link--from anniston library

Romance Read Alikes from likesbooks.com  (last update 2010)

Hennepin County
 
Book psychic

Novelist Plus! (need to type in your library card number...this is the Minuteman connection)

ATN Reading Lists Read Alikes 

Onandoga County Read Alikes 

Downer's Grove ReadAlikes

GNOOKS literature map

Take a look here

This is a fun way to look for authors similar to the writer of your amateur detective (or other) novel.

Read all about it on Google Books!

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How To Read a Book in 10 Minutes

Here is the link!

Watch How To Read a Book In Ten Minutes

amateur detectives--From the History of Mystery by Max Allan Collins

Edgar Allen Poe “The Murders In The Rue Morgue”  --Poe’s chief innovation, the amateur detective, sets the stage for countless eccentric sleuths.  

Due to the unexpected popularity of his character, Dupin, Poe wrote two more stories featuring the ecccentric detective:  “The Mystery of Marie Roget” (1842) and “The Purloined Letter” (1845).  In doing so, the tortured poet created the first detective series.  A writer of Poe’s stature writing in this form placed the genre firmly in the ranks of fine literature.  

 Brief look at where the genre of amateur detectives began.  In 1841, when C. Auguste Dupin made his memorable first appearance in “The Murders In The Rue Morgue,” life in both America and Europe was considerably different than today.  Not only did a vast gulf exist between rich and poor, but between the literate and illiterate.  Nearly a quarter of the American people were still unable to read, most of those in the lower-income brackets.

After Dupin (1841, C. Auguste Dupin) ”Murders In The Rue Morgue” opened the door, many a disdainful detective slipped through after him.

Here is Max Allan Collins' fabulous blog

Link to the book 

amateur detective history--from Max Allan Collins

Nancy Drew, a series beloved by the young and the young at heart.....

AA Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh wrote a single mystery, The Red House Mystery, once considered to be one of the top three every written.

Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol

Aside from Nick and Nora, however, the most successful married couple in mysteries had to be Pam and Jerry North.

Here's a link to Mr and Mrs. North

amateur detectives--tv sleuths/movie sleuths

 Amateur Sleuth TV Series

Read about Miss Marple here

Watch Miss Marple here

The Ellery Queen show in the 1940’s established the “all-star supsect” format followed by Murder She Wrote.

Popular Ellery Queen books from Goodreads

Watch Ellery Queen and Too Many Suspects Here 

After the sucess of Hammett’s the Thin Man in 1934, husband-and-wife-detective teams began appearing in print with some regularity. 

Preview a Thin Man book on google books!

Remember Hart to Hart?

Nero Wolfe, Rex Stout's creation shown here from the delightful A&E version

history--amateur detective

Hardcover books were purchased by well-educated, affluent readers; and the middle-class, themselves a fairly well-educated group, borrowed books from libraries.  The settings for many mysteries were the very places that well-off readers frequented, and their environments represented a life style to which middle-class readers aspired.  These drawing-room murders were among the upper-crust, and so were the detectives who solved them.  The fact that the caste system was so much in evidence also played a role in why the detectives in these stories were so seldom representatives of the police.

Though they depended on the police to protect their belongings and keep them safe, many fo the rich looked down upon such common public servants as mere working men doing a dirty job.  When it came to the art of detection, many times the police in these stories are made out to be inept bumblers, only a half-step above the criminals they seem unable to catch.

 In the 1840s,  nearly a quarter of the American people were still unable to read, most of those in the lower-income brakcets.  By the 1920s, the literacy rate had climbed to over ninety percent, and publishers began tthinking about capturing mystery readers at a younger age.  (1929...the Hardy Boys).

from Max Allan Collins, History of Mystery

The draw of the amateur detective for many readers is simple:  these sleuths are just like the readers themselves.  Amateur sleuths do not have the training or resources of professionals, and so they must rely on their own wits when it comes to solving a crime.  Thus, many mystery readers find it easier to relate to someone like Katherine Hall Page's Faith Sibley Fairchild, who has to fit in the occasional bit of detecting with her ongoing, everday duties as a wife and mother, then Patricia Cornwell's coroner sleuth Kay Scarpetta, whose professional raison d'etre involves using her forensic skills to find killers.

from The Reader's Advisory Guide To Mystery, Second edition

New book at WPL: True Crime Online

Here at the WPL:  New book call number 364.1523 HIT 2013

from the back cover:  This new book by a top cybercrime expert and victims' advocate explores horrific real-life crimes with roots in cyberspace.  Author J.A. Hitchcock (Net Crimes and Misdemeanors) is celebrated for her work to pass tough cybercrime legislation, train law enforcement personnel, and help victims fight back.  In True Crime Online, she journeys into the darkest recesses of the internet to document the most depraved criminals imaginable, from bullies and stalkers to scam artists, sexual predators, and serial killers.

True Crime Online is a must-read for true crime afficionados and fans of such television fare as 48 Hours Mystery, Forensic Files, and the Investigation Discovery channel.  You'll never think about your online "friends" the same way again.

Amateur detectives...great links

A link to amateur detectives in pop goes fiction 


Link to Amateur Sleuths from Hennepin County


Library thing most tagged amateur detectives



  Amateur Detectives on Pinterest


Goodreads Amateur Detectives


The Mystery Reader


All things Agatha Raisin