Good News and Bad for Mystery Lovers
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

If you are like 90% of the detective fiction readers I know (and 99.9% of the women), you are a fan of the works of Dorothy L. Sayers. An erudite scholar (her translation of Dante’s Commedia was regarded for many years as the most faithful and poetic of the many accomplished versions), she created the much-loved (by herself as well as by readers) Lord Peter Wimsey in the 1923 novel “Whose Body?” Her novels about him enjoyed enormous popular and critical success during the so-called Golden Age of the British detective story, roughly bracketed by the two World Wars.
For the truly dedicated Sayers/Wimsey aficionado, it might be a treat to join the Dorothy L. Sayers Society. It issues a series of bulletins (what Americans might call newsletters, or journals), about six a year. Membership costs $28. The address (and for Anglophiles, all you could hope for) is Rose Cottage, Malthouse Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex BN6 9JY. In a more commonplace fashion, it also has a website: www.sayers.org.uk.
***
Among the bestselling books of the year has been Vince Flynn’s “Memorial Day” (Atria, 416 pages, $25.95). Its success is understandable since, while it may be a trifle formulaic, is so nail-bitingly suspenseful and thrilling that it is impossible to stop reading.
The question I have to ask is: Is Mr. Flynn psychic? In this and previous novels, he seems somehow able to write about the U.S. government and its activities with a timeliness that suggests he knows what’s going to happen before it shows up in the newspapers. Rumors abound that he has some very high-level contacts in Washington, about whom he has wisely maintained admirable secrecy.
If you are among the holdout few who are unfamiliar with these incendiary adventures of series hero Mitch Rapp, you might like to know that he is a CIA assassin and fearless terrorist hunter. This time he learns of a planned nuclear attack by Al Qaeda, which is apparently foiled by an American strike force. But Rapp, convinced that a second bomb has been smuggled into the country, single-handedly chases the ruthless terrorist behind the plot, leaving dead bodies and exhausted readers in his wake.
***
The distinguished British mystery writer P.D. James has this to say about our favorite genre: “The mystery is very much the modern morality play. You have an almost ritual killing and a victim, you have a murderer who in some sense represents the forces of evil, you have your detective coming very likely to avenge the death, who represents justice, retribution. And in the end you restore order out of disorder.”
***
A very welcome addition to the New York City scene this Fall will be Sean Connery, who plans to shoot a big-budget caper movie, “Josiah’s Canon.” In it, a crack team of bank robbers liberate money deposited by Jews before World War II from a Swiss bank. Brett Ratner, the master of suspense and action responsible for “Red Dragon” and “Rush Hour 2,” will direct both in Gotham and in Europe for 20th Century Fox.
***
That’s the good news. Now, how about some bad news? This is not specifically about the crime scene, but it does have an impact. According to a National Endowment for the Arts survey published this summer, fewer than half of American adults now read literature.
The survey, titled “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America,” condemns and laments (appropriately) this sad turn of events across every demographic. Age, sex, race, and economic condition seem to make no difference: There are sagging percentages of readers in every group.
Wasn’t it Mark Twain who said that those who don’t read are no better off than those who can’t read? I think it was, though I have a tendency to attribute almost every witticism to Twain, Oscar Wilde, or Dorothy Parker.
Not surprisingly, it gets worse. The steepest rate of decline occurred in the youngest age group. If you are a young reader of this column, pat yourself on the back. You are already way ahead of your contemporaries in the ways that matter. If you are a parent, go to your childrens’ rooms and turn off their computers or Game Boys and shove books into their hands. Down the road, they’ll thank you. Unless they kill you first, that is.
***
Walter Wager may not have been a household name, but he was a gifted and highly successful mystery/thriller writer who died this past summer at the age of 80. Most notably, he wrote several novels that were made into successful motion pictures, including “Minutes,” which was made as “Die Hard 2” starring Bruce Willis; “Telefon,” which starred Charles Bronson; and “Viper Three,” which was titled “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” for the film version, which starred Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark.
***
My experience over many years is that people who like mystery fiction frequently like vintage radio, too. Now, if you really like it, you might want to attend the OldNTime Radio Convention in El Segundo, Calif., from November 12 to14. It will be held conveniently at the Hacienda Hotel at LAX. For more information, make contact with SPERDVAC (the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety, and Comedy), P.O. Box 7177,Van Nuys, CA 91409. Its Web site is www.sperdvac.org.
Yes, radio drama may be anachronistic, but it’s still pretty cool. Just think: In a few years, teenagers may feel the same way about books.
Mr. Penzler is the proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan and the series editor of the annual “Best American Mystery Stories.” He can be reached at openzler@nysun.com.