I found a mention of this book while I was looking for something else and thought it was worth investigating. A Reader’s Guide to the Classic British Mystery by Susan Oleksiw was first published in 1988 by Mysterious Press. It is available only in hard cover and trade paperback. It is of course somewhat out of date but nonetheless useful.
In the first of the book’s 585 pages, the reader finds a helpful map of England with its counties and a second map of England showing the location of several books cited. The book has 11 sections. The first lists the authors in the book alphabetically with their lead characters. The second and by far longest section lists 121 British authors with a summary of each book that author has written, including any alternate titles for the book. The third section is a reversal of section one, a list of lead characters in alphabetical order with the associated author. Section four sorts the lead characters by their occupation, and section five sorts the books by chronological time period. Section six lists those books mentioned in section two that are set outside England, there are a surprising number of them. Section seven lists the settings of the books, after noting that the typical location is an English village. These settings range from an archaeological dig to a sidewalk. Section eight lists the books with some specific expertise such as numismatics and bullfighting. Section nine will provoke extensive discussion; it is the author’s top 100 classic mysteries. Section ten explains the organization of Scotland Yard and local police forces. Section eleven is particularly helpful to non-British readers; it explains the British class system.
The greatest criticism any student of British crime fiction will have of this ambitious reference is the authors that are missing, such as most of the secondary Golden Age authors: Richard Hull, George Bellairs, J.J. Connington, and others. E. C. R. Lorac is included but Carol Carnac is not. I assume that John Dickson Carr was excluded because he is not British, even though most of his books are set in England.
Aside from the narrow scope, the supplemental data is very useful, especially the geographic location and the setting lists.
An interesting but not essential addition to the reference library of any serious student of crime fiction. Fortunately the book is readily available on the secondary market.