My first association with David Geherin, a professor emeritus of English at Eastern Michigan University who has penned numerous studies of modern crime fiction and its contributors, came as a result of my picking up a hardcover copy of his 1980 book, Sons of Sam Spade: The Private Eye Novel in the ’70s, which still graces one of the shelves near my desk. Over the years, Geherin has received Edgar Award nominations from Mystery Writers of America, and he’s currently vying for another of those with his 2024 release, Organized Crime on Page and Screen: Portrayals in Hit Novels, Films, and Television Shows.
What brought him to my attention recently, if belatedly, was news that he has been given the Dove Award by the Detective/Mystery Caucus of the Popular Culture Association. That prize, explains editor-blogger Elizabeth Foxwell, is named for mystery-fiction scholar George N. Dove and is given to “individuals who have contributed to the serious study of mystery, detective, and crime fiction.” Previous Dove honorees include Martin Edwards, Barry Forshaw, Douglas G. Greene, P.D. James, Janet Rudolph, H.R.F. Keating, Margaret Kinsman, and the aforementioned Ms. Foxwell.
If there’s a downside to learning of this development, it’s realizing just how far behind I am in reading Geherin’s work. Studies of humor and small-town settings in crime fiction, analyses of novels by Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, and Michael Connelly—I’ve somehow allowed them all to slip past my radar. That must be corrected, and soon!
Sunday, March 23, 2025
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