Download or read book Burial Plots in British Detective Fiction written by Lisa Hopkins and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-01-24 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Burial Plots in British Detective Fiction offers an overview of the ways in which the past is brought back to the surface and influences the present in British detective fiction written between 1920 and 2020. Exploring a range of authors including Agatha Christie, Patricia Wentworth, Val McDermid, Sarah Caudwell, Georgette Heyer, Dorothy Dunnett, Jonathan Stroud and Ben Aaronovitch, Lisa Hopkins argues that both the literal and literary disinterment of the past use elements of the national past to interrogate the present. As such, in the texts discussed, uncovering the truth about an individual crime is also typically an uncovering of a more general connection between the present and the past. Whether detective novels explore murders on archaeological digs, hauntings, cold crimes or killings at Christmas, Hopkins explores the underlying message that you cannot understand the present unless you understand the past.
Download or read book Ocular Proof and the Spectacled Detective in British Crime Fiction written by Lisa Hopkins and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-05-31 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Sherlock Holmes onwards, fictional detectives use lenses: Ocular Proof and the Spectacled Detective in British Crime Fiction argues that these visual aids are metaphors for ways of seeing, and that they help us to understand not only individual detectives’ methods but also the kinds of cultural work detective fiction may do. It is sometimes regarded as a socially conservative form, and certainly the enduring popularity of ‘Golden Age’ writers such as Christie, Sayers, Allingham and Marsh implies a strong element of nostalgia in the appeal of the genre. The emphasis on visual aids, however, suggests that solving crime is not a simple matter of uncovering truth but a complex, sophisticated and inherently subjective process, and thus challenges any sense of comforting certainties. Moreover, the value of eye-witness testimony is often troubled in detective fiction by use of the phrase ‘the ocular proof’, whose origin in Shakespeare’s Othello reminds us that Othello is manipulated by Iago into misinterpreting what he sees. The act of seeing thus comes to seem ideological and provisional, and Lisa Hopkins argues that the kind of visual aid selected by each detective is an index of his particular propensities and biases.
Download or read book Clues A Journal of Detection Vol 42 No 1 Spring 2024 written by Caroline Reitz and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2024-05-17 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over two decades, Clues has included the best scholarship on mystery and detective fiction. With a combination of academic essays and nonfiction book reviews, it covers all aspects of mystery and detective fiction material in print, television and movies. As the only American scholarly journal on mystery fiction, Clues is essential reading for literature and film students and researchers; popular culture aficionados; librarians; and mystery authors, fans and critics around the globe.
Download or read book Sleuthing Miss Marple written by Desirée Prideaux and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-15 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sleuthing Miss Marple mirrors the structure and playful analytic style of a detective novel. Beginning at the ‘scene of the crime’, this investigation places Agatha Christie and the clue-puzzle in historical context, casting light on the methods, the motives, and, in a sense, the alibis that underpin Christie’s crime fiction. In keeping with the clue-puzzle analytical method devised for this book, each chapter builds towards a conclusion that delivers a surprising intellectual payoff. This enquiry is unapologetically textual in approach. It constructs a rigorous evidence base drawn from the Marple short stories and novels, and presents a useful interpretation of crime fiction scholarship. This provides a foundation for original literary analyses that reveal Christie’s engagements with gender roles and genre rules, and the sleights of hand that they conceal. Christie’s modus operandi is uncovered, as are the narrative strategies and literary devices that she deployed to ambush unwary readers. Crucially, this investigation shows how Christie’s ingenious methods made it possible for an elderly spinster to get away with solving murder. Sleuthing Miss Marple will be invaluable for students and researchers of crime fiction, twentieth-century literature, and creative writing.
Download or read book Clues A Journal of Detection Vol 40 No 2 Fall 2022 written by Elizabeth Foxwell and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2022-12-20 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over two decades, Clues has included the best scholarship on mystery and detective fiction. With a combination of academic essays and nonfiction book reviews, it covers all aspects of mystery and detective fiction material in print, television and movies. As the only American scholarly journal on mystery fiction, Clues is essential reading for literature and film students and researchers; popular culture aficionados; librarians; and mystery authors, fans and critics around the globe.
