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Crime fiction.

• Frankie Y. Bailey Frankie Y. Bailey School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.29
• Published online: 27 July 2017

The commonly accepted definition of crime fiction is a work in which crime is central to the plot. The roots of crime fiction are traceable to the earliest human narratives, including the Greek and Roman myths and the biblical tale of Cain and Abel. Sensational accounts of real-life crimes and criminals in gallows confessions, broadsides, and pamphlets also contributed to the development of crime fiction. Historically, crime fiction has evolved parallel to political and criminal justice systems.

Many authors have explored the nature of crime and punishment in literary works. For example, Susan Glaspell, playwright, novelist, and actress, was inspired by a real-life murder trial she covered as a journalist. In her 1916 play, “Trifles” and in a 1917 short story, “A Jury of Her Peers,” Glaspell offered a feminist critique of gender relations in a domestic setting.

However, as a genre, crime fiction has “literary formulas” that distinguish these works from other genres such as romance and adventure. Within the genre, subgenres such as traditional/classic, PI, and police procedural novels have plots, characters, and settings that are recognizable to readers. As a genre, crime fiction has both provided source material for theater, radio, films, television and, now, social media, and, been influenced by these media.

One of the enduring questions about crime fiction is why readers enjoy sitting down with a book that is often about murder, sometimes graphically depicted. Critic and writer Edmund Wilson described detective fiction as an addiction to which readers succumb. However, he saw reading mysteries as a minor vice that “ranks somewhere between crossword puzzles and smoking.” He heard claims by readers about “well-written mysteries” as “like the reasons that the alcoholic can always produce for a drink”.

When academics attempt to understand and interpret the texts of crime fiction, they draw on a variety of theoretical perspectives (see discussion under Research). In recent decades, mystery reviewers, writers, and readers have used social media, particularly websites and blogs, to share their own perspectives. One question of interest is the influence such non-academic discussion of crime fiction has on the perceptions of readers and on writers engaged in the process of creation.

Currently, both publishers and authors are dealing with the challenges and opportunities of a changing marketplace. Self-publishing (now known as “independent publishing”) has allowed writers to by-pass traditional publishing. At the same time, the lack of diversity in the publishing industry has drawn increasing scrutiny.

• classic detective fiction
• crime fiction
• diversity in publishing
• hardboiled fiction
• police procedurals

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Introduction: Crime Fiction

• First Online: 19 July 2018

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• Charlotte Beyer 3  

Part of the book series: Teaching the New English ((TENEEN))

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The Introduction to Teaching Crime Fiction presents and examines central questions and themes raised in the critical and educational study of this genre, exploring the ways in which crime fiction has been theorised in recent decades and the questions this raises for teaching and learning. The Introduction traces the contents of the individual essays in the volume, explaining the relevance and significance of the individual chapters’ topics and approaches to the book and summarising the arguments pursued. The Introduction argues that these thematic and pedagogical questions are central to crime fiction teaching and learning in the undergraduate classroom as well as in postgraduate study.

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See also my discussion of this piece in “In Praise of Crime Fiction”, Dr Beyer’s Page, 25 January 2016. http://beyerpage.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/in-praise-of-crime-fiction.html Accessed 27 December 2017.

Jill Girgulis. “Popularity of detective fiction course no mystery”. The Gauntlet . 19 January 2016. http://www.thegauntlet.ca/popularity-of-detective-fiction-course-no-mystery/ Accessed 27 December 2017.

Richard Bradford, “The criminal neglect of detective fiction”. Times Higher Education , 4 June 2015. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/content/the-criminal-neglect-of-detective-fiction Accessed 3 January 2018.

Katy Shaw, “Introduction”. In Teaching 21st Century Genres , edited by Katy Shaw. Houndmills: Palgrave, xiv.

John Scaggs, Crime Fiction . Abingdon, Routledge, 2005. 1.

Charles J. Rzepka, ‘What is Crime Fiction?” In A Companion to Crime Fiction, edited by Charles J. Rzepka and Lee Horsley. Chichester, Blackwell, 2010.1–10. 1.

Laura Marcus, “Detection and Literary Fiction”. In The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction , edited by Martin Priestman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. 245.

Stephen Knight, “Foreword”. In The Millennial Detective: Essays on Trends in Crime Fiction, Film and Television, 1990–2010 , edited by Malcah Effron. Jefferson: McFarland, 2011. 1.

Knight (2011), 2.

Martin Priestman, “Introduction: Crime Fiction and Detective Fiction,” In The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction , edited by Martin Priestman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. 2.

Priestman, 2.

See also Girguilis.

Rachel Franks, “Motive for Murder: Reading Crime Fiction”. The Australian Library and Information Association Biennial Conference. Sydney: Jul. 2012. 8.

Stephen Knight. “Motive, Means and Opportunity: Teaching Crime Fiction”. Professor Stephen Knight. 29 August 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20170313064908/http:/www.profstephenknight.com/search/label/teaching Accessed 27 December 2017.

Gerald Graff. Clueless in Academe: How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind . Yale University Press, 2003. 5.

Michael Prosser. “The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: What is it? A Personal View”. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning , Vol. 2, No. 2 (2008) 2. See also Patricia Cartney. “Researching Pedagogy in a Contested Space”. British Journal of Social Work , 45 (2015). 1137–1154.

