OTHER RECOMMENDED SITES  (You may go but please return.)


AMELIA REYNOLDS LONG.
  The author of more than 30 mystery novels in a career spanning the years 1936-1952 has an excellent website dedicated to her by Richard Simms.  Highly recommended. 
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SCHOLARSHIP ABOUT HARD-BOILED FICTION. As it says, a scholarly approach to the subject matter.  (Case Western Reserve.)

ARTHUR PORGES, 1915-2006
.  Although he has only one entry in Al Hubin’s Crime Fiction IV, a collection of Sherlockian tales entitled Three Porges Parodies and a Pastiche (Magico Magazine, 1998), Arthur Porges, whose death has recently been reported, was a prolific teller of short stories in both the science fiction and mystery field.  In 2004 he had one story in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and one in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine in 2005.  Among the series characters he created were “The Scientist” (Cyriack Skinner Grey) and the redoubtable Stately Homes.  Collections of either or both would be very much welcome. 
    The link above will take you to the Arthur Porges website, maintained by Richard Simms, where you can find both a biography and a complete bibliography.  Click here for a visit to the Arthur Porges Family Page.

THE BAKER STREET BLOG
.  It’s been around since August of last year, but I’ve just learned about this blog set up by Scott Monty (BSI) which, as it says on its main page, covers “updates on the Baker Street Journal, the Baker Street Irregulars, and the Sherlockian world.”  You’ll find plenty of links to other Sherlockian sites, too.

A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TEXAS-BASED DETECTIVE FICTION
.  Also exactly what its says.  Not necessarily complete, but awfully close.  (Texas State University.)

CLERICAL DETECTIVES.   If you are fond of mysteries solved by members of various religious orders, Philip Grosset has the website for you.   Nearly a dozen such detectives are featured, from Christine Bennett (former nun) to Sister Mary Teresa, with Father Brown and Rabbi Small among those in between.


ClueLass.com
and Mystery Readers International.  Two of the best sources on the web for all that’s new in the world of mystery fandom.

CRIME FICTION
.  A mammoth resource of information about detective and crime fiction.  Most of the articles appear to be academic in nature.  (Not, as a friend of mine would say, that there’s anything wrong with that.)  Lancaster University (UK).

CRIME THRU TIME
.  There is a lot to discover at this website devoted to historical mysteries, including many, many reviews and a host of author bibliographies, continually being added to by listings of books coming out every month.  So far for 2006, it looks to be an average of almost a book per day.

THE CRIMINAL HISTORY WEBSITE
.  Alan Bishop has just announced that the February (2006) edition of his website devoted to crime and mystery fiction set in years gone by is now on line.  Of special note is an interview with Susan and Bill Wittig, a.k.a. Robin Paige, the author(s) of the Lord and Lady Sheridan Victorian crime mysteries.

DAVID DODGE
.   A website devoted to the author of To Catch a Thief and the “screwball” Whit Whitney detective novels written between 1941 and 1946.  Of special note is a previously unpublished novel by Dodge, entitled The Last Match, which will be published by Hard Case Crime in October 2006.   (Dodge himself died in 1974.)

ELLIOT CHAZE
.  Thanks go to Bill Denton, moderator of the Rara-Avis group on Yahoo, for discovering this website dedicated to the author of the Gold Medal paperback Black Wings Has My Angel, considered by some to be a classic of hard-boiled fiction.  While this is the book that everyone thinks of whenever Chaze’s name comes up, Crime Fiction IV lists four additional crime novels he wrote, all relatively unknown and most of them taking place in the southern US.   For more information, including a short biography and a complete bibliography of his work, this site is well worth looking into.

EURO CRIME
.  In a way, I rather wish I hadn’t found this website devoted to British and European crime fiction, as I suspect that if I keep browsing through it, it will deplete my already meager finances even further, but I recommend it to you anyway.  Karen Meek, the proprietor, says there are bibliographies for over 850 authors available on the site, and it’s scary to see how many of them are new to me.

