Crime Fiction

"Crime Fiction" provides a lively introduction to what is both a wide-ranging and hugely popular literary genre. Using examples from a variety of novels, short stories, films and televisions series, John Scaggs: *presents a concise history of crime fiction - from biblical narratives to James Ellroy - broadening the genre to include revenge tragedy and the gothic novel *explores the key sub-genres of crime fiction, such as "Rational Criminal Investigation," "The Hard-Boiled Mode," "The Police Procedural" and "Historical Crime Fiction" *locates texts and their recurring themes and motifs in a wider social and historical context *outlines the various critical concepts that are central to the study of crime fiction, including gender, narrative theory and film theory *considers contemporary television series like "C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation" alongside the "classic" whodunnits of Agatha Christie.