So many books are published each year, and so many of our patrons seem interested primarily in what's new. Our mystery fans have their favorite authors and they eagerly await each new book. They haunt our New Fiction area, and their names are part of interminable Holds lists.
But what of the older mystery fiction on the regular shelves? Are there some overlooked gems, some great authors that today's readers ought to know about?
Dashiell Hammett comes to mind immediately with classics like The Maltese Falcon and James M. Cain and his Double Indemnity. After seeing the movies, which are classics of course, it's fun to read the books and see what the original story was.
If you're of a mind to investigate mystery classics of the past, you might want to check out Hardboiled Heaven, a labor-of-love website compiled by a dedicated reader and lover of noir mysteries. This site has lists of mystery fiction galore, full of tough-talking detectives and sultry dames. This is enough to keep any of us busy for a long, long time.
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