52books.  The writer of this blog has given herself a challenge: to read the books of 52 mystery authors previously unknown to her, beginning with Wilkie Collins (The Moonstone) and continuing through at present to Robert Barnard, #19.  (The blogger appears to be anonymous – I can’t find her name anywhere on the website, nor a means to contact her other than replying to an entry – but she lives in Iceland, is working on a master’s thesis and reads as wide a range of mystery and detective fiction as almost anyone I know.)

FRANK THOMAS, 1926-2006Best known outside the mystery field as the juvenile star of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, actor Frank Thomas later became a well-known expert on bridge, then the author of a number of novel-length Sherlock Holmes pastiches.  A bibliography is in the works and will be posted here on M*F as soon as ready.

FUTURES MYSTERY ANTHOLOGY MAGAZINE
.   Besides featuring reviews of recent crime fiction online, FMAM also publishes short fiction as a bi-monthly magazine in a download pdf format.  A print version is also available.

THE GEORGE KELLEY COLLECTION
.  When George donated his collection of 20,000 plus paperbacks to the University at Buffalo, they set up this website where you can view many of the covers, with the books themselves annotated.  Follow the first link and click on Gumshoes. Sleuths. and Snoopers Databaseor use this second one and go there directly.

GIL BREWER
.  Gil Brewer’s estate has begun a website which, while it appears to be in its early stages – a link to “Gallery,” is currently non-operational, for example – may contain information found there and nowhere else.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF DETECTION.
   An online wiki-encyclopedia devoted to Golden Age mysteries and their authors is well under construction.  It contains biographies and bibliographies of many, many authors of the period, along with present day reviews of their works.  Highly recommended! 

GOLDEN GATE MYSTERIES
.   Subtitled “A Bibliography of Crime Fiction set in the San Francisco Bay Area,” this highly recommended website is exactly what it says it is.   Plot summaries for some of the entries are supplied, others not, but if you visit here and don’t find stacks of books you can’t wait to add to your personal library, you are a better person than I.

THE GUMSHOE SITE
.  Jiro Kimura has maintained this monthly online mystery news magazine since 1996.  Obviously he is doing something right.

A GUIDE TO CLASSIC MYSTERY AND DETECTION
, designed and created by Michael Grost.  In-depth reviews and analysis of the traditional detective story.  The primary focus is on mysteries published before 1965.

A GUIDE TO CLASSIC MYSTERY NOVELS AND DETECTIVE STORIES
.  Established by the pseudonymous Grobius Shortling (the late Wyatt James).  While concentrating on the proprietor’s own favorites, it is exactly what it says.

INSPECTOR MAIGRET
.   May I suggest a visit to a website dedicated to one of the world’s most famous detectives and his creator, Georges Simenon?  Covers, bibliographies, plot lines, new translations, pastiches, all here.  Steve Trussel has spent a lot of time putting this together, and it shows.

ITS A MYSTERY.  Among her other mystery-related activities, Elizabeth Foxwell hosts a radio program heard on Mondays from 11A to Noon ET on WEBR in Fairfax, VA.  Among recent guests have been Robert Barnard, Linda Barnes, Robert B. Parker, Dana Stabenow, Sarah Graves and many many others.  Even better, if you follow the link to her website, her interviews with all of the above are available on MP3 and can be listened to at your convenience.  Highly recommended, especially if you have all evening to spare!

JACK RITCHIE.   Another website well worth visiting is this one, dedicated to the one of the best short story mystery writers in the business.  He died in 1983, leaving behind a legacy of nearly 300 stories.  While Richard Simms calls what he has compiled a “working bibliography,” he seems to have tracked down almost of all of them.

JAMES M. CAIN and PETER CHEYNEY.  Two bibliographies by Vladimir Matuschenko, a Russian fan of hard-boiled fiction, one (Cain) who has been covered on this website earlier, the other of an author whose books I have never read, Peter Cheyney.  Both bibliographies are in English and Russian, as are several others also on Vladimir’s website (James Hadley Chase, Thomas B. Dewey, Dashiell Hammett, John D. MacDonald, Carter Brown and a handful of others).  Recommended!

LESLIE CHARTERIS
.   One of the best websites devoted to a single mystery author, bar none.  If there’s anything you’d like to know about Simon Templar, aka The Saint, you will find it here, whether it be be film, TV or books and magazines, no to mention a peek into the life of the author himself – whose real name was ... ?

