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Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire Today's Mystery Writers
For a follow-up to our Agatha and Anthony-award winning collections of essays, 100 FAVORITE MYSTERIES OF THE CENTURY (2000) and THEY DIED IN VAIN: OVERLOOKED, UNDERAPPRECIATED AND FORGOTTEN MYSTERY NOVELS (2003), we asked 100 published mystery writers: "Did a mystery set you on your path to being a writer? Is there a classic mystery that remains important to you today?" Find their answers in: MYSTERY MUSES: 100 CLASSICS THAT INSPIRE TODAY'S MYSTERY WRITERS.
224 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 21, 2024
It is interesting to me what constitutes a "classic" for these authors. From my 55-year-old perspective, Dennis Lehane (the last author mentioned in this volume) whose referenced work was a mere 8 years old at the time Mystery Muses was published, was nothing like a classic. I still don't think I'd put him in the classic mystery section now that 26 years has passed. It seems to me that it would have been more fitting to say "100 Influential Works" or just "100 Detective Novels." The word classic, to my mind, implies a certain weight and history that many of the mentioned works just don't have. From Poe to Chandler and Christie to Sayers to Marsh and Tey--even including Dick Francis and P. D. James--we have authors who heavily influenced the mystery genre and whose influence is still felt fifty, a hundred years later. Will Lehane have that kind of staying power? Who knows. But certainly eight years out from publication it was impossible to say so. Looking at Goodreads right now, it still has a smattering of recent reviews but nothing like what you'd expect if it were a classic influencer.
That said, I did enjoy reading about what mystery authors and works influenced some of the mystery writers whose novels I have enjoyed. In addition to talking about the books, they also told stories of how those books came into their lives--through relatives or librarians or teachers who set them on the path of life-long readers and writers. 3.5 stars (rounded up here)
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
That said, I did enjoy reading about what mystery authors and works influenced some of the mystery writers whose novels I have enjoyed. In addition to talking about the books, they also told stories of how those books came into their lives--through relatives or librarians or teachers who set them on the path of life-long readers and writers. 3.5 stars (rounded up here)
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
August 19, 2008
Jim Huang at Crum Creek Press has a knack for creating books that will make a died-in-the-wool mystery reader go out to buy more books. MYSTERY MUSES is the third to date. 100 mystery writers tell readers what author and/or specific book made them want to write a mystery, or think they could.
Most of the answers came as no surprise. Who would be stunned to see Agatha Christie’s name, or Carolyn Keene? Chandler, Hammett, Carr - all make their appearance. And rightly so. They are the bastions to whom we refer when people say that mystery and literature are two separate kinds of writing.
There are some names that may be unfamiliar, or seem unlikely. Trevanian is mentioned, as are Asimov and Heinlein. Some children’s books made a lasting impression, also. HARRIET THE SPY and FREDDIE THE PIG cast long shadows. Not all the authors are long dead, either. Ellis Peters, Jim Thompson, Dick Francis: a disparate group but inspirations all the same.
MYSTERY MUSES probably won’t turn the mystery field on its collective ear. It will perhaps cause some readers to look more closely at what they read, or reflect on how it inspired a favorite author. I know it has added to my list of books that I’d like to read.
Most of the answers came as no surprise. Who would be stunned to see Agatha Christie’s name, or Carolyn Keene? Chandler, Hammett, Carr - all make their appearance. And rightly so. They are the bastions to whom we refer when people say that mystery and literature are two separate kinds of writing.
There are some names that may be unfamiliar, or seem unlikely. Trevanian is mentioned, as are Asimov and Heinlein. Some children’s books made a lasting impression, also. HARRIET THE SPY and FREDDIE THE PIG cast long shadows. Not all the authors are long dead, either. Ellis Peters, Jim Thompson, Dick Francis: a disparate group but inspirations all the same.
MYSTERY MUSES probably won’t turn the mystery field on its collective ear. It will perhaps cause some readers to look more closely at what they read, or reflect on how it inspired a favorite author. I know it has added to my list of books that I’d like to read.
April 30, 2021
MYSTERY MUSES is a fabulous book in the style of the two previous books edited by Jim Huang: 100 FAVORITE MYSTERIES OF THE CENTURY and THEY DIED IN VAIN: OVERLOOKED, UNDERAPPRECIATED AND FORGOTTEN MYSTERY NOVELS. All are published by Crum Creek Press, run by Jim Huang. As a matter of fact, this book even made the paperback top 10 list published in Entertainment Weekly in their November 24th issue. Wow!
The subtitle is 100 Classics That Inspire Today’s Mystery Writers. It absolutely is fascinating. 100 authors wrote approximately two-page essays on what books inspired them. Many are classics like books by Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, and even DorothyL herself. Yet some of the books are much newer ones published in this decade.
