Rough Guide to Crime Fiction

Based on the book by Barry Forshaw, this is a great selection of books past & present. Many familiar authors here, but also many I'm sure no one has heard of in years or ever. Settings from around the world and across the ages, gumshoes, spies, mobsters, serial killers-you name it. An author I didn't include, but recommend is Edgar Allan Poe. His "Dupin" mysteries helped pave the way for Sherlock Holmes, & "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a great piece of criminal psychology. Several books have been made into movies & tv shows. Authors with more than one entry incl.-W.R. Burnett, James M. Cain, Ross Macdonald, Jim Thompson, Cornell Woolrich, Dennis Lehane, John D. MacDonald, George Pelecanos, Alexander McCall Smith, Martina Cole, Jeffery Deaver, Michael Dibdin, Ed McBain, Ruth Rendell, Georges Simenon, Martin Cruz Smith, Robert Wilson, Frederick Forsyth, G.K. Chesterton, Mo Hayder, John Williams, Derek Raymond, James Crumley & Graham Greene.