Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection [2 volumes]: From Sleuths to Superheroes [2 volumes] (Greenwood Icons)

This book provides an introduction to 24 iconic figures, real and fictional, that have shaped the detective/mystery genre of popular literature. Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection: From Sleuths to Superheroes is an insightful look at one of our most popular and diverse fictional genres, providing a guided tour of mystery and crime writing by focusing on two dozen of the field's most enduring creations and creators. Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection spans the history of the detective story with series of critical entries on the field's most evocative names, from the originator of the form, Edgar Allan Poe, to its first popular running character, Sherlock Holmes; from the Golden Age of Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and Charlie Chan―in fiction and films―to small screen heroes, such as Columbo and Jessica Fletcher. Also included are other accomplished practitioners of the craft of mystery/crime storytelling, including Agatha Christie, Tony Hillerman, and Alfred Hitchcock. Parallel chronologies placing each of the book's 24 subjects in their historical/cultural context Individual selected bibliographies for each of the 24 figures plus a selected general bibliography of critical sources treating the genre Icons of Crime and Detection 1 Volume 1 Cover 1 Volume 1 Contents 8 Volume 1 List of Photos 10 Series Foreword 12 Series Preface 14 Volume 1 4 Batman: The Herculean Detective 16 James Bond: The Byronic Spy 50 Father Brown: The Clerical Sleuth 86 Charlie Chan: ‘‘The First Nonwhite Popular Detective’’ 118 Agatha Christie: Creator of Hercule Poirot, the Foreign Sleuth, and Miss Jane Marple, the Elderly Snoop 150 Inspector Clouseau: The Detective as Buffoon 184 Columbo: The Disheveled Detective 214 Dragnet: Television’s Most Famous Police Drama 244 Nancy Drew: The Girl Detective 274 Jessica Fletcher: The Mystery Writer Snoop 304 Mike Hammer: A Very Imperfect, Far from Gentle Knight 336 Dirty Harry: The Vigilante Cop 366 Volume 2 Cover 397 Volume 2 Contents 404 Volume 2 List of Photos 406 Volume 2 400 Tony Hillerman: Creator of Ethnic Detectives Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee 408 Alfred Hitchcock: Cinema’s Master of Suspense 440 Sherlock Holmes: The Genius Detective 472 Inspector Jules Maigret: The Gallic Gumshoe 508 Philip Marlowe: The Detective as Knight Errant 538 Perry Mason: The Legal Sleuth 570 Edgar Allan Poe: The Father of Detective Fiction 600 Dorothy L. Sayers: Creator of Lord Peter Wimsey, the Aristocratic Sleuth 630 Sam Spade: The Hard-Boiled Private Eye 662 Dick Tracy: The First Comic Strip Police Detective Hero 694 Nero Wolfe: The Armchair Sleuth 724 Zorro: The Masked Avenger 756 Selected Bibliography 786 Index 790 A 790 B 790 C 791 D 793 E 793 F 794 G 794 H 795 I 796 J 796 K 797 L 797 M 798 N 799 O 800 P 800 Q 801 R 801 S 802 T 804 U 804 V 804 W 804 X 805 Y 805 Z 805 This book provides an introduction to 24 iconic figures, real and fictional, that have shaped the detective/mystery genre of popular literature. Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection spans the history of the detective story with series of critical entries on the field's most evocative names, from the originator of the form, Edgar Allan Poe, to its first popular running character, Sherlock Holmes; from the Golden Age of Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and Charlie Chan―in fiction and films―to small screen heroes, such as Columbo and Jessica Fletcher. Also included are other accomplished practitioners of the craft of mystery/crime storytelling, including Agatha Christie, Tony Hillerman, and Alfred Hitchcock. * * Parallel chronologies placing each of the book's 24 subjects in their historical/cultural context * * Individual selected bibliographies for each of the 24 figures plus a selected general bibliography of critical sources treating the genre * v. 1. Batman: the Herculean detective James Bond: the byronic spy Father Brown: the clerical sleuth Charlie Chan: "the first nonwhite popular detective" Agatha Christie: creator of Hercule Poirot, the foreign sleuth, and Miss Jane Marple, the elderly sleuth Inspector Clouseau: the detective as buffoon Columbo: the disheveled detective Dragnet: television's most famous police drama Nancy Drew: the girl detective Jessica Fletcher: the mystery writer snoop Mike Hammer: "the maligned and bloody knight" Dirty Harry: the vigilante cop.