Reviewed by Lawrence De Maria

How does one describe a book that will never end?

That’s the question faced by any reviewer of Books to Die For: The World’s Greatest Mystery Writers on the World’s Greatest Mystery Novels.

Of course, the physical book itself does end. There is a final page and a back cover. But this terrific compendium of 121 novels written between 1841 (Edgar Allan Poe’s The Dupin Tales) and 2008 (Mark Gimenez’s The Perk) condemns the reader to a life sentence of searching for all the books in those genres he or she hasn’t yet read. Worse, anyone really serious about mystery or thriller fiction will then have to start (or continue) reading the works produced by the dozens of novelists, editors and essayists who contributed to Books to Die For.

Let’s see. Since many of the contributors have written dozens, if not scores, of novels themselves, it would cost $1,236,412.98 to collect all the books mentioned in Books To Die For (the amount includes potential library fines). OK. That figure is entirely fabricated. No one knows what it would really cost, but it’s somewhere on the order of a fiscal cliff.

Books to Die For is edited by John Connolly (author of 12 of his own thrillers) and Declan Burke (only four, what’s the story with that?); both also have penned some of the essays in their joint project. But most of the commentaries have been provided by such luminaries as Sara Paretsky, Joe Lonsdale, Laura Lippman, Michael Connelly, Bill Pronzini, Jeffrey Deaver, Lee Child, Jo Nesbø, Joseph Wambaugh, Elmore Leonard, George Pelecanos, Ian Rankin and Yrsa Sigurdardóttir (had to include her, just to keep our own editors on their toes).

That’s not to slight the scores of other contributors to what, for them, is obviously a labor of love. Thankfully, there is a handy index at the back of the book that lists all the contributors and all the subject authors.

Many of the books cited have been best-sellers and have reached iconic status. Some have been so damned good that they ignited (or reignited) the debate over whether they can be considered (la de da) “literature.” There is, of course, no debate about the works of Charles Dickens, Daphne du Maurier, Graham Greene, Erskine Caldwell and John le Carré, to name a few whose work is included. But mystery and thriller aficionados can have a field day arguing the literary merits of the novels of James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, Georges Simenon, Patricia Highsmith, P.D. James, Truman Capote, Ross Macdonald, Martin Cruz Smith, Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, Robert B. Parker and a dozen others.

There are other debates to be had in Books to Die For. While I must admit that I have read very few of the books listed (many of which, surprisingly, predate me), surely there must be others who agree with my belief that The Tin Roof Blowdown, reviewed by Katherine Howell, while excellent, is not the best of James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux novels. That honor goes to In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead. And while I revere Michael Connelly, whose gritty L.A. novels featuring Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller always seem to make sense, I am mystified that he finds Raymond Chandler’s The Little Sister so fascinating. I consider it as confusing as Chandler’s The Big Sleep, which was so convoluted that when screenwriters subsequently asked Chandler what happened to Owen Taylor, the chauffeur, he reportedly telegraphed back that he didn’t know! The writing, of course, was so great, nobody really cared. On that point, while the writing and tone of the novels of the ’30’s and ’40s was uniformly good, the tough-guy (and gal) dialogue may grate on modern ears. If people really talked to each other like that, it’s no wonder there were so many murders.

Other quibbles: There are mistakes, which are to be expected in a book as comprehensive as this. For example, in his essay on Early Autumn, which I agree may be the best of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novels, Colin Bateman says that Paul Giacomin is Spenser’s adopted, gay son. I could be wrong, but I don’t believe that Paul was gay. Not that there is anything wrong with that, to quote Seinfeld. Some of the best characters in the Spenser novels are gay (Teddy Sapp and Lee Farrell). And I don’t believe Paul was ever officially adopted.

I presume that Books to Die For will be periodically updated. We should all hope so. This is a work that belongs in the collection of all those who cherish mysteries and thrillers.

Books to Die For — what a way to go!

Lawrence De Maria, who began his career as a general interest reporter (winning an Associated Press award for his crime writing), eventually became senior editor at The New York Times, where he wrote hundreds of stories and features, often on Page 1. A regular contributor to the weekly “Market Place” column, he headed the Times’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated coverage during the 1987 stock market crash. De Maria, now a novelist and screenwriter, has published several thrillers and mysteries, available on Amazon.com. His website is www.lawrencedemaria.com.