LOCKED ROOM MYSTERIES.  On author Hal White’s website is a lengthy list of suggested reading and viewing in one of my favorite sub-categories of detective fiction: the locked room mystery.  Well worth your attention!

MAGAZINE COVER ART
.  A marvelous database of magazine covers, images of hundreds and hundreds of them, mostly from the 19th and early 20th centuries.  Women’s magazines, humor magazines, pulp magazines and more.

MAGNUM, P. I.  Thank goodness for DVDs.  There is not a single current continuing TV series that I am paying any attention to.  For me, it’s essentially Turner Classic Movies or nothing at all.  But over the past few days I have been watching episodes of the first season of Magnum and enjoying them immensely.  The lack of logos on the screen, no commercial breaks that go on forever, and definitely no animated pop-up plugs for what’s coming up next also have a lot to do with it, but so do Tom Selleck’s goofy boyish charm and the scowling looks of Magnum’s constant nemesis, Higgins, played by the utterly masterful John Hillerman, as the steadfast guardian of Robin Masters’ lush Hawaiian estate.  Covering twenty year old TV detective shows is part of M*F’s coverage isn’t it?  No slippery slope here.  The link will lead you to a website jam-packed with loads of info, cast listings, photos, covers of TV Guide, and not to mention loads of other links, even one which will allow you to listen to the theme song, if you haven’t heard it in a while.

MARGERY ALLINGHAM
.  I haven’t read enough of the Albert Campion stories to be familiar with him.  From the few I’ve read, he’s always been something of an enigma to me, not that his adventures weren’t interesting.  Doing some research on the Murder Clinic radio program, I needed some facts about his creator, Margery Allingham, and I came across this website sponsored by The Margery Allingham Society.  I didn’t find what I was looking for, but there’s enough there that I was kept reading for a while.  Lots of useful information on the author, her husband, Youngman Carter, and Mr. Campion, too.

MEN’S ACTION PAPERBACKS.  This is a photo page spin-off from Bill Crider’s blog, and I think I may as well let him describe it: “You can blame this on Vince Keenan if you want to.  He’s the one who brought up The Liquidator.  So the other day I started scanning some covers from the old men's action series books.  I don’t have my copies in any particular order.  I don’t even have the series together, so what I scanned is just a random sampling.  The results are here, and you can watch a slideshow if you’re so inclined.  You’ve got your Stryker, your Striker, your Ryker, and even a vengeful merman.  One of these days, if I get inspired again, I’ll scan some more.  And believe me, there are many more.  Whatever happened to the guys who bought these things by the truckload?” 
    And I thought I was the only one who collected these books.  They’re all in Crime Fiction IV, by the way, even (marginally) Attar the Merman #1, by Robert Graham.
    UPDATE: Response was so good that Bill posted even more covers here

MICHAEL SHAYNE.  There were loads of top-notch fictional private eyes in the 1950s and 60s, and another candidate for “favorite” is this tough, red-headed character created by author Brett Halliday (not his real name).  I was directed to this website dedicated to all things Shaynian by James Reasoner, who has written or co-written more of private eye Mike Shayne’s adventures than anyone still living, if my count is correct.

MIGNON G. EBERHART
.  Richard Aylesworth has compiled what looks to be a very complete bibliography of this classic American mystery writer, including all of her novels, novelettes and short stories.  And since Richard has included the links to two other sites where Ms. Eberhart’s fiction is discussed, I shall do the same.  The first is a chatty overview of her career by D. L. Browne; the second is the Golden Age of Detection wiki page for her, which includes Mike Grost at his best in analyzing her work and putting it into a proper perspective.

MILDRED DAVIS
.  Not to be confused with the actress who appeared in many Harold Lloyd silent films, the author with the same name wrote an even dozen well-regarded mystery novels between 1948 and 1977.  Maintaining a terrific website devoted to her is Richard Aylesworth; the link will take you there.

MURDER WITH SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY
.   An exhibition of Mississippi Mysteries, including images of rare jacket covers.  (University of Mississippi.)

