John Charles - The Readers Advisory Guide to Mystery

The Readers Advisory Guide to Mystery

ALA READERS ADVISORY SERIES

The Readers Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, second edition

The Readers Advisory Guide to Nonfiction

The Readers Advisory Guide to Graphic Novels

The Readers Advisory Guide to Horror, second edition

The Readers Advisory Guide to Mystery, second edition

The Readers Advisory Guide to Street Literature

The Romance Readers Advisory: The Librarians Guide to Love in the Stacks

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Readers Advisory: The Librarians Guide to Cyborgs, Aliens, and Sorcerers

The Short Story Readers Advisory: A Guide to the Best

Serving Boys through Readers Advisory

Serving Teens through Readers Advisory

Research-Based Readers Advisory

The Readers Advisory Handbook

The Readers Advisory Guide to Mystery, Second Edition

John Charles, Candace Clark,
Joanne Hamilton-Selway,
and Joanna Morrison

Joyce Saricks and Neal Wyatt
SERIES EDITORS

American Library Association
Chicago 2012

2012 by the American Library Association. Any claim of copyright is subject to applicable limitations and exceptions, such as rights of fair use and library copying pursuant to Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act. No copyright is claimed for content in the public domain, such as works of the U.S. government.

Extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of the information in this book; however, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

ISBNs: 978-0-8389-1113-6 (paper); 978-0-8389-9390-3 (PDF); 978-0-8389-9391-0 (ePUB); 978-0-8389-9392-7 (Mobipocket); 978-0-8389-9393-4 (Kindle). For more information on digital formats, visit the ALA Store at alastore.ala.org and select eEditions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Charles, John, 1962

[Mystery readers advisory]

The readers advisory guide to mystery / John Charles, Candace Clark, Joanne Hamilton-Selway, and Joanna Morrison.Second edition.

pages cm.(ALA Editions readers advisory series)

Revision of: The mystery readers advisory: the librarians clues to murder and mayhem / John Charles, Joanna Morrison, [and] Candace Clark.Chicago: American Library Association, 2002.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8389-1113-6

1. Fiction in librariesUnited States. 2. LibrariesUnited StatesSpecial collectionsDetective and mystery stories. 3. Readers advisory servicesUnited States. 4. Detective and mystery storiesBibliography. I. Clark, Candace, 1950 II. Hamilton-Selway, Joanne. III. Morrison, Joanna. IV. Title.

Z711.5.C48 2012

025.2'78088372dc23 2011042501

Cover image Andrea Danti/Shutterstock, Inc.

ALA Editions purchases fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide.

Contents

Wheres Jessica Fletcher When You Need Her?

Well-Worn Trench Coats, Smoking Gats, and Deadly Dames

They Got the Beat

Crime through Time

Torn between Two Genres

APPENDIXES

Joyce Saricks and Neal Wyatt, Series Editors

In a library world in which finding answers to readers advisory questions is often considered among our most daunting service challenges, library staff need guides that are supportive, accessible, and immediately useful. The titles in this series are designed to be just that. They help advisors become familiar with fiction genres and nonfiction subjects, especially those they dont personally read. They provide ready-made lists of need-to-know elements such as key authors and read-alikes, as well as tips on how to keep up with trends and important new authors and titles.

Written by librarians with years of RA experience who are also enthusiasts of the genre or subject, the titles in this series of practical guides emphasize an appreciation of the topic, focusing on the elements and features fans enjoy so advisors unfamiliar with the topics can readily appreciate why they are so popular.

Because this series values the fundamental concepts of readers advisory work and its potential to serve readers, viewers, and listeners in whatever future space libraries inhabit, the focus of each book is on appeal and how appeal crosses genre, subject, and format, especially to include audio and video, as well as graphic novels. Thus, each guide emphasizes the importance of whole-collection readers advisory and explores ways to make suggestions that include novels, nonfiction, and multimedia, as well as ways to incorporate whole-collection elements into displays and booklists.

Each guide includes sections designed to help librarians in their RA duties, be that daily work or occasional interactions. Topics covered in each volume include the following:

• The appeal of the genre or subject and information on subgenres and types so that librarians might understand the breadth and scope of the topic and how it relates to other genres and subjects. Each volume also includes a brief history to give advisors context and highlight beloved classic titles.
• Descriptions of key authors and titles with explanations of why theyre important, why advisors should be familiar with them, and why they should be kept in our collections. Lists of read-alikes accompany these core author and title lists, which allows advisors to move from identifying a key author to helping patrons find new authors to enjoy.
• Information on how to conduct the RA conversation so that advisors can learn the tools and skills needed to develop deeper connections between their collections and their communities of readers, listeners, and viewers.
• A crash course in the genre or subject designed to get staff up to speed. Turn to this section to get a quick overview of the genre or subject, as well as a list of key authors and read-alikes.
• Resources and techniques for keeping up to date and understanding new developments in the genre or subject are also provided. These will not only aid staff already familiar with the genre or subject but also help those not familiar learn how to become so.
• Tips for marketing collections and lists of resources and awards round out the tools staff need to be successful working with their community.

As readers who just happen to be readers advisors, we hope that the guides in this series lead to longer to-be-read, watched, and listened-to lists. Our goal is that the series helps those new to RA feel supported and less at sea and introduces new ideas, or new ways of looking at foundational concepts, to advisors who have been at this for a while. Most of all, we hope that this series helps advisors feel excited and eager to help patrons find their next great title. So dig in, explore, and learn and enjoy the almost-alchemical process of connecting title and reader.

It doesnt take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that mysteries are popular with readers. Whether it is the wealth of mystery authors who regularly appear on best-seller lists, or even just the number of readers in your own library who ask, Where are the mysteries? it is clear that this genre is hot.

The purpose of this book is simple: to provide an introduction to the mystery genre and to offer some basic tips on providing effective mystery readers advisory service. This book is not intended to be a comprehensive bibliography of the mystery genre; there are many excellent titles suited to that task (several of which we include in our resources section). In our book, we offer a selection of key authors and titles in the genre, those constituting a core collection and a baseline for understanding the genre, but this focus is only a sampling, a tantalizing taste, if you will, of the literary banquet that awaits the mystery fan.