Kategoria BISAC: Literary Criticism >> Mystery & Detective Fiction

Within the broad field of contemporary literature, horror fiction has only recently developed into a genre which modern scholars may legitimately regard as being worthy of critical attention. This comparative study provides ample proof that horror fiction can be more profound and revealing than many literary critics imagined. The only study of its kind, this book offers detailed critical analysis of the child in horror fiction, with special emphasis on themes relating to the child's social position within the family and its war against parents or authority figures, as well as its various...

This volume presents a new aspect in the study of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: a case study of the publishing history of his works. Since Doyle's works before 1890 could not be copyrighted in the United States, various unauthorized versions of Holmes stories appeared in print in America from 1890 through 1930. Picking up where other bibliographers left off, Redmond traces the origins and subsequent printings and reprintings of these pirated manuscripts, relating the American editions to their sources and to each other. The American issues are described in detail, with defects and...

Famous for her classic novel "Little Women," and regarded as America's best-loved author of juvenile fiction, Louisa May Alcott is not readily identified with page-turning thrillers and sensational tales. Freaks of Genius, however, presents a collection of previously unknown sensational narratives by Alcott, originally published in the weekly storypapers of the 1860s and never before reprinted. The stories are startling examples of an atypical Alcott, delving into such subjects as violence and insanity, revenge and murder, and narcotics addiction and evil.

Included in the collection are...

This book is a no-apologies introduction to Detective Fiction. It's written in an aggressive, modern English well-suited to a genre which has traditionally broken ground in terms of aggressive writing, contemporary scenarios, and tough dialogue.

From its growth in Europe in the nineteenth century, detective fiction has developed into one of the most popular genres of literature and popular culture more widely. In this monograph, Mary Evans examines detective fiction and its complex relationship to the modern and to modernity. She focuses on two key themes: the moral relationship of detection (and the detective) to a particular social world and the attempt to restore and even improve the social world that has been threatened and fractured by a crime, usually that of murder. It is a characteristic of much detective fiction that...

Sherlock Holmes Handbook sums up a Canadian scholar's lifetime expertise about Sherlock Holmes - the characters and themes, the publishers and readers, Victorian London and the Houdini connection, radio actors and cartoonists, the fans who cling to Holmes's reality and the professors who tease out motifs from the fifty-six short stories and four novels.

The first edition of Sherlock Holmes Handbook appeared in 1993. This edition catches up on new films, new books (a few with a hint of the supernatural) and the advent of the Internet, which has spread Holmes's fame and...

The pleasures of mystery novels and speculative fiction double when the two genres meet in a single book. Placing a compelling mystery story within a paranormal context adds even more mystery to the story. While these books are popular with readers, locating them can be a challenge. They do not fit into any single category, so they get scattered through collections and store shelves, with some series shelved in science fiction, some in horror, and some in mystery.

Organized alphabetically by author name and series title, this detailed guide offers readers a one-stop reference and...

-Discover the meaning of "The...

Since its appearance nearly two centuries ago, crime fiction has gripped readers' imaginations around the world. Detectives have varied enormously: from the nineteenth-century policemen (and a few women), through stars like Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple, to newly self-aware voices of the present - feminist, African American, lesbian, gay, postcolonial and postmodern.
Stephen Knight's fascinating book is a comprehensive analytic survey of crime fiction from its origins in the nineteenth century to the present day. Knight explains how and why the various forms of the genre have...