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      Please carry on all conversations without shouting, excessive ranting, or crudity. Profanity and personal attacks will not be tolerated. I am delighted to have you in my house - well, on my blog, anyway - and look forward to discussions. But please remember that we are all trying to carry on a civilized discussion. Your views are valuable. Please treat them that way. Thank you.

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    Mystery Publishers

    • Academy Chicago Publishers
      An imprint of the Chicago Review Press. Features a number of interesting authors, most long out of print, plus some other odds and ends, including some horror stories by Conan Doyle.
    • Crippen & Landru
      Crippen & Landru publish mystery short story collections. Of particular interest is what they call "Lost Classics," a series of anthologies of mostly uncollected stories by authors who might be enjoyed by a new generation of readers.
    • Dean Street Press
      This small British publisher has a great many classic crime books in its much broader catalog. They are bringing back many Golden Age classics by authors who deserve another chance at a new audience.
    • Felony & Mayhem
      This publisher specializes in classic mysteries, broadly defined, including newer mysteries that adhere to classic standards. They have just overhauled their website to make it much more informative and user-friendly.
    • Locked Room International
      A small press, specializing in very good English-language translations of (so far) mostly-French authors of locked room and impossible crime stories. They publish in Print-On-Demand and electronic editions.
    • Merion Press
      The Merion Press is an independent publisher of out-of-print works that were originally published over 75 years ago, but are enduring even today.
    • MysteriousPress.com
      The brainchild of editor/anthologist/author/bookstore-owner Otto Penzler, the Mysterious Press has recently returned to life and now works with Open Road Media as an electronic book publisher. It is already republishing the work of a lot of classic authors, with more books on the way.
    • Oconee Spirit Press
      A small, independent publisher committed to publishing "lively fiction, and provocative non-fiction." Most of their list covers early works by established authors writing traditional mysteries, such as Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron.
    • Oleander Press
      This small eclectic British publisher has begun publishing a series of classic British mystery novels, primarily from the Golden Age. The series is grouped into a section of their catalogue named "London Bound," as the books are set in London.
    • Ostara Publishing
      "Ostara Publishing re-issues titles that have unjustifiably become unavailable either through the ravages of time or the forces of publishing economics. We specialise in Crime and Thriller fiction titles and our range goes from the1920s through to the 21st century. We publish thematically and currently have six series available. All our titles are published in a 'trade paperback' format and printed to order."
    • Poisoned Pen Press
      Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Poisoned Pen Press publishes a fairly wide variety of mysteries. Some are reprints; many are new, by newer authors. Their website has a great deal of information about their books and authors.

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    Main | July 2008 »

    June 2008

    June 12, 2008

    Good Idea from the Mystery Guild

    I've beem a member of the Mystery Guild for many years now. I've never been a great fan of such clubs - their "negative option" favorites arerarely to my liking. But I have noticed lately that they seem to be making an effort to be more targeted in their communications.

    Now obviously, I'm the type of reader who prefers an Agatha Christie to, say, a Dean Koontz. That's not to denigrate Koontz or other very popular authors - they just don't write the kind of books that I, as an individual, prefer. No problem; they have huge audiences.

    But the Mystery Guild, which undoubtedly earns the bulk of its money from those popular authors, has started sending me notices lately of other, hard-to-find classic authors.

    For instance, they sent me an ad this week for books by Josephine Tey and Agatha Christie. Recently, they told me of a new anthology of Ellery Queen novels - hooray! And they have reprinted some John Dickson Carr and let me know about it.

    Good for them. And especially good for them for learning to send me ads that advise me about books that I (and my readers and listeners) may find interesting!

    Posted at 10:37 AM in General Suggestions, Mystery Publishers | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

    Tags: classic mysteries, mysteries, Mystery Guild

    June 10, 2008

    Celebate the Classics

    The purpose of this blog (and the podcasts that go with it) is simply to celebrate fine mystery writing, in the classic tradition.

    What is the "classic tradition"? Glad you asked.

    The kind of mysteries that you'll find discussed here are the kind celebrated in the so-called "Golden Age" of the mystery novel, during the early years of the 20th century. From that starting point, we extend forward and backward in time, back as far as Edgar Allan Poe in the nineteenth century and as far forward as authors such as Catherine Aird who are still writing today.

    We've been doing the podcasts for a year now. Take a look at the list on the right side of this page for an idea of the kinds of authors and books we consider classics. The list is far from complete, and I'm pledged to keep searching for authors and books who fit our criteria.

    For the most part, the books we discuss will still be in print, available through your favorite mystery bookstore - or, if you prefer, from Amazon.com.

    So welcome. And please feel free to join the discussion as we move forward together.

    Posted at 07:23 PM in Books | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

    Tags: classic mysteries, golden age, podcasts

    In the Works

    Classic Mysteries is a blog with a weekly podcast. The podcast features reviews of classic mystery stories and novels. On your right, you will find links to all the individual podcasts in the series, along with links which will allow you to subscribe.

    This site is still under construction, so expect changes as we move forward. Things should settle down in a week or two.

    Welcome aboard!

    Posted at 02:59 PM in Books, Weblogs | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

    Tags: Classic Mysteries

    Disclosure: Amazon Associates

    • As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
      That means that if you order anything from Amazon through a link from my site I get a small commission. As a result, I'd consider it a favor if you would consider making your purchases through my links. As always, though, if you have a local mystery book store, I encourage you to use them as your first choice. For anything else...thank you.

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