Before Sherlock Holmes: How Magazines and Newspapers Invented the Detective Story (Paperback)

from abealy

The key to appreciating this survey of the early years of detective fiction is in the second part of the title: "How Magazines and Newspapers Invented the Detective Story". Panek goes to great lengths to unearth the hidden beginnings of the genre. Hidden but unearthed only now, thanks in large pa...

from TheFlamingoReads

Most fans of the mystery/detective genre consider Edgar Allen Poe's "The Mystery at the Rue Morgue" the first of its kind. However, according to "Before Sherlock Holmes: How Magazines and Newspapers Invented the Detective Story" by Leroy Lad Panek, it was a product of literary evolution that begu...

from datrappert

Panek should be credited for the enormous amount of research and reading he has done to put together this chronicle of the growth of the detective story in the years before Sherlock Holmes. As he acknowledges, this is possible because of the digitization of so many old books and newspapers, which...

from NellieMc

This is a well-written, well-researched book for anyone who has read a lot of detective stories, and especially for fans of Sherlock Holmes and other historical detective figures. The book is short, but comprehensive and evidences a substantial amount of research--much of which is new given the a...

from Rennee

Interesting information on the forming of mysteries for papers and magazines to books. The idea that Sherlock Holmes wasn't the first or even the most interesting gave me The idea to go back and read something older. We'll see how it goes.