Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club ed. Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club, September 17, 2020, 978-0-00-838013-7, £25.00, 522pp, hc, oa)
Anthology of essays on writing detective/mystery/crime fiction by members of The Detection Club, with brief introductions to each by Martin Edwards.
Details provided by Terry Zobeck.
- xiii · Premise
- xiii · Introduction · Martin Edwards · in
- 1 · Motives
- 1 · The Value of Detective Fiction · G. K. Chesterton · ex The Speaker June 21 1901
- 3 · The Art of the Detective Story · R. Austin Freeman · ar The Nineteenth Century and After May 1924
- 9 · Why Crime Fiction Is Good for You · Ian Rankin · ar
revised and updated from a British Council lecture given in Japan in 1999.
- 18 · Why Do It? · James Runcie · ar
- 22 · The Moral Compass of the Crime Novel · Frances Fyfield · ar
- 25 · Beginning
- 25 · Motivation · Peter James · ar
- 30 · Getting Started · Janet Laurence · ar
- 34 · Finding Ideas · Freeman Wills Crofts · ex from “The Writing of a Detective Novel”, The Authors, Playwrights, and Composers Handbook 1937 ed. D. Kilham Roberts, Thomas Nelson, 1937
- 36 · Sources of Inspiration · Nicholas Blake · ex from “Introduction”, The Nicholas Blake Omnibus by Nicholas Blake, Collins, 1966
- 38 · Making Choices · Anthea Fraser · ar
- 43 · Putting Murder on the Page · Ann Granger · ar
- 47 · Intensity in Crime Writing · Natasha Cooper · ar
- 51 · Openings · John Harvey · ar; revised from Harvey’s blog.
- 55 · “Something Should Happen Now”: Narrative Hooks · Peter Robinson · ar
- 64 · People
- 64 · Character from Suspense · Mark Billingham · ar
- 68 · Cops and Criminals, Contrast and Comedy · Bill James · ar
- 71 · Making Characters Believable · Marjorie Eccles · ar
- 77 · Characters, Relationships, and Settings · June Thomson · ar
- 82 · Places
- 82 · On the Suffolk Coast · P. D. James · ex from Time to Be Earnest, Faber and Faber, 1999
- 83 · Human Geography · Ann Cleeves · ar
- 89 · Setting Stories in Unfamiliar Places · Michael Ridpath · ar
- 98 · M.O.
- 98 · Let the Story Be the Driver · Val McDermid · ar
- 102 · Style · Lindsey Davis · ar
- 108 · Choosing a Theme · Kate Charles · ar
- 111 · Pace · Michael Jecks · ar
- 118 · Writing Scenes · William Ryan · ar
- 125 · Dialogue, Rhythm, and Keeping to the Point · Margery Allingham · ex from “Dialogue”, Mystery Writer’s Handbook 1958
- 127 · Listening and Dialogue · Patricia Moyes · ex from “Mysteries Within Mysteries”, Writing Suspense and Mystery Fiction ed. A. S. Burack, The Writer, Inc., 1977
- 129 · Writing Dialogue · Cynthia Harrod-Eagles · ar
- 137 · Perspectives
- 137 · Getting a Perspective · Aline Templeton · ar
- 141 · What on Earth Is It Like to Be You · Liza Cody · ar
- 148 · Plots
- 148 · Plots · Agatha Christie · ex from An Autobiography, Collins, 1977
- 150 · Logic and Working Backgrounds · J. J. Connington · ex from Alias J.J. Connington, as by A. W. Stewart, Hollis & Carter, 1947, as by A. W. Stewart
- 154 · All Will Be Revealed · Mary Kelly · ms 1961
quotation from a newspaper interview conducted by William Saltmarsh.
