A Companion to Crime Fiction

This cutting edge Companion brings together a series of forty-seven original essays from some of the world’s leading authorities to provide the definitive guide to crime fiction from its origins in the eighteenth century to its phenomenal present day popularity  

Part one of the volume follows the development of crime fiction over the last three centuries, examining the traditions and conventions of the genre, as well as its cultural and social contexts, before moving on, in part two, to explore the different types of genres and subgenres that have emerged. The final chapters profile twenty of the most significant crime writers and film makers – from William Godwin to Arthur Conan Doyle to Agatha Christie to Martin Scorsese – examining the ways in which they have shaped and influenced the field.