The Crime Fiction Handbook presents a comprehensive introduction to the origins, development, and cultural significance of the crime fiction genre, focusing mainly on American British, and Scandinavian texts.

• Provides an accessible and well-written introduction to the genre of crime fiction
• Moves with ease between a general overview of the genre and useful theoretical approaches
• Includes a close analysis of the key texts in the crime fiction tradition
• Identifies what makes crime fiction of such cultural importance and illuminates the social and political anxieties at its heart.
• Shows the similarities and differences between British, American, and Scandinavian crime fiction traditions

 

Peter Messent is Emeritus Professor of Modern American Literature at the University of Nottingham. A specialist on Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, and crime fiction, he has published numerous books and articles on a variety of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American writers. His most recent publication is the prize-winning book Mark Twain and Male Friendship (2009).