I can’t possibly quote something from each essay; besides I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. But I will quote a few. I found Elaine Viets’ essay captivated me in how she explained how Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew affected her so much that she now writes “chicklit”. She actually makes a list of comparisons of elements between her books and Nancy Drew’s books.
Laura Lippmann tells us how a newspaper article on the anniversary of James M. Cain’s THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE led her to read it in the “hours she didn’t have” and it changed her life, helping her get a new position at the newspaper where she worked!
I loved how Gillian Roberts introduced her essay. She says: “I was seduced by Archie Goodwin. Before him, I was a mystery virgin…” While her parents’ home was filled with books for her to read, none of them were mysteries, so when she got her hands on Rex Stout’s FER-DE-LANCE, it changed her life.
Toni Kelner explains how she was a bookworm ever since she learned to read, devouring books in various genres and by different authors, always enjoying the vicarious experience. Until she discovered Amelia Jones in Dorothy Gilman’s THE TIGHTROPE WALKER because Toni felt she was Amelia! She recognized herself in the first two sentences of the book.
A common theme in many of the essays seems to be that at a young age, these authors were handed a particular book by a respected friend, librarian, or family member, or perhaps they just stumbled across the book in their own reading, and that became the book that introduced a whole new genre or way of thinking. They were so influenced by these books that they changed their lives forever. A very clear example of this is explained in Kent Krueger’s essay. He starts: “Raymond Chandler saved my life. Or that’s how it felt to me at 18.” Today he still returns to the book when he’s tired and needs a boost.
So the influence of these books was not just something in passing. It was profound and long-lived. These books literally came along at some time in their lives that they were receptive to the messages the books and characters offered. To read how an author was so profoundly susceptible to another author is just something not to miss.
The subtitle is 100 Classics That Inspire Today’s Mystery Writers. It absolutely is fascinating. 100 authors wrote approximately two-page essays on what books inspired them. Many are classics like books by Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, and even DorothyL herself. Yet some of the books are much newer ones published in this decade.
I can’t possibly quote something from each essay; besides I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. But I will quote a few. I found Elaine Viets’ essay captivated me in how she explained how Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew affected her so much that she now writes “chicklit”. She actually makes a list of comparisons of elements between her books and Nancy Drew’s books.
Laura Lippmann tells us how a newspaper article on the anniversary of James M. Cain’s THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE led her to read it in the “hours she didn’t have” and it changed her life, helping her get a new position at the newspaper where she worked!
I loved how Gillian Roberts introduced her essay. She says: “I was seduced by Archie Goodwin. Before him, I was a mystery virgin…” While her parents’ home was filled with books for her to read, none of them were mysteries, so when she got her hands on Rex Stout’s FER-DE-LANCE, it changed her life.
Toni Kelner explains how she was a bookworm ever since she learned to read, devouring books in various genres and by different authors, always enjoying the vicarious experience. Until she discovered Amelia Jones in Dorothy Gilman’s THE TIGHTROPE WALKER because Toni felt she was Amelia! She recognized herself in the first two sentences of the book.
A common theme in many of the essays seems to be that at a young age, these authors were handed a particular book by a respected friend, librarian, or family member, or perhaps they just stumbled across the book in their own reading, and that became the book that introduced a whole new genre or way of thinking. They were so influenced by these books that they changed their lives forever. A very clear example of this is explained in Kent Krueger’s essay. He starts: “Raymond Chandler saved my life. Or that’s how it felt to me at 18.” Today he still returns to the book when he’s tired and needs a boost.
So the influence of these books was not just something in passing. It was profound and long-lived. These books literally came along at some time in their lives that they were receptive to the messages the books and characters offered. To read how an author was so profoundly susceptible to another author is just something not to miss.
July 18, 2017
Interesting concept. Some of the vignettes, especially those going back to a writer's childhood or adolescence, are really touching. Some are interesting.
One dimension I found grating, frustrating even. Each and every of the 100 authors asked for a reminiscence is Anglo-Saxon, and perhaps 95 out of 100 are American. That is a narrow perspective for a book published in 2006. It would have been very interesting to see and compare the choices of writers hailing from a variety of countries, including Japan and several European countries with a tradition and vibrant scene of mystery writing.
One dimension I found grating, frustrating even. Each and every of the 100 authors asked for a reminiscence is Anglo-Saxon, and perhaps 95 out of 100 are American. That is a narrow perspective for a book published in 2006. It would have been very interesting to see and compare the choices of writers hailing from a variety of countries, including Japan and several European countries with a tradition and vibrant scene of mystery writing.
October 29, 2011
I read this a couple of years ago and just saw it again on Goodreads. I remember that I enjoyed reading about how writers I knew of thought about classics I knew (or didn't know), and how writers I didn't know of thought about classics I knew (or didn't know). It was a fun read.
December 5, 2014
really interesting - just dipped into some writers talking about mystery writers who inspired them. both adult and children's books were inspiration. pretty fun.
June 29, 2019
Pleasant, but mostly obvious.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews