‘Historical Noir’ by Barry Forshaw

Published by Pocket Essentials,
28 April 2018. 
ISBN 978-1-78563061-3

This, the 5^th in the Noir series, takes a wide-ranging look at ‘one of the most successful ….of phenomena in the entire crime fiction genre’ - historical crime fiction.  In just over 200 pages the reader is taken on a journey through crime fiction time zones from the ancient world to the 1960s and 1970s.  Barry Forshaw introduces a wide selection of authors (both well established and new) and their sleuths.  Each section includes interviews with individual authors, a selection of books, and information about TV series and films.

The book provides an eminently readable, interesting and informative overview of this hugely popular and varied branch of crime fiction.  It will interest those readers who are already fans as well as the mildly curious and, indeed, the absolute beginner – they should all be aware that they are likely to end up with more books on the ‘to read’ list.

------

Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood

Other books by this author:  Euro Noir, Nordic Noir, Brit Noir, American Noir, British Crime Writing:  An Encyclopaedia

 

Barry Forshaw's latest books are Nordic Noir and British Crime Film. Other work includes Death in a Cold Climate: A Guide to Scandinavian Crime Fiction, The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction and British Crime Writing: An Encyclopedia, along with books on Italian cinema, film noir and the first biography of Stieg Larsson; he also writes on classical music. His next books are British Gothic Cinema and a study of Thomas Harris and The Silence of the Lambs. He writes for various national newspapers and magazines, edits Classical CD Choice, DVD Choice and Crime Time, and broadcasts for ITV and BBC TV documentaries. He has been Vice Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, and has taught an MA course at City University on the history of crime fiction.

.http://www.barryforshaw.co.uk/

Jo Hesslewood.  Crime fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves.  For twenty-five years the commute to and from London provided plenty of reading time.  I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop.  I enjoy attending crime fiction events and currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.