From the moment I came up with the idea of writing a history of mysteries, The Life of Crime was never going to be a slim volume. After all, I wanted to reach back to the roots of detective fiction and go right up to the present day, whilst looking at authors and novels from all over the world. For good measure, I also wanted to talk about crime plays, TV shows, films, and true crime. No wonder the book took seven years to write and finally weighed in at a quarter of a million words…
Whether you write novels or non-fiction or (as I do) both, the final version of a book is often rather different, in my experience, from the original concept. Sometimes almost unrecognisable. The published version of The Life of Crime was an exception; it was thrilling to find that the book I’d produced after all that time was very close to my original concept before I wrote a word. Believe me, that doesn’t often happen.
Along the way, I’d begged my wonderful editor David Brawn not to split the book into two, despite its size, because I’d conceived it as a coherent whole. Thankfully, he was quick to agree. I’d also debated at length with a copy editor who wanted to transform the many discursive chapter end notes – which contain a huge amount of information and a great deal of fun stuff – into dry-as-dust footnotes. Fortunately, that battle was won, and whenever reviews are complimentary about the end notes, I remind myself it was well worth fighting, to ensure that the presentation of the vast amount of material remained true to my vision.
This is because The Life of Crime isn’t an encyclopaedia or a reference volume. It’s a story, packed with sub-plots about the lives of individual crime writers and their work, and it’s meant to be not just readable but genuinely entertaining, sometimes poignant, sometimes funny. And I hope that’s true whether you read it from page one through to the end, or dip in and out of particular chapters, or read the chapters separately from the end notes.
Reaction to the book around the world exceeded my wildest expectations, and there were four awards, two other nominations, serialisation in the Washington Post, and various translations. So why on earth have I, just two years on, bothered to update and expand the book for the paperback edition?
The answer can be found in what I said in the original introduction. Of course, I hoped to write a book that would be regarded as comprehensive and definitive. But every book can be improved, if the opportunity arises; the trouble with being a writer is that at some point you must let go, otherwise you’d never publish anything.
When David generously offered me the chance to weave fresh information into the paperback, I didn’t hesitate before grabbing it. The result is an extra seven thousand words. More than two hundred additional authors and works included. I’ve added fresh material to the main text as well as to the end notes. Unnecessary work? I don’t think so. Of all my books, fact and fiction, the paperback edition of The Life of Crime is right up there with those I’m most proud of.
The Life of Crime is published by Collins Crime Club
The Life of Crime by Martin Edwards – amazon.co.uk
