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Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes
>Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes is "a fascinating guide to black mystery fiction and its subgenres from early in the century to the present" (Emerge magazine). Within these pages Paula L. Woods has gathered an outstanding array of new, long-lost, or never-before-published fiction, ranging from Pauline E. Hopkins's classic locked-room mystery story "Talma Gordon," originally published by Colored American Magazine in 1900, to a new piece of short fiction by bestselling author Walter Mosley.
From the earliest mystery story written by an African American to fiction by modern mainstream authors such as BarbaraNeely, Eleanor Taylor Bland, and Aya de Leon, the pieces in this anthology comprise "a landmark collection no library of crime fiction should be without" (Kirkus Reviews).
From the earliest mystery story written by an African American to fiction by modern mainstream authors such as BarbaraNeely, Eleanor Taylor Bland, and Aya de Leon, the pieces in this anthology comprise "a landmark collection no library of crime fiction should be without" (Kirkus Reviews).
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Paula L. Woods
16 books33 followersPaula is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, and Sisters in Crime. She has also served as an Edgar judge, on the Author Committee of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and speaker at the festival.
A native of Los Angeles, Paula's lifelong love of books has resulted in the growth of her personal library to over 1,000 volumes.
Series:
* Charlotte Justice Mystery
A native of Los Angeles, Paula's lifelong love of books has resulted in the growth of her personal library to over 1,000 volumes.
Series:
* Charlotte Justice Mystery
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 8, 2015
Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes
Editor: Paula L. Woods
Publisher: Doubleday, 1995
The editor, Paula Woods, while doing research for her book, "I, Too, Sing America: The African American Book of Days," discovered a novel, by an African-American author she had not heard of, Rudolph Fisher. Fishers published, "The Conjure-Man Dies," in 1932. Woods considered herself knowledgeable of African-American literature could not understand how she had missed the book. She sought to see what other African-American authors and books she had missed. As a result she researched and found the stories included in "Spooks, spies, and Private Eyes."
Presented in three (3) parts the book includes older mysteries and political thrillers, and what she calls the new renaissance of African-American mysteries.
Included in older mysteries, besides, Rudolph Fisher are stories by Pauline E. Hopkins, George S. Schuyler, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Chester Himes, Ann Petry, Hughes Allison, and Richard Wright. I am a fan of all these authors.
Woods only included two (2) authors under political thrillers. These were, John A. Williams who wrote "The Man Who Cried I Am," and Sam Greenlee who wrote "The Spook Who Sat by the Door." She provided excerpts from both these books.
New renaissance includes twelve (12) authors Walter Mosley, Gar Anthony Gar, Barbara Neely,Penny Mickelbury, and others.
I enjoyed the book, which included mostly short stories. I found a few authors that I was not familiar with. I like to read the whole books and tend not to like when only an excerpt in included.
I recommend this book for all who like mysteries and political thrillers.
Editor: Paula L. Woods
Publisher: Doubleday, 1995
The editor, Paula Woods, while doing research for her book, "I, Too, Sing America: The African American Book of Days," discovered a novel, by an African-American author she had not heard of, Rudolph Fisher. Fishers published, "The Conjure-Man Dies," in 1932. Woods considered herself knowledgeable of African-American literature could not understand how she had missed the book. She sought to see what other African-American authors and books she had missed. As a result she researched and found the stories included in "Spooks, spies, and Private Eyes."
Presented in three (3) parts the book includes older mysteries and political thrillers, and what she calls the new renaissance of African-American mysteries.
Included in older mysteries, besides, Rudolph Fisher are stories by Pauline E. Hopkins, George S. Schuyler, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Chester Himes, Ann Petry, Hughes Allison, and Richard Wright. I am a fan of all these authors.
Woods only included two (2) authors under political thrillers. These were, John A. Williams who wrote "The Man Who Cried I Am," and Sam Greenlee who wrote "The Spook Who Sat by the Door." She provided excerpts from both these books.
New renaissance includes twelve (12) authors Walter Mosley, Gar Anthony Gar, Barbara Neely,Penny Mickelbury, and others.
I enjoyed the book, which included mostly short stories. I found a few authors that I was not familiar with. I like to read the whole books and tend not to like when only an excerpt in included.
I recommend this book for all who like mysteries and political thrillers.
April 1, 2015
As a lover of anthologies, I was a disappointed in the structure of this collection. At the time, I was obsessed with short stories and was excited to add this to my collection. Wrong...WRONG. This "literary mixtape" is such a disappointment because most of the selections are excerpts, instead actual short stories like I had hoped.
I do appreciate the section dedicated to Black women authors. I hadn't heard of any of them prior to owning this book.
I do appreciate the section dedicated to Black women authors. I hadn't heard of any of them prior to owning this book.
August 13, 2021
Overall rating: 3.2, but the standouts alone make it worth a read.
While there were a lot of misses, there were also a ton of hits in this collection. I was excited to read many authors who I haven't had the chance to enjoy yet, and several who I had before. I think the collection is skewed, with the most successful pieces hiding in the final chapter, but it is presented chronologically.
If nothing else, I'm glad to have read this just for the story "Spilled Salt." I highly, highly recommend anyone interested in female action in literature seek this one out.
"Talma Gordon" by Pauline E. Hawkins: 2.5 stars
This is kind of a weird one, ngl.
The Conjure-Man Dies (excerpt) by Rudolph Fischer: 3.5 stars
"The Shoemaker Murder" by William Stockton: 3 stars
"Summer Session" by Alice Dunbar-Nelson: 3.5 stars
"His Last Day" by Chester Himes: 4 stars
"On Saturday the Sirens Sound at Noon" by Ann Petry: 4 stars
"Corollary" by Hughes Allison: 3.5 stars
"The Man Who Killed a Shadow" by Richard Wright: 4.5 stars
Richard Wright is always a standout.
