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Reviews of Spooks,
Spies, And Private Eyes |
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"In
bringing together this wide-ranging collection of short
fiction, editor Woods has shown that, although little known,
black crime writers have been producing fine work for decades.
...This fine anthology should be popular wherever mystery
readers are seeking out new authors." – Booklist
"This collection (which includes excerpts and stories) of
detective fiction by African American writers fully represents
the 20th century. Women authors include Pauline Hopkins,
who published the first African American mystery; Alice
Dunbar-Nelson, part of the Harlem Renaissance; and Eleanor
Taylor Bland, creator of homicide detective Marti MacAlister.
Woods provides helpful biographical details for each author.
Enlightening and entertaining." – Library Journal
"This illuminating anthology showcases a century of writing
that extends from Pauline E. Hopkins, whose Poe-inspired
locked-room mystery, "Talma Gordon,'' appeared in Colored
American Magazine in 1900, to Walter Mosley, who is currently
president of the Mystery Writers of America. ...Woods ("I
Hear a Symphony") provides a concise history of black crime
fiction, places it in a chronology of all detective fiction
and offers thumbnail author biographies." – Publishers Weekly
"This anthology, just out in paperback, is the noir side
of the famed Harlem Renaissance, a compendium of mostly
excellent, almost entirely unheralded mysteries by black
writers. Long before Chester Himes and Walter Mosley, such
writers as John A. Williams and Eleanor Taylor Bland were
using the mystery genre to make serious statements. Editor
Paula Woods has done a fine job of tracking down lost or
out-of-print gems." – Amazon.com Editorial Review
"Black mystery, crime and suspense fiction of the 20th century
is revealed in a fine study which traces the genre's history
and the contributions of blacks. From political thrillers
to non-genre contributors, this presents the works and impact
of black mystery writers from the 1800s through modern times."
– Midwest Book Review |
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