The Life of Crime
Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators
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The Life of Crime
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Narrated by:
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Charles Armstrong
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By:
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Martin Edwards
About this listen
Winner of four major prizes for the best critical/biographical book related to crime fiction: the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and H.R.F. Keating Awards; and shortlisted for both the Agatha and Gold Dagger Awards.
‘Martin Edwards is the closest thing there has been to a philosopher of crime writing.’ The Times
In the first major history of crime fiction in fifty years, The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and their Creators traces the evolution of the genre from the eighteenth century to the present, offering brand-new perspective on the world’s most popular form of fiction.
Author Martin Edwards is a multi-award-winning crime novelist, the President of the Detection Club, archivist of the Crime Writers’ Association and series consultant to the British Library’s highly successful series of crime classics, and therefore uniquely qualified to write this book. He has been a widely respected genre commentator for more than thirty years, winning the CWA Diamond Dagger for making a significant contribution to crime writing in 2020, when he also compiled and published Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club and the novel Mortmain Hall. His critically acclaimed The Golden Age of Murder (Collins Crime Club, 2015) was a landmark study of Detective Fiction between the wars.
The Life of Crime is the result of a lifetime of reading and enjoying all types of crime fiction, old and new, from around the world. In what will surely be regarded as his magnum opus, Martin Edwards has thrown himself undaunted into the breadth and complexity of the genre to write an authoritative – and readable – study of its development and evolution. With crime fiction being read more widely than ever around the world, and with individual authors increasingly the subject of extensive academic study, his expert distillation of more than two centuries of extraordinary books and authors – from the tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann to the novels of Patricia Cornwell – into one coherent history is an extraordinary feat and makes for compelling reading.
©2022 Martin Edwards (P)2022 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
‘Magisterial but wickedly entertaining … reliably readable and frequently amusing. It also inspires awe: Edwards combines wide reading with a good memory, meticulous control over his unruly material, critical acumen and sheer bloody persistence.’ ANDREW TAYLOR, THE SPECTATOR
‘As entertaining and illuminating a history of crime and thriller fiction as I’ve ever read.’ IAN RANKIN
‘Impressively scholarly and joyfully anecdotal… it’s hard to imagine this book being superseded for many years to come.’ MORNING STAR
‘Vastly entertaining … [Edwards] plots the development of the genre and the bizarre lives of writers … You’ll find all your favourites here, from Edgar Allan Poe to PD James … But be warned – you’ll end up with a reading list as long as a giant’s arm.’ DENIS MANN, DAILY EXPRESS
‘There is plenty here for mystery readers, whether well-versed in the genre’s history or not —and mystery writers will welcome this book as a resource.’
THE NEW YORK TIMES
‘A magisterial work… THE LIFE OF CRIME does more than just inform, entertain and provoke, it also sends new readers back to old books.’
THE WASHINGTON POST
What listeners say about The Life of Crime
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dr Mark Jones
- 22-12-22
Superb stuff
A masterful, monumental history of crime fiction that is immensely readable. Although there are a few errors in the audiobook, it is well performed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David Beckler
- 17-09-22
An absolute must for crime fans
I can't recommend this book highly enough, if you're a fan of crime fiction. It's totally fascinating and abounds with threads that will lead you to discover new and interesting authors. I love how it provides such an understanding of how our best loved authors fit into the history of crime writing. Definitely the kind of book you keep for life. Triciax
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- oohmarkie
- 29-05-22
18 hours of pleasure.
I thoroughly enjoyed this history of mystery fiction. It’s a book that Martin Edwards has been building to for a couple of non fiction titles now. He should consider the fore play well worth it as this is informative, entertaining and stimulating. The only drawback is I’m quids down from ordering mentioned titles.
All the usual suspects are here- Agatha C., Arthur C-D, Dorothy L.-, but so are sections on Patrick and Bruce Hamilton, F. Tennyson-Jesse and Georges Simenon among many which means it is a fresh and expansive take on a fairly well documented history. The narration is excellently unobtrusive (that is a compliment!).
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- twigs way
- 07-08-22
Just a list of writers
This is really just a bibliography of writers of detective stories organised under headings that they vaguely 'fit under'. Very unsatisfying. A shame as he knows his subject so well . .
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