The crime fiction handbook / Peter Messent.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Messent, Peter, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Detective and mystery stories--History and criticism.

Detective and mystery stories.

Detective and mystery stories, English--History and criticism.

Detective and mystery stories, English.

Detective and mystery stories, American--History and criticism.

Detective and mystery stories, American.

Detective and mystery stories, Swedish--History and criticism.

Detective and mystery stories, Swedish.

Physical Description:

vi, 262 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Chichester, West Sussex, UK ; Malden, MA : John Wiley & Sons, 2012.

Summary:

With its compelling blend of murder, mystery, and detection, it should come as no surprise that crime fiction is a hugely popular literary genre. The Crime Fiction Handbook presents a comprehensive introduction to the origins, development, and cultural significance of the crime fiction genre, focusing mainly on its American, British, and Scandinavian forms.

The book's first main section presents an overview of the subject, addressing the politics of crime fiction and exploring some of its main variants - classical and hard-boiled detective fiction, the private eye and the police novel, and fictions of transgression. The section concludes with an exploration of three key elements of the genre: the links between vision, supervision, and the urban landscape; representations of the body and the acts of violence done to it; and issues both of race and gender.

In-depth readings of fourteen of the most important crime fictions in the Western tradition then follow, beginning with Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and proceeding from classic works by Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, and Raymond Chandler to contemporary writings by James Ellroy, Thomas Harris, Patricia Cornwell, Ian Rankin, and Stieg Larsson.

The Crime Fiction Handbook offers fascinating insights into the appeal of crime fiction while revealing how the genre both entertains and provides a mirror to the most pressing social issues of the day. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction

The politics, main forms, and key concerns of crime fiction. The politics of crime fiction; The types of crime fiction; Classical detective fiction; Hard-boiled detective fiction; The police novel; Transgressor fictions; Vision, supervision, and the city; Crime and the body; Gender matters; Representations of race

Discussions of individual texts. Edgar Allan Poe: "The murders in the Rue Morgue"; Arthur Conan Doyle : The sign of four; Agatha Christie : The murder of Roger Aykroyd; Dashiell Hammett : The Maltese falcon; Raymond Chandler : The big sleep; James M. Cain : Double indemnity; Patricia Highsmith : The talented Mr. Ripley; Chester Himes : Cotton comes to Harlem; Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö : The laughing policeman; James Ellroy : The black dahlia; Thomas Harris : The silence of the lambs; Patricia Cornwell : Unnatural exposure; Ian Rankin : The naming of the dead; Stieg Larsson : The girl with the dragon tattoo.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

9780470657034

0470657030

9780470657041

0470657049

OCLC:

780288824