The Classic Crime Companion

Written by award-winning crime writer and president of the Detection Club, Martin Edwards, this book tracks the history of classic crime fiction and serves as a companion to the British Library's internationally acclaimed series of Crime Classics.

This brand-new guide is a much-expanded, revised and updated edition of The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books – winner of the Macavity award from Mystery Readers International for best book about the crime genre and shortlisted for four other awards in Britain and the US. Now drawing on 125 works of vintage crime, acclaimed author and editor Martin Edwards tells the story of how crime developed as a literary genre in Britain during the first half of the 20th century.

From early mysteries by the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle and G. K. Chesterton, through seminal novels by Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr and Dorothy L. Sayers to boundary-pushing works by Patricia Highsmith, Dashiell Hammett and Julian Symons, the range and quality of classic crime writing discussed in this book is breathtaking and includes a wide variety of famous, infamous and not-so-famous tales of murder, mystery and intrigue.


The Classic Crime Companion provides a launch point for readers to embark on their own voyage of discovery. Those who already enjoy the genre will find plenty of inspiration for new reading material while anyone taking their first, tentative steps into this world of locked rooms, closed circles and dogged sleuths (both professional and amateur) will be expertly led through the bookshelves.

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