The crime field’s past is rich with memorable works both long and short; I’m always surprised that some mystery readers have no interest in it.
Gold Medal author Charles Williams. Photo courtesy of Mysterious Press.
On my blog, New Improved Gorman, I probably review as many old books as I do new ones. I have nothing against contemporary writers. This is indisputably the true Golden Age of crime fiction. So many, many contemporary writers have taken the traditions and tropes of our field and turned them into rich, exciting new jewels. And this goes for all genres and sub-genres from hardboiled and noir to traditional and cozy.
Maybe it's my age—or the fact that I’m a sentimental fool—but I’m still fascinated by those that brought us to the dance in the first place. One example is Charles Williams. He’s probably the most discussed forgotten hardboiled writer in history. He was a master whose influence can be found in the work of three generations. I once recommended him to a young writer who said he couldn’t get past “all the '50s talk and attitudes.” By that measure we shouldn’t read anything published before 2006. If you have any interest in perhaps the finest of the Gold Medal boys (the great publisher of paperback originals) go immediately to Otto Penzler's Mysterious Press via Open Road, where you’ll find many of Williams’ books. Otto did us a great favor. Williams has been out of print for years.
Elizabeth Sanxay Holding is in my top ten list of all-time finest crime writers. Raymond Chandler called her the best suspense writer of his generation. That wasn’t hyperbole. She began by writing romances but when she needed better money she started writing mysteries unlike any that had come before. Her novels are miasmas of darkness and dread. Dorothy B. Hughes certainly learned from her and her influence can be found today in both suspense and horror. She was able to mix tart social commentary (she was not exactly a fan of the wealthy) with anxiety-attack twists and turns from start to finish. Stark House Press has brought back several of her novels. The Blank Wall is her masterpiece. Chandler raved about it. You will, too.
As I mentioned, not all the readers of my blog care for my reviews of old books. I get the occasional letter saying, essentially, who cares about those old duffers when there are so many great new books and so little reading time. Fair enough, but the crime field’s past is so rich with memorable works both long and short; I’m always surprised that some mystery readers have no interest in it.
I have a friend whose 15-year-old son gets upset when his dad wants to watch a an older movie that’s in black-and-white. That silly old crap. That’s what some of my blog readers say to me. As you may have guessed, I don’t agree with them.
This "Writers on Reading" essay was originally published in "At the Scene" enews June 2013 as a first-look exclusive to our enewsletter subscribers. For more special content available first to our enewsletter subscribers, sign up here.
