Murder Ink: Revived, Revised, Still Unrepentant Perpetrated by Dilys Winn

by Dilys Winn (Editor)

A revised edition of Murder Ink with plentiful new material.

Genres: Mystery, Nonfiction, Reference, Books About Books, Crime

398 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Dilys Winn was an Irish author. She was born in Dublin, Ireland but moved to the USA when she was only one year old with her family in 1940. She graduated from the Baldwin School in Philadelphia and Pembroke College, afterward, she landed a job as an advertising copywriter.

She founded Mystery Ink. in 1972, America's first bookstore devoted solely to the mystery genre, she sold the bookstore in 1975 to free up time to work on a tome of essays and opinions on mystery fiction, which still remains a favorite in the mystery genre today.

in the 90s Winn moved to West Keys, Florida and opened up her second bookstore, Miss Marple’s Parlour, and began reviewing mystery stories for Kirkus Reviews, she had hundreds of reviews under her belt before she retired in 2013.

Reviews

[Anissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's old and probably only in analog. I found out about this and two others like it (by the same author) from the NYT Read Like the Wind newsletter. It is a bit dated in feel. It's the 70s-80s feel & even has neat little drawings throughout and a scratch-n-sniff feature on the inside cover. Yes reader, it still works! This has a wit that I think any true mystery lover will appreciate. I am so delighted to have this and will likely read it again.

I picked this up recently because I have books that have been waiting for me for far too long and I want to kick down my crazy long TBR. This was a fantastic start.

Recommended. Found online at used book purveyors.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several years ago I read Winn's first book, simply called Murder Ink: The Mystery Reader's Companion and loved it. I even made a special effort to visit her book store in NYC called......you guessed it.....Murder Ink.

Not so with this second book. I guess I should explain that the work is made up of chapters, each written by a different author, critic, bookseller, et al and the topics range far and wide. There certainly were chapters which caught the imagination and were humorous, such as rules to make before you burgle a jewelry store or why the butler didn't do it. But on the whole, it just doesn't come close to repeating the success of the first book and wasn't nearly as much fun.

If reading about mystery books is one of your guilty pleasures, I would suggest the first book, noted above. I could have passed on this one.

[B.V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In June 1972, Dilys Winn opened the first specialty bookstore devoted to mysteries and crime fiction. Titled Murder Ink, the store stood on its original spot in Manhattan for 34 years before it had to close in 2006. Winn continued to serve the mystery community even after selling the store in the '70s, with the occasional essay in publications like the New York Times and also by writing reference books. In fact, the bio in one of her NYT pieces indicated she was the author of 17 books, but sadly, most of those are apparently not available.

What is available is the most popular of those books, appropriately titled Murder Ink: the Mystery Reader's Companion, dating from 1977. Once again, it was a Winn-trailblazing-project by being the first of its type, combining a compendium of information on crime fiction with a very large dose of humor. It was so popular, that Winn came out with the revised version in 1984. Whereas the first edition was subtitled "Perpetrated by Dilys Winn," the update is subtitled "Revised, revised, still unrepentant AND perpetrated by Dilys Winn."

The 1984 version contains many of the same features from the original, with a host of essays on Plots, Trouble Spots (settings), Suspicions (suspects), Crimes, Victims, Bloodhounds (detectives), Motives, Justice and some miscellaneous fun in Side-Tracked and Complications. Contributors to the book include reviewers like Marilyn Stasio with the New York Times; authors including Ed McBain, Martha Grimes, PD James; publishers like Otto Penzler; and dozens of other "first-time offenders," recidivists," and "imposters."

Also new to this edition is a "book within a book." It's a story titled "The Tainted Tea Tragedy," told on the first three pages of each chapter, with two clues to a chapter and additional clues scattered throughout the book. There's even a mirror-image recap of the aftermath one year later in the Index, although "those who peek are "despicable beyond words."

Fun interstitials are sprinkled throughout the book, too. You'll find cartoons like an illustration of the authentic classic private eye trenchcoat, appropriately labeled; sidebars galore filled with trivia, quotes and poems; bibliographies; glossaries and lots of literary eye candy. There's also a section on the crime fiction awards categories, although there is one award missing: the Dilys Award. In 1992, well after this book was published, the Independent Booksellers Association created the award for the mystery titles of the year that member booksellers have most enjoyed selling. They named it after—who else? Dilys Winn.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compendium of articles about mystery writers and mystery stories. This edition includes an original mystery story, a Christie pastiche about a murdered tea tycoon. The book is a pleasant enough diversion and an interesting look at the state of mystery writing and reading at the time, although the material has aged badly.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun overview of the murder mystery genre and it's lovers and writers. Introduced me to a lot of new writers, of course, writing this thirty plus years later, I suppose "new" isn't really appropriate.

[Marci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although dated (1984), this is a great read for classic mystery lovers. All about your favorite sleuths, settings, authors, plots, devices, and in short, everything about mystery novel writers and writing, with exceptionally fine, dry wit throughout and a cozy mystery sprinkled on top.