The History of Mystery (Art Fiction Series), by Max Allan Collins
$15.00
The History of Mystery (Art Fiction Series), by Max Allan Collins. 2001 first American edition hardcover. 196 pages, very nice condition (dust jacket has a rip).
Collins (mystery writer and filmmaker) provides a colorful view of the field of mystery writing from its birth in memoirs of the first real-life private eye, Allan Pinkerton, to its development into the acclaimed fiction of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald, and others. The text and 375-plus color illustrations (pulp fiction covers, comic strips, portraits of the usual suspects, etc.) afford a look at pop culture and how it integrated this genre through the dime novel, pulp fiction magazines, and radio, TV, and movies.