Writing the Detectives (Paperback)

Elspeth Latimer

ISBN 10: 1009502441 / ISBN 13: 9781009502443

Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2025

About this Item

Paperback. Crime fiction first emerged in the Victorian era and its series form continues to dominate the genre. Despite the prevalence of crime series, very little research has been done on how character is conceived. The Element's focus is contemporary, from the 1970s onward, and it determines the theory and conventions behind writing the detectives in these modern meganarratives. Exemplary series and a range of subgenres are analysed, thriller to cosy crime, professional investigator to amateur sleuth, embracing diversity and different gender identities. Previous examinations have tended to interpret the detective figure as either mythic or realist, but the author argues that both modes are combined in the contemporary crime series, generating a mythorealist protagonist. This creative-critical Element celebrates the vibrancy of the form and its capacity to investigate the human condition. It also considers future trends and concludes with the author's own guide to writing a crime fiction series. Crime fiction first emerged in the Victorian era and its series form continues to dominate the genre. This Element analyses exemplary series and a range of subgenres. Both mythic and realist are combined in the contemporary crime series, generating a mythorealist protagonist. This Element celebrates the vibrancy of the form. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781009502443

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Writing the Detectives (Paperback)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009502441
• ISBN 13: 9781009502443
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Crime fiction first emerged in the Victorian era and its series form continues to dominate the genre. Despite the prevalence of crime series, very little research has been done on how character is conceived. The Element's focus is contemporary, from the 1970s onward, and it determines the theory and conventions behind writing the detectives in these modern meganarratives. Exemplary series and a range of subgenres are analysed, thriller to cosy crime, professional investigator to amateur sleuth, embracing diversity and different gender identities. Previous examinations have tended to interpret the detective figure as either mythic or realist, but the author argues that both modes are combined in the contemporary crime series, generating a mythorealist protagonist. This creative-critical Element celebrates the vibrancy of the form and its capacity to investigate the human condition. It also considers future trends and concludes with the author's own guide to writing a crime fiction series.