Awards
2010 Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical Book
Synopses & Reviews
A great recurring character in a series you love becomes an old friend. You learn about their strange quirks and their haunted pasts and root for them every time they face danger. But where do some of the most fascinating sleuths in the mystery and thriller world really come from?
What was the real-life location that inspired Michael Connelly to make Harry Bosch a Vietnam vet tunnel rat? Why is Jack Reacher a drifter? How did a brief encounter in Botswana inspire Alexander McCall Smith to create Precious Ramotswe? In The Lineup, some of the top mystery writers in the world tell about the genesis of their most beloved characters — or, in some cases, let their creations do the talking.
Review
"The best book of its kind....An exciting omnibus volume that has widespread appeal and adds up to much, much more than the sum of its parts....Time and again these crime writers return to the same questions: Is your character like you? Where did the character's name come from? How did you get published? The answers are always interesting." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Review
"An all-star cast produces a mostly rewarding collection." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"An easy read, effortless at times; fans of mysteries will find the essays irresistible. If by chance a non-mystery reader would discover this collection, he or she might without protest succumb to the temptation of a real thriller." Library Journal
Review
"Fiery....The authors take different approaches, but all offer an opportunity to see a familiar character in a new way....It's also a great way to get a taste of some of the series you haven't read yet." Maureen Corrigan, NPR.org
Review
"This book will delight any mystery lover...[and] make readers return to favorite books with a fresh eye." Cleveland Plain Dealer
Review
"The natural bridge between authorial intention and reader demand. After all, who are more equipped to discourse on the origins, the motivations, the foibles, and the triumphs of their life's work than some of the best-known and most successful mystery and thriller writers on the planet?" Sarah Weinman, The Los Angeles Times
Review
"Tremendous fun — clever, wide-ranging, revealing, even surprising. Bet you can't read just one." Raleigh News and Observer
Review
"The Edgar Award-winning anthology The Lineup collects almost two dozen essays and stories by some of the crime and thriller genres' brightest lights on the origins of their best-known characters....It's only natural that a reader will flip right to the author he or she likes the most. (I lunged to Connelly first, then bounced to Rankin, and roamed from there.)...The Lineup is a pure joy for writers, fans of series characters, or anyone who loves a good story." Chris Bolton, Powells.com (Read the entire Powells.com review)
Synopsis
From Michael Connelly and Faye Kellerman to Ian Rankin and Anne Perry, some of the most venerated and bestselling authors in the mystery world reveal how they create their most beloved characters.
About the Author
Otto Penzler is the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, and the editor of many mystery anthologies, including The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, for which he won an Edgar Award. He lives in New York.