Here you will find basic information on different aspects of collecting golf mystery books.
Personally I have always enjoyed reading a good mystery story, be it from the 1920's or the modern day. It has always been a pleasure to wind down with a good book. My father has been the same and through him, I got the idea to start reading and later collecting mystery books specifically associated with golf. Golf and Hickory Golf are a big passions for me and have been so through most of my life. Since my early teens over 30 years ago.
It is not always just the content of a book that makes it appealing, many books also have beautiful artistic covers. The golf mystery book covers alone can be a reason for collecting. Some examples of covers can be seen on the collection page. Like all book collecting, golf mystery collecting can also focus on for example first editions or author signed copies. This, of course, makes collecting more challenging.
This is certainly a point for debate and personal view. The general understanding among collectors is that for a book to be considered a golf mystery book, golf needs to be an integral part of the story, the settings, the surroundings or the characters. A simple mention of golf, for example "..the Superintendent drove past the local golf club on his way to the murder scene down town..." is not enough. Sometimes this can be a hard call, but reference books and online listings provide some insight into what the general view of a certain book is. At the end of the day it is up to each collector to decide what kind of boundaries the collection should have. Personally I have limited my own collection on these guidelines, not to include books where golf is only mentioned and not really included in the plot, character and/or surroundings.
There are not many reference books out there, but listed bellow are a few examples. Some more general reference and some specific to golf mysteries.
I guess this is stating the obvious. To start is very easy and inexpensive. Used books can be found in many places at a very cheap rate, also online platforms like amazon, ebay, abe books, etc. offer simple search functions to easily find golf mystery books.
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