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If you're interested in learning about how to write, how to be a writer, or about the writing life in general, what greater resource and pleasure than frank, in-depth interviews with best-selling authors? In The Crime Interviews Volume One, Len Wanner interviews: Ian Rankin• Stuart MacBride• Karen Campbell• Neil Forsyth• Chris Brookmyre• Paul Johnston• Alice Thompson• Allan Guthrie• Louise Welsh So much more than a collection of writing tips, The Crime Interviews Volume One is brimming with pithy, witty and sometimes just plain weird revelations. It provides a unique and unforgettable insight into how authors think... and how they write. See also The Crime Interviews Volume T...
This unique and timely book presents nine compelling essays on contemporary crime fiction, bringing innovative and fresh perspectives to the analysis of this most popular and vibrant literary genre. Investigating contemporary crime fiction and the critical debates surrounding its reception and production, the introductory chapter sets the scene for the subsequent analyses of distinct crime fiction topics, themes and authors. The topics include the experimental detective narrative, race and ethnicity, historical crime fiction, domestic noir, feminism and crime, environmental crime, and the poetics of place. Authors examined here range from Ian Rankin, Gillian Flynn, Val McDermid, Denise Mina, Robert Galbraith, Nancy Bilyeau, and Martha Grimes, to Tana French, Dale Furutani, and J.G. Ballard, and more. Informed by the latest critical debates and theoretical perspectives in the field, this volume presents an invaluable source of information and criticism on crime fiction for students, researchers and academics alike.
Intersectionality and decolonisation are prominent themes in contemporary British crime fiction. Through an in-depth critical and contextual analysis of selected contemporary British crime fiction novels from the 1990s to 2018, this distinctive book examines representations of race, class, sexuality, and gender by John Harvey, Stella Duffy, M.Y. Alam, and Dorothy Koomson. It argues that contemporary British crime fiction is a field of contestation where urgent cultural and social questions are debated and the politics of representation explored. A significant resource which will be valuable to researchers and scholars of the crime genre, as well as British literature, this book offers timely critical engagement with intersectionality and decolonisation and their representation in contemporary British crime fiction.
This book represents the first serious consideration of the 'domestic noir' phenomenon and, by extension, the psychological thriller. The only such landmark collection since Lee Horsley's The Noir Thriller, it extends the argument for serious, academic study of crime fiction, particularly in relation to gender, domestic violence, social and political awareness, psychological acuity, and structural and narratological inventiveness. As well as this, it shifts the debate around the sub-genre firmly up to date and brings together a range of global voices to dissect and situate the notion of 'domestic noir'. This book is essential reading for students, scholars, and fans of the psychological thriller.
Locations play an important role in every story, but in British and American contemporary crime fiction, they are often inextricable from the narrative. This work examines the city, the countryside and the wilderness as places ripe with literary significance and symbolism. Using works by authors like Robert Galbraith, Ian Rankin, Denise Mina, Chris Brookmyre, John Knox, Peter Robinson, Linda Barnes, Dana Stabenow, Nevada Barr, Les Roberts, Philip R. Craig, and others, this work offers a fresh assessment of how place and space are employed in contemporary crime fiction. Highlighted are similarities and differences among the authors' approaches to setting, and how they relate to the history of crime fiction and to the general literary representation of place. Going beyond mere literary geography, the book engages the sociocultural dimensions of the communities affected by crime. Chapters also analyze the reader's perception, recognition and appreciation of place and community.
More than perhaps any other genre, crime fiction invites debate over the role of popular fiction in English studies. This book offers lively original essays on teaching crime fiction written by experienced British and international scholar teachers, providing vital insight into this diverse genre through a series of compelling subjects. Taking its starting-point in pedagogical reflections and classroom experiences, the book explores methods for teaching students to develop their own critical perspectives as crime fiction critics, the impact of feminism, postcolonialism, and ecocriticism on crime fiction, crime fiction and film, the crime short story, postgraduate perspectives, and more.
A comprehensive and fascinating guide to the worldwide crime fiction phenomenon known as Tartan Noir covering all its major authors. What is Tartan Noir? Which authors belong to this global crime fiction phenomenon? Which books should you read first, next, again, or not at all? And what are the many historical, political, and cultural influences that have woven themselves into the Tartan Noir success story? Here, Len Wanner investigates the literature's four main sub-genres - the detective, the police, the serial killer, and the noir novel. Covering four decades' worth of literary history, Wanner offers not only four in-depth cross-examinations but also close readings of another 40 novels - everything from commercial hits and critical triumphs to curiosity pieces and cult classi. Books critiqued include international bestsellers by the likes of Ian Rankin, William McIlvanney, Val McDermid, and Denise Mina, alongside lesser known gems by counter-cultural icons such as Hugh C. Rae, Ray Banks, Allan Guthrie, Helen FitzGerald, and many more.
If you're interested in learning about how to write, how to be a writer, or about the writing life in general, what greater resource and pleasure than frank, in-depth interviews with best-selling authors? Len Wanner returns with the second in hisCrime Interviews series, this time featuring:• William McIlvanney• Tony Black• Doug Johnstone• Helen FitzGerald• Quintin Jardine• Gordon Ferris• Craig Russell• Douglas Lindsay• Ray Banks• Denise Mina• So much more than a collection of writing tips,The Crime Interviews Volume Two is brimming with pithy, witty and sometimes just plain weird revelations. It provides a unique and unforgettable insight into how authors think... and h...
Ian Rankin is considered by many to be Scotland's greatest living crime fiction author. Most well known for his Inspector Rebus series--which has earned critical acclaim as well as scores of fans worldwide--Rankin is a prolific author whose other works include spy thrillers, nonfiction books and articles, short stories, novels, graphic novels, audio recordings, television/film, and plays. This companion--the first to provide a complete look at all of his writings--includes alphabetized entries on Rankin's works, characters, and themes; a biography; a chronology; maps of Rebus' Edinburgh; and an annotated bibliography. A champion of both Edinburgh and Scotland, Rankin continues to combine engaging entertainment with socio-political commentary showing Edinburgh as a microcosm of Scotland, and Scotland as a microcosm of the world. His writing investigates questions of Scottish identity, British history, masculinity, and contemporary culture while providing mystery readers with complex, suspenseful plots, realistic character development, and a unique mix of American hard-boiled and procedural styles with Scottish dialects and sensibilities.