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Talking About Detective Fiction

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About this listen

P. D. James brings a lifetime of reading and writing crime fiction to bear on this personal history of the genre, from the birth of the detective story, through Wilkie Collins and Conan Doyle, to the golden age of crime and the rise of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham.

There is a chapter on great American crime writers such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett, and P. D. James also discusses many of her favourite detectives, from Sherlock Holmes to Kurt Wallander.

©2014 Faber & Faber (P)2014 Faber & Faber Art & Literature Authors Literary History & Criticism Words, Language & Grammar Writing & Publishing

Critic reviews

"Anyone who is interested in James's own fiction will want to read this, but it stands in its own right as a deeper, more thoughtful enquiry into what it is we get out of detective fiction." (Amanda Craig, Independent)
"An idiosyncratic and entertaining primer [and] an imaginative response to some of James's favourite authors." (Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph)
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Most relevant
It isn't the narrator's fault. This is simply a dreadful production. Right from the start a whole passage is repeated. How could the editing be that sloppy? And why didn't someone tell the narrator that it was ludicrous to talk in a ridiculous deep voice every time a male author was being quoted? I tried to ignore the narration because I was so keen to hear what P.D. James was saying, but quite soon couldn't put up with yet another quotation read in that grotesque way. I will return the audible book. I have ordered the paperback and paid for delivery today because I was so keen to go on with the book.

Excellent book, Dreadful production.

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