Murder for Pleasure The Life and Times of the Detective Story

"Genuinely fascinating reading."—The New York Times Book Review
"Diverting and patently authoritative."—The New Yorker
"Grand and fascinating … a history, a compendium and a critical study all in one, and all first rate."—Rex Stout
"A landmark … a brilliant study written with charm and authority."—Ellery Queen
"This book is of permanent value. It should be on the shelf of every reader of detective stories."—Erle Stanley Gardner
Author Howard Haycraft, an expert in detective fiction, traces the genre's development from the 1840s through the 1940s. Along the way, he charts the innovations of Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as the modern influence of George Simenon, Josephine Tey, and others. Additional topics include a survey of the critical literature, a detective story quiz, and a Who's Who in Detection.

Upon the publication of Murder for Pleasure, Howard Haycraft (1905–91) became one of the first critics to offer a serious look at the mystery/detective genre. The publisher and editor was also a two-time Edgar Award winner and a prolific anthologist whose works include The Art of the Mystery Story, Fourteen Great Detective Stories, and The Haycraft-Queen Definitive Library of Detective Crime Mystery Fiction.

Foreword
I. Time: 1841--Place: America (Genesis)
II. The In-Between Years (Development)
III. Profile by Gaslight (Renaissance)
IV. England: 1890-1914 (The Romantic Era)
V. America: 1890-1914 (The Romantic Era)
VI. The Continental Detective Story
VII. England: 1890-1930 (The Golden Age)
VIII. America: 1918-1930 (The Golden Age)
IX. England: 1930- (The Moderns)
X. America: 1930- (The Moderns)
XI. The Rules of the Game: (A Reader Looks at Writers)
XII. The Murder Market
XIII. Friends and Foes (The Critical Literature)
XIV. A Detective Story Bookshelf
XV. Dictators, Democrats, and Detectives
XVI. The Future of the Detective Story)
XVII. A Comprehensive Detective Story Quiz
XVIII. Who's Who in Detection
Appendix A: "The Purloined Letter" Controversy
Appendix B: Sherlock Holmes' Name and Other Addenda
Appendix C: Notes on Additions to a Cornerstone Library
Index