- 155 · Structuring a Plot · Kate Ellis · ar
- 162 · Voyages of Discovery · Eric Ambler · ex from “Voyages and Shipwrecks”, Whodunit? ed. H. R. F. Keating, Windward, 1982
- 165 · How to Change Your Murderer · Andrew Taylor · ar
- 175 · Detectives
- 175 · Amateur Detective or Professional · Priscilla Masters · ar
- 181 · Believable Amateurs · Susan Moody · ar
- 185 · Private Eyes · Michael Z. Lewin · ar
- 194 · Research
- 194 · Getting It Right · Ngaio Marsh · ex from Black Beech and Honeydew, HarperCollins, 1965
- 196 · Keeping Up to Date · Desmond Bagley · ex from “Modern Backgrounds for Today’s Novels”, The Writer October 1979
- 201 · Amateurs and Expertise · John Malcolm · ar
- 208 · Detection
- 208 · Detective Stories and Virtuosity · Edmund Crispin · ex from “Introduction”, Best Detective Stories ed. Edmund Crispin, Faber and Faber, 1959
- 211 · Rules and Prejudices · John Dickson Carr · ex from “The Grandest Game in the World”, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine March 1963
- 213 · Classic Ingredients · Christianna Brand · ex from “The Detective Story Form”, Press and Freelance Writer and Photographer August 1950
- 214 · Clues · Michael Innes · ex from Myself and Michael Innes, as by J. I. M. Stewart, Gollancz, September 1987, as by J. I. M. Stewart
- 217 · Snakes and Ladders · Catherine Aird · ar
- 222 · Optimal Subterfuge · Sophie Hannah · ar
- 226 · Suspense
- 226 · Suspense · Robert Goddard · ar
- 232 · The Face in the Mirror · Julian Symons · ex Crime in Good Company by Michael Gilbert, Constable, 1959
- 237 · The Suspense Novel · Jessica Mann · ex Whodunit? ed. H. R. F. Keating, Windward, 1982
- 243 · The Hours Before Dawn · Celia Fremlin · pr (r)
- 249 · Action
- 249 · Inspiration, Perspiration, Realization · Lionel Davidson · ex from “Perspiration, a Constant Factor”, Whodunit? ed. H. R. F. Keating, Windward, 1982
- 250 · Adventure Fiction · Tom Harper · ar
- 256 · Writing Action Scenes · Felix Francis · ar
- 265 · Filling the Gaps · Michael Gilbert · ex from “The Moment of Violence”, Crime in Good Company by Michael Gilbert, Constable, 1959
- 268 · Constructing a Thriller · Michael Hartland · ar
- 278 · The Cold War, Then and Now · Mick Herron · ar
- 286 · History
- 286 · A Laying on of Hands · Michael Pearce · ar
- 288 · The Christmas Tree Theory of Historical Research · Imogen Robertson · ar
- 295 · Historical Dialogue · L. C. Tyler · ar
- 304 · Humour
- 304 · Humour and Human Nature · Alexander McCall Smith · ar
- 306 · Characters and Caricature · Robert Barnard · ex from “Growing Up to Crime”, Colloquium on Crime ed. Robin W. Winks, Scribner, 1986
- 308 · Humour and Satire · Ruth Dudley Edwards · ar
- 318 · In Short
- 318 · Let’s Pretend · Roy Vickers · ex from “Introduction”, Some Like Them Dead ed. Roy Vickers, Hodder, 1960
- 320 · Switch-overs in Short Stories · H. R. F. Keating · ex from Writing Crime Fiction, Second Edition, A & C Black, 1994
- 323 · Fiction and Fact
- 323 · Fictionalizing Characters and Crimes from Real Life · Peter Lovesey · ar
- 333 · Trial and Error · Anthony Berkeley · ex from “Foreword”, Penguin, 1947
- 340 · Partners in Crime
- 340 · Collaborative Writing · Dorothy L. Sayers · ex from The Letters of Dorothy Sayers 1899-1936, St. Martin's, 1996
- 348 · Adapting
- 348 · Writing for Radio · Alison Joseph · ar
- 356 · Adaptability · Simon Brett · ar
- 364 · Challenges
- 364 · Impostor Syndrome · Martyn Waites · ar
- 369 · Writing: A Painful Pleasure · Suzette A. Hill · ar
- 374 · Writer’s Block · David Stuart Davies · ar
- 377 · Improvising · Stella Duffy · ar
- 386 · Ending
- 386 · The End of the Beginning · Laura Wilson · ar
- 392 · In My End · Joanna Hines · ar
- 399 · Publishing
- 399 · The Changing Face of Publishing · David Roberts · ar
- 403 · What Editors Want · Antonia Hodgson · ar
- 413 · Traditional Versus Self-Publishing · Russell James · ar
- 419 · One Thing Leads to Another · Jill Paton Walsh · ar The Guardian October 24 2010, as “Once in a Life”; revised and updated.
- 429 · Writing Lives
- 429 · The Writing Process · Reginald Hill · ex from “Looking for a Program”, Colloquium on Crime ed. Robin W. Winks, Scribner, 1986
- 433 · Keeping Track · Paula Gosling · ar
revised from Philadelphia Bouchercon booklet essay “Killing People for Fun and Profit” (1998).
- 435 · Reading for Pleasure · Jonathan Gash · ar British Medical Journal July 26 1980, as “A Random Bias”; revised.
- 439 · Don’t Give Up the Day Job · Janet Neel · ar
- 442 · Writing to Relax · Bertie Denham · ar
- 444 · Social Media and the Death of Nancy · Elly Griffiths · ar
- 450 · The Joy of Writing · John le Carré · ex from The Pigeon Tunnel, Viking, 2016
- 452 · Different Books; Different Problems; Different Solutions · Len Deighton · ar
- 465 · The Contributors: Biographical Notes · [uncredited] · bg
- 489 · The Detection Club: Presidents · [uncredited] · ms
- 490 · The Detection Club: Members · [uncredited] · ms
- 503 · Index of Authors · [uncredited] · ix
- 515 · Subject Index · [uncredited] · ix
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