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Another mystery is why there wasn't more in it.
Book: Talking about Detective Fiction
Author: P. D. James
Provenance: Borrowed from Westmount Library
When I first ran into this at the bookstore, I thought, hey, what a good marriage of author and topic! I haven't read too much P. D. James, since I didn't want to dig into the Dalgliesh series, even though it's one of my mother's favorites, but I did like the two Cordelia Gray stories, particularly An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, and I know how much of a respected mystery author she is. While I've been reading fewer mysteries over the past few years, as well, I quite like the genre, and reading a history of it from someone who contributed to making it was enticing.
So I picked up the slim tome, and got an quick but interesting look at the genre. James runs through from definitions of what makes detective fiction to a look at its development, starting from Doyle and Chesterton, through the period before the Golden Age, and then looks a the big four mystery-writing women - Christie, Allingham, Marsh, and Sayers - and the hard-boiled authors, before discussing where it's going from here. I rather liked the witty takes on the genre, and the opinions James had on individual authors and styles, and her praise for different authors was nicely varied and accurate, as was her criticisms.
What James had written overall, then, was enjoyable, but it still felt pretty light, without much look at anything beyond the leading lights at each point, sometimes without a great focus on those, and not much of a look at anything beyond the golden age, beyond singling out some authors that she likes (including my favorite mystery author, Colin Dexter). The book, then, seems somewhat unfinished, I think - it could probably have used another chapter or two in there for the post-war period. But what there was in the book was enjoyable, and it's a fast read, so it might make a good starting primer for the genre, for the curious, and you can probably get some recommendations for books you might have missed, as well. I'm happy enough to have read it, but it's pretty clear how it could have been better. It was a good effort, but you wish there was a bit more effort, is all.
Next up: I have a lot of reviews to make, but I'm still reading the Devil in the White City.
Book: Talking about Detective Fiction
Author: P. D. James
Provenance: Borrowed from Westmount Library
When I first ran into this at the bookstore, I thought, hey, what a good marriage of author and topic! I haven't read too much P. D. James, since I didn't want to dig into the Dalgliesh series, even though it's one of my mother's favorites, but I did like the two Cordelia Gray stories, particularly An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, and I know how much of a respected mystery author she is. While I've been reading fewer mysteries over the past few years, as well, I quite like the genre, and reading a history of it from someone who contributed to making it was enticing.
So I picked up the slim tome, and got an quick but interesting look at the genre. James runs through from definitions of what makes detective fiction to a look at its development, starting from Doyle and Chesterton, through the period before the Golden Age, and then looks a the big four mystery-writing women - Christie, Allingham, Marsh, and Sayers - and the hard-boiled authors, before discussing where it's going from here. I rather liked the witty takes on the genre, and the opinions James had on individual authors and styles, and her praise for different authors was nicely varied and accurate, as was her criticisms.
What James had written overall, then, was enjoyable, but it still felt pretty light, without much look at anything beyond the leading lights at each point, sometimes without a great focus on those, and not much of a look at anything beyond the golden age, beyond singling out some authors that she likes (including my favorite mystery author, Colin Dexter). The book, then, seems somewhat unfinished, I think - it could probably have used another chapter or two in there for the post-war period. But what there was in the book was enjoyable, and it's a fast read, so it might make a good starting primer for the genre, for the curious, and you can probably get some recommendations for books you might have missed, as well. I'm happy enough to have read it, but it's pretty clear how it could have been better. It was a good effort, but you wish there was a bit more effort, is all.
Next up: I have a lot of reviews to make, but I'm still reading the Devil in the White City.
