Others concentrate more on analysis of the subject novel itself, indicating more briefly how that book relates to those which follow it. Some discuss such questions as what exactly is the first novel in some rather complex series and in several cases more than one initiating book is discussed. No attempt has been made to include consideration of a representative sample of the various types of detective series, but a variety of authors is covered, ranging from such classics as Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, and Dorothy L. Sayers, to more recent authors like James McClure, Joseph Hansen, and Colin Dexter.

Finally, these assumptions lead to the corollary that such hierarchies are natural and immutable and not fashioned by critics.

All new hands-on demonstrations and fictional minute mysteries illustrate chemical concepts as the authors present the science--and the realities--of forensic chemistry in a narrative style that makes this timely topic accessible to the nonchemist.

Follow-up to the Edgar Award-nominated Gun in Cheek further celebrates neglected classics of substandard mystery writing, uncovering even more twisted treasures for connoisseurs of hideous prose.