The Man Who Cried I Am (excerpt) by John A. Williams: 2 stars
The Spook Who Sat by the Door (excerpt) by Sam Greenlee: 3 stars
"Fearless" by Walter Mosley: 3.5 stars
"And Pray Nobody Sees You" by Anthony Haywood: 4.5 stars
This story is fun. Like, definitely the most fun story of the collection.
"Personal Woman" by Mike Phillips: 1.5 stars
Not for me...
"The Thirtieth Amendment" by Hugh Holton: 1 star
I know what he was shooting for, but boy this one missed the mark....
"Dead Man's Shadow" by Gary Phillips: 3 stars
"Death and the Point Spread" by Percy Spurlark Parker: 2.5 stars
Coffin & Co. (excerpt) by Njami Simon: 2 stars
"The Man Who Said I'm Not" by Eleanor Taylor Bland: 4 stars
"Spilled Salt" by Barbara Neely: 5 stars
This. This is the best story in the collection. A woman whose son is convicted of rape is released from prison; she deals with the trauma of being unable to remove a rapist from her life and the effects of spousal abuse from her ex-husband.
Tactful, thoughtful.... executed to perfection.
"Killing Color" by Charlotte Watson Sherman: 4 stars
"Tell Me Moore" by Aya De León: 4 stars
Night Songs (excerpt) by Penny Mickelbury: 4.5 stars
While there were a lot of misses, there were also a ton of hits in this collection. I was excited to read many authors who I haven't had the chance to enjoy yet, and several who I had before. I think the collection is skewed, with the most successful pieces hiding in the final chapter, but it is presented chronologically.
If nothing else, I'm glad to have read this just for the story "Spilled Salt." I highly, highly recommend anyone interested in female action in literature seek this one out.
"Talma Gordon" by Pauline E. Hawkins: 2.5 stars
This is kind of a weird one, ngl.
The Conjure-Man Dies (excerpt) by Rudolph Fischer: 3.5 stars
"The Shoemaker Murder" by William Stockton: 3 stars
"Summer Session" by Alice Dunbar-Nelson: 3.5 stars
"His Last Day" by Chester Himes: 4 stars
"On Saturday the Sirens Sound at Noon" by Ann Petry: 4 stars
"Corollary" by Hughes Allison: 3.5 stars
"The Man Who Killed a Shadow" by Richard Wright: 4.5 stars
Richard Wright is always a standout.
The Man Who Cried I Am (excerpt) by John A. Williams: 2 stars
The Spook Who Sat by the Door (excerpt) by Sam Greenlee: 3 stars
"Fearless" by Walter Mosley: 3.5 stars
"And Pray Nobody Sees You" by Anthony Haywood: 4.5 stars
This story is fun. Like, definitely the most fun story of the collection.
"Personal Woman" by Mike Phillips: 1.5 stars
Not for me...
"The Thirtieth Amendment" by Hugh Holton: 1 star
I know what he was shooting for, but boy this one missed the mark....
"Dead Man's Shadow" by Gary Phillips: 3 stars
"Death and the Point Spread" by Percy Spurlark Parker: 2.5 stars
Coffin & Co. (excerpt) by Njami Simon: 2 stars
"The Man Who Said I'm Not" by Eleanor Taylor Bland: 4 stars
"Spilled Salt" by Barbara Neely: 5 stars
This. This is the best story in the collection. A woman whose son is convicted of rape is released from prison; she deals with the trauma of being unable to remove a rapist from her life and the effects of spousal abuse from her ex-husband.
Tactful, thoughtful.... executed to perfection.
"Killing Color" by Charlotte Watson Sherman: 4 stars
"Tell Me Moore" by Aya De León: 4 stars
Night Songs (excerpt) by Penny Mickelbury: 4.5 stars
February 15, 2021
I've had this book for sometime but it got buried in my stacks. I finally pulled it off the shelf and jumped in. It's a terrific anthology, with an interesting variety of short stories and novel excerpts. It also introduced me to a number of writers I had never heard of. I particularly like the stories in the section titled "Sistahs in Crime," especially Tell Me Moore by Aya de Leon and Night Songs by Penny Mickelbury. Also enjoyed the section "Spooks at the Door," which included novel excerpts from The Man Who Cried I Am by John A. Williams and The Spook Who Sat by the Door by Sam Greenlee. Both novels are set in the late '60s and with themes of Black nationalism that characterized the period. After reading Greenlee's piece, I bought and read the novel. It's a good read, too. (I haven't been able to find a copy of Williams' novel.)
I don't read much crime and mystery fiction, with the exception of Walter Mosley (who's also represented here). This book delivers that on the genre across different periods of the 20th century, wrapped in the richness and earthiness of Black culture.
I don't read much crime and mystery fiction, with the exception of Walter Mosley (who's also represented here). This book delivers that on the genre across different periods of the 20th century, wrapped in the richness and earthiness of Black culture.
June 18, 2020
Perhaps I really enjoyed a few of the stories/excerpts but I find this anthology a great read. The excerpt from "The Man Who Cried I Am"offers a plausible scenario which, though appearing in 1967 is pertinent to today. The sci-fi short story -The Thirteenth Amendment" is also a mystery crime story with a great ending. From "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" we gain an insight into obtaining a certain type of job. One can describe "Killing Color" as a mystery/revenge and maybe supernatural short story. "Tell Me More" reads like one would expect conversation might go over friendly card game. The ending excerpt from "Night Songs"by Penny Mickelbury makes one want to read more.
August 26, 2020
Was looking for "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" at my local library. They had this compilation of crime writers who happen to be black, with excerpts from several books including "The Spook Who Sat by the Door".
December 23, 2012
It was okay.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews