Writing the Detectives: Character and the Series Form

Author:   Elspeth Latimer (University of East Anglia)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
ISBN:  

9781009502467


Pages:   82
Publication Date:   21 August 2025
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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Writing the Detectives: Character and the Series Form


Overview

Crime fiction first emerged in the Victorian era and its series form continues to dominate the genre. Despite the prevalence of crime series, very little research has been done on how character is conceived. The Element's focus is contemporary, from the 1970s onward, and it determines the theory and conventions behind writing the detectives in these modern meganarratives. Exemplary series and a range of subgenres are analysed, thriller to cosy crime, professional investigator to amateur sleuth, embracing diversity and different gender identities. Previous examinations have tended to interpret the detective figure as either mythic or realist, but the author argues that both modes are combined in the contemporary crime series, generating a mythorealist protagonist. This creative-critical Element celebrates the vibrancy of the form and its capacity to investigate the human condition. It also considers future trends and concludes with the author's own guide to writing a crime fiction series.

Full Product Details

Author:   Elspeth Latimer (University of East Anglia)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press
Weight:   0.500kg
ISBN:  

9781009502467


ISBN 10:   1009502468
Pages:   82
Publication Date:   21 August 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Creating and curating character; 3. Mythorealism; 4. Iconically masculine?; 5. Character in extremis; 6. 'An underappreciated revolution in storytelling'; 7. Writing a crime fiction series; References.

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