The New Critical Idiom

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.

Accessible and clear, this comprehensive overview is the essential guide for all those studying crime fiction and concludes with a look at future directions for the genre in the twentieth-first century.