Reviews

The Life of Crime: Unravelling the mysteries of fiction's favourite genre by Martin Edwards

wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition

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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!

mike_brough's review against another edition

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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.

ila_mae's review against another edition

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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

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funny informative medium-paced

4.0

A great overview of the crime genre 

backpackfullofbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny informative mysterious slow-paced

4.0

libraryofronjarathe's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.0

mrcreads's review against another edition

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informative relaxing fast-paced

4.5

annarella's review against another edition

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5.0

It's not easy to review this book as it's not a book that you read for the plot. You read for the information and because Martin Edwards is one of the most learned expert in the history of crime literature.
I had high expectations and wasn't disappointed.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

jackiebranz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.5

gusiakos's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

4.5