"The first essential value of the detective story lies in this, that it is the earliest and only form of popular
literature in which is expressed some sense of the poetry of modern life."
G. K. Chesterton
Sherlock Holmes
Portrait of the detective by Sidney Paget. Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Creator of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
Photo of the author taken in 1914 by Arthur Genthe. Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Ted Bergfelt, MLS
Humanities Librarian
Library Liaison to the English Department
412.396.55351
Welcome to this research guide designed to point the student researcher to the many resources offered by the Gumberg Library on mystery & detective fiction. It will provide access to:
Use the tabs at the top of the screen to go to the different parts of the research guide.
Help is Available!
If at any time in your research you need help, click the "Ask A Librarian" link in "Library Links" box on the left side of the screen. Or you can contact me, Ted Bergfelt, creator of this page. Click to send an email, or you can call me at 412.396.5351.
Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction by 
American Mystery & Detective Novels: A Reference Guide by The Gumberg Library provides access to two suites of electronic reference works geared to literature, including mystery and detective fiction. Using both will provide your with a great amount of introductory information on your chosen literary topic.
Both of these collections of resources can be accessed off-campus, but you will have to enter your Multipass username and password word in order to use them.
Gale Literature Resource Center
This database provides information on thousands of authors and literary works. It includes biographies, reviews and news, literary criticism, and topic and work overviews.
Along with the full text of of 350,000 English and American works of literature, this database provides articles from 200 full-text literary journals and other key critical and reference resources.
Click a link below to find all books in the catalog on that topic.
Click a link below to find all books in the catalog on that topic.
Gumberg Library offers access to many databases providing citations to journal articles, and, in many cases, the full text of articles dealing with authors and their works. Tips on searching these databases. All of these resources can be accessed from off-campus, but you will need to enter your Multipass username and password in order to use them.
All of these resources can be accessed from off-campus, but you will need to enter your Multipass username and password in order to use them.
