Mysteries

Summer reads
Killer thrillers: From an art-world conspiracy to a campus murder to the gripping tale of a missing child, these recommendations will add suspense to your beach book list.
The sound of strangers
A hero with superhuman hearing sets out to rescue a silent child in Peter Hoeg's compelling new mystery.
Woman with a loaded gun
Across 40 years and 61 novels, the icy-blooded Ruth Rendell has proven to be more than a great mystery writer -- she's one of Britain's finest living novelists.
Shadows of late summer
Out of the past come the noir-ish entries for our latest mystery roundup: A "fallen woman" solves crime in Regency England, a French Resistance fighter hides out in Manhattan, and a respectable bourgeois ditches it all.
Steam heat and cold ground
In our roundup of the best new mysteries, a hip-hopper sells his soul to the devil, an abortion goes wrong in late-'60s Chicago, and a Minnesota sheriff's detective can't find her shifty cop husband.
Letters
Yes, detective novels are lousy -- if you're too lazy to search out the good ones! Mystery readers (and quite a few mystery writers) strike back at Ben Yagoda.
The case of the overrated mystery novel
Robert Parker, Dennis Lehane, Lawrence Block, Michael Connelly -- I've read them all. Amid the logrolling and endless hype, one thing gets obscured: Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald did it first, and did it a lot better.
Murder in midwinter
In our roundup of the season's best mysteries, a cracking new Dalziel-Pascoe yarn, echoes of a forgotten murder, S.J. Rozan's appealing private-eye duo, and the bleak brilliance of Ruth Rendell.
"The Cutting Room" by Louise Welsh
A Glasgow antiques dealer finds horrible pictures in a dead man's house, in this captivating thriller from a new Scottish writer.
"Why are movies bad and how do women get dead?"
Film critic-turned-crime writer Helen Knode on her first novel, the soul-crushing deadness of Hollywood, the greatness of "Titanic" and her relationship with husband James Ellroy.
Black and white and dead all over
In our roundup of the best new mysteries, black America's answer to Ross Macdonald, a Danish boy fights the Nazis, and the great Ross Thomas, back in print at last.
"Lost in a Good Book" by Jasper Fforde
Literary detective Thursday Next teams up with Dickens' Miss Havisham to fight world destruction and an outbreak of deadly coincidences.
Kiss Miss Marple goodbye
Scottish mystery author Val McDermid talks about the tough reality of life in today's Britain and why crime writers, not literary novelists, are the ones facing up to it.
The case of the confusing bookstore
It takes the skills of a great detective to find the best mysteries among the new releases. Our critic offers his list of some recent gems.
"Our Man in Washington" by Roy Hoopes
H.L. Mencken and James M. Cain play detective in an uproarious mystery set in a scandal-plagued capital.
The best American whats of the century?
A new best-of omnibus has some terrific stories. But are they mysteries?
Getting there
Are the ends supposed to justify the means? Or is it the other way around?
Call the next witness
Our mystery columnist puts three legal thrillers on trial.
Christie for Christmas
Desperate for more Agatha Christie? Now there are two "new" mysteries by the late queen of clues.
Ripped from the headlines
New mysteries are lifting their plots out of the newspapers. And that's not a bad thing.
The female dick
How three hard-boiled writers have retooled the mystery novel for women.
Hard boiled
Five great noir novels from the post-Chandler generations.
Mystery roundup
Humor and history dominate our eclectic selection of 1998's best crime fiction.

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