Description
Book SynopsisCrime fiction is one of the most popular literary genres and has been for more than a century. At the heart of almost all forms of mysteriesfrom the Golden Age puzzler to the contemporary police procedural, from American hardboiled fiction to the Japanese timetable mysteryis the investigator. Heor, increasingly, shecan be a private eye, a police officer, or a general busybody. But whatever forms these investigators take, they are the key element of crime fiction. Criminals and their crimes come and go, while our attention is captured by these fascinating characters who exist at the intersection of so many different literary and social roles. 100 Greatest Literary Detectives offers a selection of the most influential, important, and intriguing fictional sleuthsamateur or professionalfrom around the world. From Sherlock Holmes to Harry Hole, Kinsey Millhone to Kiyoshi Mitarai, the detectives profiled here give readers a broader picture of one of fiction's most popular genres. Each entry
Trade ReviewThis anthology of 100 critical profiles of fictional detectives rounds up the usual suspects and introduces some less familiar figures who will surely provoke discussion among crime connoisseurs. Warning that it would be impossible to include every reader’s favorite gumshoe, editor Sandberg includes essays on an eclectic selection of crime-solvers from the past two centuries. Along with Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin and Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, there is coverage of Brother William of Baskerville, the 14th-century monk sleuth in Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. In addition to Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe and Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade, both iconic hardboiled detectives, there are Philip K. Dick’s Bob Arctor (from A Scanner Darkly) and China Miéville’s Inspector Tyador Borlú (from The City and the City), both crossovers from speculative fiction. Among essays on Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins, Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, and Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta, there is also one on Daniel Quinn, the failed detective of Paul Auster’s metafictional New York Trilogy. The book’s contributors, mostly academics, cite chapter and verse from novels and stories to provide cogent and involving studies, driving home Sandberg’s central point that crime fiction favors character as much as plot. * Publishers Weekly *
This enormously important gift to scholars, edited by Eric Sandberg, sets a benchmark for scholars and scholarship in detective literary fiction. The excellent 7-page Introduction focuses much needed attention on, and gives poignant recognition to, this literary stepchild. This reference volume may in fact be a catalyst that moves detective literature from literary stepchild status to provide it a genuine and legitimate place in literary scholarship. . . This excellent monograph should be added to academic library collections from high school through community college and university. Large public libraries and special libraries that serve fiction readers should also acquire this resource. * American Reference Books Annual *
