Recommended reading - Golden Age Whodunits

 

Golden Age Whodunits

Golden Age Whodunits
Edited by Otto Penzler.
 
Short story anthology.
 
Published by American Mystery Classics.
Published 2024.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 1613165420
ISBN-13: 978-1613165423
 
Description:
 

Depending on who you ask, the term "whodunit" was first coined sometime around 1930, but the literary form predates that name by several decades. Still, it was in the years between the two World Wars--the so-called "Golden Age" of mystery fiction--that the style flourished. Short mysteries were published far and wide by a variety of authors, not just those primarily associated with the genre. They appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan, The New Yorker, and other high-end periodicals that still exist today. These tales were, in short, among the most popular diversions in literature and were of the highest caliber.

 

Fifteen puzzling tales from the masters of the mystery genre Depending on who you ask, the term “whodunit” was first coined sometime around 1930, but the literary form predates that name by several decades. Still, it was in the years between the two World Wars – the so-called “Golden Age” of mystery fiction – that the style flourished. Short mysteries were published far and wide by a variety of authors, not just those primarily associated with the genre. They appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan, The New Yorker, and other high-end periodicals that still exist today. These tales were, in short, among the most popular diversions in literature and were of the highest caliber.

 

In this volume, Edgar Award–winning anthologist Otto Penzler collects some of the finest American whodunits of the era, including household names and welcome rediscoveries. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ellery Queen, and Mary Roberts Rinehart are all included, as are Ring Lardner, Melville Davisson Post, and Helen Reilly. The result is a cross section of the whodunit tale in the years that made it a staple in mystery fiction.

 

"Stellar . . . there’s not a weak link in the bunch. For classic mystery fans, this is a must." – Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW.
 
"Guaranteed to make Americans prouder of their country than any episode in its recent political history." – Kirkus.
 
"You simply can’t go wrong with any anthology that has [Otto Penzler’s] name on it." – Parade Magazine.
 
"Penzler’s depth of knowledge of the genre is in full evidence in this volume . . . This anthology is sure to contain something to surprise even the most diehard mystery fan." – Toronto Star.