Fletcher, 1.

Prosser, 1. Cites Boyer, E. L. (1990) Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate . Princeton, NJ: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of University Teaching.

See also Northedge, Andrew. “Rethinking Teaching in the Context of Diversity”, Teaching in Higher Education , 8: 1, 2003. 17–32.

Prosser, 3. See also Beyer.

Fletcher, 3.

See also Shaw’s listing of strategies for teaching and learning, xvi–xvii.

Prosser, 4.

Works Cited

Beyer, Charlotte. “In Praise of Crime Fiction.” Dr Beyer’s Page, 25 January 2016. http://beyerpage.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/in-praise-of-crime-fiction.html Accessed 27 December 2017.

Bradford, Richard. “The Criminal Neglect of Detective Fiction.” Times Higher Education , 4 June 2015. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/content/the-criminal-neglect-of-detective-fiction Accessed 3 January 2018.

Cartney, Patricia. “Researching Pedagogy in a Contested Space.” British Journal of Social Work , 45, 2015, 1137–1154.

Article   Google Scholar  

Fletcher, Lisa. “The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Popular Romance Studies: What Was It, and Why Does It Matter?” Journal of Popular Romance Studies , 3.2, 2013, 1–5.

Google Scholar  

Franks, Rachel. “Motive for Murder: Reading Crime Fiction.” The Australian Library and Information Association Biennial Conference. Sydney: July 2012. 1–9. http://www.academia.edu/2277952/Motive_for_Murder_reading_crime_fiction Accessed 21 May 2018.

Girgulis, Jill. “Popularity of Detective Fiction Course No Mystery.” The Gauntlet , 19 January 2016. http://www.thegauntlet.ca/popularity-of-detective-fiction-course-no-mystery/ Accessed 27 December 2017.

Graff, Gerald. Clueless in Academe: How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind . New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.

Knight, Stephen. “Foreword.” In The Millennial Detective: Essays on Trends in Crime Fiction, Film and Television, 1990–2010 , edited by Malcah Effron, 1–4. Jefferson: McFarland, 2011.

Knight, Stephen. “Motive, Means and Opportunity: Teaching Crime Fiction.” Professor Stephen Knight , 29 August 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20170313064908/http:/www.profstephenknight.com/search/label/teaching Accessed 27 December 2017.

Marcus, Laura. “Detection and Literary Fiction.” c 245–268 . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Northedge, Andrew. “Rethinking Teaching in the Context of Diversity.” Teaching in Higher Education , 8.1, 2003, 17–32

Priestman, Martin. “Introduction: Crime Fiction and Detective Fiction.” In The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction , edited by Martin Priestman, 1–6. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Prosser, Michael. “The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: What Is It? A Personal View.” International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning , 2.2, July 2008, 1–4.

Rzepka, Charles J. “What Is Crime Fiction?” In A Companion to Crime Fiction , edited by Charles J. Rzepka and Lee Horsley, 1–10. Chichester: Blackwell, 2010.

Scaggs, John. Crime Fiction . Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

Shaw, Katy. “Introduction.” In Teaching 21st Century Genres , edited by Katy Shaw, xiii–xx. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Beyer, C. (2018). Introduction: Crime Fiction. In: Beyer, C. (eds) Teaching Crime Fiction. Teaching the New English. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90608-9_1

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Crime Fiction as World Literature . Edited by Louise Nilsson, David Damrosch, and Theo D’haen

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J C Bernthal, Crime Fiction as World Literature . Edited by Louise Nilsson, David Damrosch, and Theo D’haen, English: Journal of the English Association , Volume 66, Issue 255, Winter 2017, Pages 377–379, https://doi.org/10.1093/english/efx038

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This volume is part of Bloomsbury’s groundbreaking Literatures as World Literature series, and has an ambitious agenda. The editors describe their aim in ‘bringing crime fiction into the sphere of world literature’ as twofold: first, ‘to open up further knowledge about the transnational flow of literature in the globalized mediascape of contemporary popular culture’, and, secondly, ‘to offer new insights into the crime fiction genre itself’ (p. 3). Nilsson, Damrosch, and D’haen have produced a comprehensive and wide-ranging study that fulfils its objectives, especially in the former case.

There can be no doubt that a book-length study of crime fiction as world literature is timely. As the editors note in their introduction, world literature scholarship has tended to ignore genre fiction in favour of more self-consciously ‘literary’ texts. The editors go so far as to pitch this as a battle between ‘elite writers’ and ‘“airport” novels’ (p. 3), but even in the conservative arena of world literature studies, such language might seem dated. Nonetheless, while defending the genre as intellectually rewarding is not cutting edge, the book’s actual achievement – bringing crime fiction studies into a hostile discipline – is significant. Genre-specific research from Marieke Krajenbrink and Kate M. Quinn’s Investigating Identities (2009) to Vivien Miller and Helen Oakley’s Cross-Cultural Connections in Crime Fictions (2012) has developed an international flavour but, as the editors point out, most examples still prioritize European perspectives (p. 3). The collected essays cover a range of geographic and temporal contexts to address this.

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