Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-258) and index.
Detection. Beginnings ; Before detection ; Enter the detective ; Realistic police ; Edgar Allan Poe's initiative ; The development of detection ; Plain English detection ; Sensation ; Gaboriau and the 1870s-1880s ; Detective apotheosis : Sherlock Holmes -- Death. After Sherlock Holmes ; Enter death ; Scientific detectives ; Ironic anti-heroes ; Low-level detection ; Women on the case ; The clue-puzzle forms ; Had they but known ; How golden was the age? ; Golden royalty : Agatha Christie ; American gold ; English variations ; Supporting cast ; Themes and explanations ; The American version ; Origins and attitudes ; Hammett's initiative ; Chandler's variation ; Other American crime writers ; The crime novelists ; The 'tough guy' abroad -- Diversity. Continuities with change ; After the 'golden age' in Britain ; The private eye modernised ; Other continuities ; The psychothriller ; Police procedures ; Origins ; Consciously police procedural ; After McBain ; Diversifying the viewpoint : gender ; Towards feminist detection ; Feminist detection in America ; Feminist detectives in Britain ; The lesbian detective ; Male gay detection ; Diversifying the viewpoint : race ; African-American crime fiction ; Black women detectives ; Other American ethnicities ; At the cutting edge ; Postmodern crime fiction ; Generic violence.
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Publisher description: Stephen Knight's book is a full analytic survey of crime fiction from its origins in the nineteenth century to the most recent developments. Knight explains how and why the various forms of the genre evolved, explores major authors and movements, and argues that the genre as a whole has three parts: the early development of Detection, the growing emphasis on Death, and the modern celebration of Diversity. The best criticism is cited and the book provides full references and a helpful chronology, making this a highly-readable complete study of a popular and still relatively underexamined genre.
Crime in literature.
Detective and mystery stories, American-- History and criticism.
Detective and mystery stories, English-- History and criticism.
Popular literature-- English-speaking countries-- History and criticism.