Designed for mystery lovers as well as professors and students in college courses devoted to detective fiction, this anthology features classic texts, pivotal works by lesser-known authors, and unknown gems by major writers not typically associated with the genre.
Providing a chronological and thematic survey of the first 100 years of detection, this volume includes stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, Bret Harte, G.K. Chesterton, Mary Wilkins Freeman, Anna Katharine Green, Baroness Orzcy, Susan Glaspell, Carroll John Daly, Dashiell Hammett, Cornell Woolrich, Pauline Hopkins, Chester Himes and Ralph Ellison.
Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

John Cullen Gruesser is a Senior Research Scholar at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.

Table of Contents


Preface     

Introduction     


THE INVENTION OF MODERN DETECTION

EDGAR ALLAN POE     

The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe     

The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe     

The Gold-Bug by Edgar Allan Poe     


VARIATIONS ON POE, EXPANSIONS TO THE FORM

WILKIE COLLINS     

Who Is the Thief? by Wilkie Collins     

MARK TWAIN     

The Stolen White Elephant by Mark Twain     

G. K. CHESTERTON     

The Blue Cross by G. K. Chesterton     


THE WORLD'S MOST CELEBRATED DETECTIVE

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE     

A Scandal in Bohemia by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle     

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle     

The Adventure of the Final Problem

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle     

BRET HARTE     

The Stolen Cigar Case by Bret Harte     


GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND DETECTION

MARY WILKINS FREEMAN     

The Long Arm by Mary Wilkins Freeman     

BARONESS ORCZY     

The Ninescore Mystery by Baroness Orczy     

ANNA KATHARINE GREEN     

Missing: Page Thirteen by Anna Katharine Green     

SUSAN GLASPELL     

A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell     


TOUGH GUYS

CARROLL JOHN DALY     

The False Burton Combs by Carroll John Daly     

DASHIELL HAMMETT     

The Road Home by Dashiell Hammett     

CORNELL WOOLRICH     

Murder at the Automat by Cornell Woolrich     


RACE AND DETECTION

PAULINE ELIZABETH HOPKINS     

Talma Gordon by Pauline Hopkins     

CHESTER HIMES     

He Knew by Chester Himes     

RALPH ELLISON     

The Birthmark by Ralph Ellison     


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