Clueless? Not For Long.

Ever have a run of days (or weeks, months, years) when your tired or distracted brain simply refused to wrap itself around any really demanding reading? See that growing stack by your bed -- the new Pynchon, Havel's letters, Culture and Imperialism, Technopoly -- the unread ones that make you feel guilty because all you do is dust them now and then, maybe pick each one up in turn to inspect its jacket copy before putting it down and moving on with a sigh?

Me, too. But when it happens I always know where to turn for solace: the mystery shelf, the one that holds Parker's Spenser novels and Chandler and Ross Macdonald and John D. and Paretsky's perfect Chicago and that brash newcomer Hiaasen. Mystery fiction is a positive boon to those who like their escapism spiced with a bit of bloodshed and a generous pinch of acerbic, even cynical, wit. There's a mystery writer for every taste; in fact, the realm of mystery and detective fiction is so rich and varied that subgenres have developed, each with its share of fans and detractors. (We at TW3, for example, are not big on cozies or procedurals, but the best hard-boiled stuff, from Hammett to Mosley, pleases us extravagantly.) Whatever your bent, you're about to experience a thrill at our ...

UPDATE (new URL): First Stop For The Clueless: ClueLass, a.k.a. Kate Derie, a writer and editor from Berkeley, California, is a tireless assembler and annotator of darn near everything on the Web related to mystery fiction and its authors, publishers, admirers, vendors and chroniclers. We owe her a debt of gratitude, and the least we can do is drop by The ClueLass HomePage: A Mystery Lover's Notebook to say hello.

Where to begin? Let's go alphabetically. In her Awards section, ClueLass rounds up all the major and many minor mystery awards, from the Agathas and the Crime Writers of America's Edgars to the Deutsche Krimi Preis and the Gouden Strop (Golden Noose) bestowed by the Dutch Crime Writers Association. You may not agree with the jurors who confer all (or any) of these prizes, but I find it salutary occasionally to have some high-profile types with whom to disagree. Don't you?

Next comes The Bloodstained Bookshelf, an exhaustive catalog of new releases compiled by a fellow named Dave Robeson, whom we assume to be a pal of Kate's. This list, arranged by author according to month and year of a title's release, is much longer than your arm, even if you're related to King Kong; in fact, Dave's Short Shelf is short only in comparison with those at the New York Public Library. But if you're planning to cruise the aisles of your favorite mystery bookseller (in meatspace or cyberspace) any time soon, you'll find his labors most worthwhile.

Crime -- the real thing, this time, not fiction -- comes next, and this is where Kate's bountiful harvest of Internet links begins to pick up steam. The science of forensics? She's got it covered. The Anarchist's Cookbook? Where to find a bodyguard? Lockpicks and smiths? Yep, all that and more.

Hanging Together connects mystery writers and readers with those of like mind; The Magpie's Nest collects mystery magazines, 'zines and newsletters (both analog and digital); and X Marks the Spot is the index.

The last word? Elementary, reader: Go.

UPDATE (new URL): A Little Something Extra: Bibliomysteries is a site devoted to "mysteries that have settings, plots, or substantial characters in them related to the world of books, archives, and libraries." Just our dish of tea, what?

There's a Bibliomysteries Bibliography, naturally, complete with rather mystifying little icons, and a section headed Bibliographic References for Bibliomysteries, as well as Bibliophilic Detectives, Bibliomysterious Quotations and Library Staff As Murder Victims, among other tasty morsels for the finicky palate.