Download or read book Arden of Faversham A Critical Reader written by Peter Kirwan and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-06-29 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the earliest domestic tragedies, Arden of Faversham is a powerful Elizabethan drama based on the real-life murder of Thomas Arden. This Critical Reader presents the first collection of essays specifically focused upon Arden of Faversham. It highlights the way in which this important play from the early 1590s stands at several different critical intersections. Focused research chapters propose new directions for exploring the play in the light of ecocriticism, genre studies, critical race studies and narratives of dispossession. It also looks forward to Arden of Faversham's role and status in a less author-centred critical climate. Chapters explore how this anonymous and canonically marginal play has been approached in the past by scholars and theatre-makers and the frameworks that have offered productive insight into its unique features. The volume includes chapters covering a wide range of critical discourses and resources available for its study, as well as offering practical approaches to the play in the classroom.
Download or read book Poison on the early modern English stage written by Lisa Hopkins and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2023-08-29 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many early modern plays use poison, most famously Hamlet, where the murder of Old Hamlet showcases the range of issues poison mobilises. Its orchard setting is one of a number of sinister uses of plants which comment on both the loss of horticultural knowledge resulting from the Dissolution of the Monasteries and also the many new arrivals in English gardens through travel, trade, and attempts at colonisation. The fact that Old Hamlet was asleep reflects unease about soporifics troubling the distinction between sleep and death; pouring poison into the ear smuggles in the contemporary fear of informers; and it is difficult to prove. This book explores poisoning in early modern plays, the legal and epistemological issues it raises, and the cultural work it performs, which includes questions related to race, religion, nationality, gender, and humans’ relationship to the environment.
Download or read book Great British Fictional Detectives written by Russell James and published by Remember When. This book was released on 2009-04-21 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first full-length study of its type highlighting over 400 British literary detectives, many famous through their film and TV adaptations. Using essays to highlight different types of detectives and focusing on some of the more famous such as Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Morse, popular crime fiction writer and former President of Britain's Crime Writers Association, Russell James celebrates the role of the detective in British fiction. Illustrations include original film posters and first edition covers from classic detective fiction. Future books by Russell James in this series will include Great British Fictional Villains and US Fictional Detectives and Villains.
Download or read book Race and Religion in the Postcolonial British Detective Story written by Julie H. Kim and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2005-07-15 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1929, Ronald Knox, a prominent member of the English Detection Club, included in his tongue-in-cheek Ten Commandments for Detective Novelists the rule that "No Chinaman must figure in the story." In 1983, Ruth Rendell published Speaker of Mandarin, reflecting not only a change in British detective fiction but also a dramatic change in the British cultural landscape. Like much of the rest of British popular culture, the detective novel became more and more ethnically diverse and populated by characters with increasingly varied religious backgrounds. Ten essays examine the changing nature of British detective fiction, focusing on the shifting view of "otherness" of such authors as Ruth Rendell, Elizabeth George, Peter Ackroyd, Caroline Graham, Christopher Brookmyer, Denise Mina and John Mortimer. Unlike their American counterparts, British detective writers have been until recently, overwhelmingly white, and the essays here explore how these authors delve into ethnic diversity within a historically homogeneous culture. Religion has also played an important role in the genre, ranging from the moral certainty of the early part of the 20th century to the skepticism and hostility that is part of contemporary fiction. How this transition was made and how it reflects the changing nature of British culture are detailed here.
Download or read book Twentieth Century Crime Mystery Writers written by NA NA and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-12-25 with total page 1585 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book 100 British Crime Writers written by Esme Miskimmin and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 100 British Crime Writers explores a history of British crime writing between 1855 and 2015 through 100 writers, detailing their lives and significant writing and exploring their contributions to the genre. Divided into four sections: 'The Victorians, Edwardians, and World War One, 1855-1918; 'The Golden Age and World War Two, 1919-1945; 'Post-War and Cold War, 1946-1989; and 'To the Millennium and Beyond, 1990-2015, each section offers an introduction to the significant features of these eras in crime fiction and discusses trends in publication, readership, and critical response. With entries spanning the earliest authors of crime fiction to a selection of innovative contemporary novelists, this book considers the development and progression of the genre in the light of historical and social events.
