The Monthly Criterion: A Literary Review, 5 (June 1927) 359-62
The list above does not approach completeness with respect to the detective fiction of the last few months; but as in this time there has been nothing by either Mr. Freeman 2* or Mr. Crofts, 3 who seem to be our two most accomplished detective writers, I believe the list to be fairly representative. It is like my previous list, arranged roughly in what I believe to be the order of merit with two exceptions. 4 The two books at the end of the list are placed there because they deal with fact instead of fiction. And I have found it necessary to discriminate between books which are detective fiction proper and those which may better be termed mystery stories. The Cathra Mysteryand the novels which follow it are mystery stories. The distinction can be drawn clearly, although in practice we must classify the novels according to the predominance of one element or the other. In the detective story nothing should happen: the crime has already been committed, and the rest of the tale consists of the collection, selection and combination of evidence. In a mystery tale the reader is led from fresh adventure to fresh adventure. In practice, of course, most detective stories contain a few events, but these are subordinate, and the interest lies in the investigation. The Cathra Mysteryis a capital mystery story with some detective interest; The Devil’s Toweris a very good mystery story with less detective interest; The Spider’s Denis almost hilariously a pure thriller. Its hero is a criminal occupied in outwitting other criminals; were it better constructed I should give it a high place, but even as it is one’s interest can be described as breathless.
One would not suppose from the veracious reports of actual crimes, contained in Problems of Modern American Crime, that detective fiction could flourish on American soil. It is true that the most remarkable of the crimes chronicled in this book were committed within the neighbourhood of Los Angeles, and inhabitants of other parts of America may complain that the crimes of Los Angeles and Chicago have something particular about them. But in most of these crimes there is very little room for detective ability. A murder is committed in full view of several witnesses, and the rest of the story may be concerned solely with the process by which the murderer is...
