Crime Fiction provides a lively introduction to what is both a wide-ranging and hugely popular literary genre. Using examples from a variety of novels, short stories, films and televisions series, John Scaggs:

• presents a concise history of crime fiction

from biblical narratives to James Ellroy - broadening the genre to include revenge tragedy and the gothic novel

• explores the key sub-genres of crime fiction

such as Rational Criminal Investigation, The Hard-Boiled Mode, The Police Procedural and Historical Crime Fiction

• locates texts and their recurring themes and motifs in a wider social and historical context

• outlines the various critical concepts that are central to the study of crime fiction

including gender, narrative theory and film theory

• considers contemporary television series like C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation

alongside the classic whodunnits of Agatha Christie.

Accessible and clear, this comprehensive overview is the essential guide for all those studying crime fiction and concludes with a look at future directions for the genre in the twentieth-first century.