Overview

This is the first book to offer a critical analysis of one variant of the mystery story or novel—the use of a physician as the major detective. There is little difference between a medical ""case study"" and a mystery story. The book reviews the works of major authors, from R. Austin Freeman, Helen McCloy, Josephine Bell, and H.C. Bailey, to Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs, Aaron Elkins, and Colin Cotterill, with briefer reviews of minor authors. It also addresses historical (fictional) physician detectives, psychological detectives, and physician detective nonfiction.Physicians and health workers are avid readers of detective fiction and will welcome this volume, which addresses their specific interests. Its critical analysis of books that have long been viewed as central to detective fiction will also appeal to fans of the mystery story.

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9781527562950

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This is a terrific book, more than scholarly enough to please those so inclined, and more than informative and entertaining enough to keep the casual mystery buff absorbed. The first four chapters alone are the most comprehensive and cogent introduction to the detective novel that I've come across since the work of the great Howard Haycraft, who was writing eighty years ago. Like Haycraft, Brody not only takes the mystery seriously, he enjoys the heck out of it, as his lively, witty style proves. Aaron ElkinsAuthor of the Gideon Oliver detective stories

Author Information

Howard Brody received his MD and a PhD in Philosophy from Michigan State University. Now retired, he taught family medicine, medical ethics, and humanities in medicine at Michigan State University and the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston. He is the author of nine books and numerous articles on medical ethics and humanities in medicine. He is a member of the national Sherlock Holmes society, the Baker Street Irregulars, and has published numerous papers in the Baker Street Journal, Baker Street Miscellanea, and the Thorndyke File. He also wrote the introduction to The Other Eye of Osiris by R. Austin Freeman (1999).

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