THE MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA
.  The link will take you to a brief history of the organization, written by Barry & Angela Zeman.  Also to be found are several photos of many authors who were active in its early days. 

NERO WOLFE
.  A website devoted to The psychology of Rex Stout, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, with quotes and reviews for all the Nero Wolfe novels is well worth your dropping by, even if your days of taking psychology classes are long gone by.  Thanks to Xavier Lechard of the Golden Age of Detection yahoo group for sending the information along.

NERO WOLFE
.  It seems more difficult than it should be to move around this site dedicated to Rex Stout’s larger-than-life most famous character, sponsored by The Wolfe Pack, but certainly there’s plenty to see and take note of, so please take note.

NOIR ORIGINALS ZINE
.  Al Guthrie has created the web’s best site devoted to noir and hard-boiled fiction.  Bar none.

PETER CHEYNEY and JAMES M. CAIN.  Two bibliographies by Vladimir Matuschenko, a Russian fan of hard-boiled fiction, one (Cain) who has been covered on this website earlier, the other of an author whose books I have never read, Peter Cheyney.  Both bibliographies are in English and Russian, as are several others also on Vladimir’s website (James Hadley Chase, Thomas B. Dewey, Dashiell Hammett, John D. MacDonald, Carter Brown and a handful of others).  Recommended!

THE RAP SHEET
.  For the finest in up-to-date news and detailed commentary on mystery fiction and its practitioners on a nearly daily basis, you cannot do better than this website, which recently celebrated its 200th posting.  J. Kingston Pierce is the editor, ably assisted by collaborators Stephen Miller, Anthony Rainone and Linda L. Richards.  (I thought I’d recommended this blog long ago, but not so.  My error.)

The Remarkable HAROLD ERNEST (“DARCY GLINTO”) KELLY, 1899-1969.
  Who? you may well ask, and rightly so.  While the website above is still a work in progress, let John Fraser be your guide in exploring the life and works of this all-but-unknown British author, with side excursions and commentary on others you may have heard of: James Hadley Chase, Stephen Frances (Hank Janson), Edgar Wallace, Peter Cheyney, Gerald Butler and more.  A monumental project and one I cannot recommend more highly. 

REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE
.  A great way to keep tabs on all of the mystery and detective novels coming out every week is to rely on Barbara Franchi and her staff of over 30 reviewers from all over the world.

RICHARD S. PRATHER .  The link will lead you to a website dedicated to the creator of Shell Scott, one of America’s favorite private eyes in the 1950s and 60s.  Not only will you find what appears to be a definitive bibliography and an interview with Mr. Prather himself, but you can also download a Shell Scott story which has never been collected in book form.

SARAH WEINMAN
.  Sarah’s blog is the Publishers Weekly of the world of crime and mystery fiction.  No, make that Publishers Daily.

SEXTON BLAKE
.  Having just recently read only my second Sexton Blake novel, review forthcoming, I decided to see what I could discover about him on the Internet.  The link will take you to the best site I’ve found, chock full of articles and a complete detailed bibliography of over 3000 cases written by some 200 authors over a period of well over a century.  Sexton Blake’s first appearance was in 1893, and after a short lull beginning in the early1970s, Mark Hodder, who maintains the site, has begun to write more of his adventures, and they are online now in 2006.

STRAND MAGAZINE
.  The home page of this quarterly mystery magazine also contains links to stories, interviews and the home pages of many authors.  Well worth your while, and so is the magazine.

THRILLERS
.  John Fraser’s passion is thriller fiction.  If you enjoy authors like Donald Hamilton, Jonathan Latimer, Eric Ambler and John D. MacDonald, you can easily spend hours here.  And come back for more the next day.

THE THRILLING DETECTIVE WEB SITE
, managed by Kevin Burton Smith.   Anything and everything you would like to know about fictional private eyes, whether in print, from the movies or on the tube.   You needn’t go anywhere else.

The Violent World of PARKER.  I’ve just discovered this website devoted to Richard Stark (aka Donald E. Westlake) and his two main series characters, Parker and Alan Grofield.  Featured are the novels they appeared in, the movies that have been made from them, and the latest news about all of the above.

     More to come ...                                                                                                            
           
                


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