Readers' Advisory Guide to Mystery

The Readers' Advisory Guide to Mystery 

by John Charles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am continuing my readers' advisory reading project (see genre fiction, and historical fiction) and thought this book would be an interesting read that, because I have read a lot of mysteries, wouldn't add too much to by TBR. It was super interesting but I still ended up with a lot of new titles to read.

There are a LOT of resources packed into this short (168 pages) book. Lists of movies, tv-shows, books for discussion, resources to read more about mysteries, as well as numerous titles and read-similars for various sub-genres. There are also sections on collection development and marketing your library's mystery collection that were full of good ideas and an extensive resource list of organizations (like Mystery Readers International), and awards (like the Nero Wolfe Award). 

My main quibble with the book is that they described Ngaio Marsh (more than once) as a British writer. She is a New Zealander and a major mystery writer of the golden age. That error raised concerns for me about the overall accuracy of the book. 

Here is my list of potential reading from this book:

• The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker (the first Spencer novel)
• Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler 
• Unexpected Night by Elizabeth Daly (author is recommended for Christie fans and this is the first in the series)
• Death on Demand by Carolyn G. Hart (starts a cozy series set in a bookstore)
• The Body in the Bellfry by Katherine Hall Page (starts a cozy series set in a small New England town)
• Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley (this has been on my TBR list, but I was reminded that I need to get to this one)
• The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman (I suspect this book won't be to my taste, but it is a style of mystery I haven't read (Western) and should check out)
• Death of an Englishman by Magdalen Nabb (set in Italy and a read-similar for the Donna Leon novels)
• Dashiell Hammett: A Life by Diane Johnson
• Agatha Christie: A Biography by Janet Morgan
• Black Beech and Honeydew: An Autobiography by Ngaio Marsh
• Bloody Murder: From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel by Julian Symons (1993 edition)
• A Talent to Deceive: An Appreciation of Agatha Christie by Robert Barnard

I am only planning to read one more of these Readers' Advisory Guides which is a good thing because my TBR list is getting out of control! If only it were true that librarians just sit around all day reading.