Download or read book Dead Man s Grave DS Max Craigie Scottish Crime Thrillers Book 1 written by Neil Lancaster and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2021-07-16 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘The best police procedural I’ve read in years’ Jane Casey ‘Grabbed me from the first page’ Ian Rankin
Download or read book Resting Places written by Scott Wilson and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-08-19 with total page 887 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In its third edition, this massive reference work lists the final resting places of more than 14,000 people from a wide range of fields, including politics, the military, the arts, crime, sports and popular culture. Many entries are new to this edition. Each listing provides birth and death dates, a brief summary of the subject's claim to fame and their burial site location or as much as is known. Grave location within a cemetery is provided in many cases, as well as places of cremation and sites where ashes were scattered. Source information is provided.
Download or read book British Murder Mysteries Dorothy L Sayers Collection written by Dorothy L. Sayers and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2023-12-26 with total page 2492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 'British Murder Mysteries - Dorothy L. Sayers Collection' is a captivating anthology that showcases Dorothy L. Sayers' remarkable talent for crafting intricate plots filled with suspense and complex characters. Each mystery in this collection is intricately woven together, keeping the reader engaged until the very end. Sayers' writing style is elegant and descriptive, painting a vivid picture of the English countryside and the dark underbelly of society. As one of the pioneering authors of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, Sayers' work is both entertaining and thought-provoking, making her a standout in the genre. The collection is a must-read for lovers of classic British mysteries, offering a glimpse into the captivating world of crime-solving in early 20th century England. Dorothy L. Sayers, a scholar of medieval literature and theology, drew inspiration from her academic background to create the beloved character of Lord Peter Wimsey. Her attention to detail and clever storytelling reflect her deep understanding of human nature and society. Sayers' unique perspective sets her apart from other mystery writers of her time, making her a true master of the genre. I highly recommend the 'British Murder Mysteries - Dorothy L. Sayers Collection' to anyone who enjoys a well-crafted mystery that will keep them guessing until the very end.
Download or read book Victorian Detective Fiction and the Nature of Evidence written by L. Frank and published by Springer. This book was released on 2003-07-02 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Frank investigates an intertextual exchange between nineteenth-century historical disciplines (philology, cosmology, geology archaeology and evolutionary biology) and the detective fictions of Poe, Dickens, and Doyle. In responding to the writings of figures like Lyell, Darwin and E.B. Taylor, detective fiction initiated a transition from scriptural literalism and a prevailing Natural Theology to a naturalistic, secular worldview. In the process, detective fiction sceptically examined both the evidence such disciplines used and their narrative rendering of the world.
Download or read book Judgment of the Grave written by Sarah Stewart Taylor and published by Minotaur Books. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As gravestone expert Sweeney St. George tours burial sites of the Civil War, she stops to watch a battlefield reenactment in Massachusetts. There, she meets Pres Whiting, a boy whose family is in the gravestone business. When Pres discovers a dead man in a Revolutionary War-era British soldier's uniform, Sweeney and Cambridge homicide detective Tim Quinn jump on the case. While they search for clues regarding the dead body, Sweeney and Quinn investigate other strange events. While Sweeney looks into the 1775 disappearance of militiaman, Quinn looks into a current missing persons case with alarming ties to the past. As they try to uncover how their own investigations are related to the body found in the woods, Sweeney and Quinn get a little too close for comfort -- to each other and to murder.
Download or read book A Grave in the Cotswolds written by Rebecca Tope and published by Allison & Busby. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Undertaker Drew Slocombe is not having a good day. His business is failing, the car needs an MOT and he's driving 120 miles to the Cotswolds to carry out the late Greta Simmonds' final wishes. Unfortunately, when he gets there, a string of bureaucratic mistakes means that he's now the chief suspect of a murder inquiry. He's beginning to wish he had never heard of Greta Simmonds. Thea Osborne, currently house-sitting at Greta Simmonds' house while it is between ownership, befriends Drew and together they work to clear his name. It slowly dawns on them that in a village simmering with secrets, a means and a motive could be laid at anybody's door...
