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johnnyphonny's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
Ambitious survey of the history of crime fiction that covers all the usual suspects and quite a few that might’ve flown under the radar of all but the most committed readers. Inevitably there are slightly peculiar (mis)judgements and oversights (the genius Elmore Leonard is dismissed in a single footnote; Stephen King’s mid/late career turn to crime fiction is entirely ignored) but the author seriously knows his stuff and Life of Crime meets most reasonable expectations and will put some names on a lot of people’s reading lists.
1mpossiblealice's review against another edition
5.0
This has taken me quite a few months to read, but that's been on and off - I've picked it up in between other reads. Also, it's very long as it's a history of crime/mystery fiction. It's also very readable with interesting stuff to read and not just lists of books and authors. Each chapter is quite short so it works well with reading it in small, frequent chunks because you can get through a few chapters each time.
This covered many authors I already knew, but also many I didn't, and have useful context to the stuff I already knew about. Lots more reading suggestions too, as if I needed more!
A really enjoyable and informative book for anyone interested in the genre and how it developed.
This covered many authors I already knew, but also many I didn't, and have useful context to the stuff I already knew about. Lots more reading suggestions too, as if I needed more!
A really enjoyable and informative book for anyone interested in the genre and how it developed.
wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.5
Really loved all of the details I picked up from this book about crime writers over the years. My jaw dropped a couple of times.
Great work!
Great work!
mike_brough's review against another edition
5.0
This is the third crime history I've read by Martin Edward. the others being The Golden Age of Murder and The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, yet Mr Edwards never seems to repeat himself. I've added dozens of books to my ever-growing TBR pile.
This is an eclectic mix of themed chapters covering everything from historical crime and crime from various countries to WhoWasDunins and comedy and crime.
Every one of his books is worth reading (and I love his introductions to British Crime Library re-prints) but this is the one I'd start with.
This is an eclectic mix of themed chapters covering everything from historical crime and crime from various countries to WhoWasDunins and comedy and crime.
Every one of his books is worth reading (and I love his introductions to British Crime Library re-prints) but this is the one I'd start with.
ila_mae's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Really, really dense. It's a lot of information thrown at you all at once and it can be pretty overwhelming. I wish I'd bought the book instead of getting it from the library- I had to finish it on a deadline whereas I think I would have enjoyed it more if I could have taken my time with it. It was really interesting though and really showed the scope of the genre. Overall, I enjoyed reading it.
tansybradshaw's review against another edition
funny
informative
medium-paced
4.0
A great overview of the crime genre
backpackfullofbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
4.0