Böcker av LeRoy Lad Panek

Examines the emergence of short detective fiction in the nineteenth century, as well as the appearance of detectives in Victorian novels. The book explores how the genre has captivated readers for centuries, with the chapters providing a framework for a more complete understanding of nineteenth-century detective fiction.

American crime fiction has developed into writing that has a commitment to democracy and the democratic way of life, a compassion and empathy and a style which has created a significant branch of American literature.

Explores the development of detective fiction during the critical period between Conan Doyle's creation of Sherlock Holmes and the advent of the Golden Age of the detective story during World War I. Both British and American detective writers of the period are surveyed - as well as writers who turned to gentleman burglars and master criminals.

Traditionally, the history of detective stories as a literary genre begins in the nineteenth-century with the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Emile Gaboriau, and a handful of other writers. The nineteenth century was actually awash in detective stories, though many, like the so-called detective notebooks, are so rare that they lay beyond the reach of even the most dedicated readers. This volume surveys the first fifty years of the detective story in nineteenth-century America and England, examining not only major works, but also the lesser known--including contemporary pseudo-biographies, magazines, story papers, and newspapers--only recently accessible through new media. By rewriting the history of the mystery genre, this study opens up new avenues for literary exploration.

This detailed examination of the early works of Dashiell Hammett takes a new look at one of the 20th century's most influential crime writers and his creation of the hard-boiled detective story. A chronology of works cited, a bibliography and an index supplement the text.

With unprecedented access to digital collections of period newspapers and magazines, this text examines detective fiction during its formative years, focusing on crucial elements of the genre-setting, lawyers and the law, physicians and forensics, women as victims and heroes, crime and criminals, and police and detectives.

Covers the formative years of American detective fiction, and the societal forces which changed the sensation-laden detective narrative of the mid-19th century to the modern detective story in the years after World War I. This book examines elements which influenced the writers, and also looks at the beginnings of forensic science and criminology.