A comprehensive history of mystery uncovering critically acclaimed P.I. authors including Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald. Best selling superstars Erle Stanley Gardner, Rex Stour, Dorothy L.Sayers and Robert. B Parker. Plus glorious illustrations from pulp fiction covers to comic strips to portraits including Dick Tracy, Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe, Sherlock Holmes Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot and Lord Peter Wimsey. Plus the seldom seen and largely forgotten female detectives who first appeared in fiction over 100 years ago, leading the way for the modern mystery authors Sara Paretsky, Marcia Muller and Patricia Cornwell.