Crime 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 mysteries—from the Golden Age puzzler to the contemporary police procedural, from American hardboiled fiction to the Japanese timetable mystery—is the investigator. He—or, increasingly, she—can 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 sleuths—amateur or professional—from 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 summarizes the distinctive features of notable investigators and their approaches to crime, provides a brief outline of major features of their fictional careers, and makes a case for their importance based on literary-historical impact, novelty, uniqueness, aesthetic quality, or cultural resonance. The characters profiled here include Lew Archer, Martin Beck, Father Brown, Brother Cadfael, Adam Dalgliesh, Mike Hammer, Miss Jane Marple, Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, Kay Scarpetta, Sam Spade, Phillip Trent, V. I. Warshawski, Lord Peter Wimsey, Nero Wolfe, and many others. Readers will find some of their favorite detectives here, learn more about their literary and cultural significance, and discover other great sleuths—old and new, local and international—in this engaging volume. 100 Greatest Literary Detectives provides a fascinating look into some of the most intriguing fictional characters of all time.

'Detective Fiction' is a clear and compelling look at some of the best known, yet least-understood characters and texts of the modern day. Undergraduate students of Detective and Crime Fiction and of genre fiction in general, will find this book essential reading.

The Literary Detective is an omnibus edition of John Sutherland's three best-selling collections of literary puzzles, Is Heathcliffe a Murderer?, Can Jane Eyre be Happy?, and Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet? Investigating a variety of anomalies, enigmas, and conundrums such as 'Why does RobinsonCrusoe find only one footprint?' and 'Where does Fanny Hill keep her contraceptives?', Professor Sutherland explores the questions readers often ask and critics rarely discuss. His forensic skills focus on authors from Defoe and Fielding to Wells and Woolf, relishing in particular thenineteenth-century novelists, Austen, Collins, Dickens, and the Brontes.By addressing 'real world' questions John Sutherland has brought lit. crit. Down from the rarefied heights of academe and into the everyday discourse of ordinary readers, who bring their own expertise to bear on these novels. In his introduction he quotes from some of the many letters he hasreceived, which demonstrate that we can all be astute and entertaining critics. The 'Sherlock Holmes of Literature', as he has been called, John Sutherland reminds us of the sheer pleasure and excitement that good books inspire, and of their endless ability to surprise and delight us.

This book begins with a history of the detective genre, coextensive with the novel itself, identifying the attitudes and institutions needed for the genre to emerge in its mature form around 1880. The theory of the genre is laid out along with its central theme of the getting and deployment of knowledge. Sherlock Holmes, the English Classic stories and their inheritors are examined in light of this theme and the balance of two forms of knowledge used in fictional detection--cool or rational, and warm or emotional. The evolution of the genre formula is driven by changes in the social climate in which it is embedded. These changes explain the decay of the English Classic and its replacement by noir, hardboiled and spy stories, to end in the cul-de-sac of the thriller and the nostalgic Neo-Classic. Possible new forms of the detective story are suggested.

Welcome to the 3 Books To Know series, our idea is to help readers learn about fascinating topics through three essential and relevant books. These carefully selected works can be fiction, non-fiction, historical documents or even biographies. We will always select for you three great works to instigate your mind, this time the topic is: Detective Fiction. When Edgar Allan Poe wrote his first Tales of Ratiocination. What he called stories for the mind. He had not imagined that he would be creating what we now know as Detective Fiction. For that reason, the#1 book selected is a collection of tales from Poe's great detective, Auguste Dupin. A parisian gentlemen with the sharpest mind. British author Arthur Conan Doyle was a fan of Poe. Inspired by Dupin tales, he created one of the most famous detectives of all fiction, Sherlock Holmes. So our book #2 could only be: The Hound of the Baskervilles. A harrowing tale of mystery in England's countryside. G. K. Chesterton created a different detective, a detective who was also a Catholic priest. The amateur detective, Father Brown, often known for his uncanny insight into human evil, is our choice #3. The book's name The Innocence of Father Brown. This is one of many books in the series 3 Books To Know. If you liked this book, look for the other titles in the series, we are sure you will like some of the topics.

Some of the greatest detective stories every wrote are collected in this massive anthology. This book contains the stories and novels by Arthur Conan Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, Emile Gaboriau, E. W. Hornung, M. McDonnell Bodkin, Guy Boothby, Jacques Futrelle, Melville Davisson Post, Ethel Lina White, Baroness Emmuska Orczy Orczy, Arthur Morrison, Edgar Wallace, Algernon Blackwood, Wilkie Collins, Maurice Leblanc, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Gaston Leroux, Anna Katharine Green, Fergus Hume, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Robert Louis Stevenson, Dorothy L. Sayers, R. Austin Freeman. Table of Contents Wilkie Collins The Moonstone A Romance Edgar Allan Poe The Gold-Bug The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Mystery of Marie Roget. A Sequel to “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” The Purloined Letter Charles Dickens Hunted Down Arthur Conan Doyle The Hound of the Baskervilles A Study in Scarlet The Sign of Four The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes G. K. Chesterton The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare The Innocence of Father Brown The Wisdom of Father Brown Emile Gaboriau The Lerouge Case by Emile Gaboriau Monsieur Lecoq The Mystery of Orcival E. W. Hornung The Amateur Cracksman Dead Men Tell No Tales The Crime Doctor M. McDonnell Bodkin The Capture of Paul Beck Guy Boothby The Red Rat's Daughter Jacques Futrelle The Problem of Cell 13 The Chase of the Golden Plate Melville Davisson Post Walker of the Secret Service The Sleuth of St. James's Square Ethel Lina White The Man Who Loved Lions Baroness Emma Orczy (Emmuska Orczy) The Old Man in the Corner The Scarlet Pimpernel Arthur Morrison Chronicles of Martin Hewitt Martin Hewitt, Investigator Edgar Wallace The Angel of Terror Algernon Blackwood Three More John Silence Stories Three John Silence Stories Maurice Leblanc The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar Gaston Leroux The Mystery of the Yellow Room Anna Katherine Green The Leavenworth Case Fergus Hume The Mystery of a Hansom Cab Fyodor Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment Robert Louis Stevenson The Suicide Club The Rajah’s Diamond Dorothy L. Sayers Whose Body? A Lord Peter Wimsey Novel R. Austin Freeman John Thorndyke's Cases The Mystery of 31 New Inn