Secrets of Crime Fiction Classics : Detecting the Delights of 21 Enduring Stories

Starting with William Godwin's Caleb Williams and Charles Brockden Brown's Edgar Huntly, this book covers in detail the great works of detective fiction—Poe's Dupin stories, Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd , Sayers' Strong Poison, Chandler's The Big Sleep , and Simenon's The Yellow Dog . Lesser-known but important early works are also discussed, including Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White , Emile Gaboriau's M. Lecoq, Anna Katharine Green's The Leavenworth Case and Fergus Hume's The Mystery of a Hansom Cab . More recent titles show increasing variety in the mystery genre, with Patricia Highsmith's criminal-focused The Talented Mr. Ripley and Chester Himes' African-American detectives in Cotton Comes to Harlem . Diversity develops further in Sara Paretsky's tough woman detective V.I. Warshawski in Indemnity Only , Umberto Eco's medievalist and postmodern The Name of the Rose and the forensic feminism of Patricia Cornwell's Postmortem . Notably, the best modern crime fiction has been primarily international—Manuel Vasquez Montalban's Catalan Summer Seas , Ian Rankin's Edinburgh-set The Naming of the Dead , Sweden's Stieg Larsson's The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo and Vikram Chanda's Mumbai-based Sacred Games . Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here . Twenty-one short chapters discuss in detail the books selected as the most popular and influential mysteries across time. Starting with Caleb Williams (William Godwin) and Edgar Huntly (Charles Brockden Brown), the series moves through the great detective authors--Poe's Dupin stories, Doyle's Adventures of Holmes, Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Sayers's Strong Poison, Chandler's The Big Sleep, Simenon's The Yellow Dog--and also considers lesser-known important early books, Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, Emile Gaboriau's M. Lecoq, Anna Katharine Green's The Leavenworth Case and Fergus Hume's The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. More recent titles show increasing variety in the mystery genre, with Patricia Highsmith's criminal-focused The Talented Mr Ripley, and Chester Himes's African American detectives in Cotton Comes to Harlem, while diversity develops further in Sara Paretsky's tough woman detective V.I. Warshawski in IndemnityOnly, Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose -- both medievalist and postmodern -- and the forensic feminism of Patricia Cornwell's Postmortem. Notably, the best of the most modern have been primarily international -- Manuel Vasquez Montalban's Catalan Summer Seas, Ian Rankin's Edinburgh-set The Naming of the Dead, The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo by Sweden's Stieg Larsson and Vikram Chanda's Mumbai-based Sacred Games "Starting with William Godwin's Caleb Williams and Charles Brockden Brown's Edgar Huntly, this book covers in detail the great works of detective fiction-Poe's Dupin stories, Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Sayers' Strong Poison, Chandler's The Big Sleep, and Simenon's The Yellow Dog. Lesser-known but important early works are also discussed, including Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, Émile Gaboriau's M. Lecoq, Anna Katharine Green's The Leavenworth Case and Fergus Hume's The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. More recent titles show increasing variety in the mystery genre, with Patricia Highsmith's criminal-focused The Talented Mr. Ripley and Chester Himes' African-American detectives in Cotton Comes to Harlem. Diversity develops further in Sara Paretsky's tough woman detective V.I. Warshawski in Indemnity Only, Umberto Eco's medievalist and postmodern The Name of the Rose and the forensic feminism of Patricia Cornwell's Postmortem. Notably, the best modern crime fiction has been primarily international-Manuel Vásquez Montalbán's Catalan Summer Seas, Ian Rankin's Edinburgh-set The Naming of the Dead, Sweden's Stieg Larsson's The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo and Vikram Chanda's Mumbai-based Sacred Games"--Publisher's description Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Preface 10 Introduction 12 Part I: Beginnings 20 1. Caleb Williams, William Godwin 22 2. Edgar Huntly, Charles Brockden Brown 32 3. The Dupin Stories, Edgar Allan Poe 42 4. The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins 53 5. Monsieur Lecoq, Ēmile Gaboriau 64 6. The Leavenworth Case, Anna Katharine Green 74 7. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, Fergus Hume 85 Part II: Mainstream 94 8. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle 96 9. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie 106 10. Strong Poison, Dorothy Sayers 116 11. The Yellow Dog, Georges Simenon 126 12. The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler 136 13. The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith 146 Part III: Diversity 156 14. Cotton Comes to Harlem, Chester Himes 158 15. Indemnity Only, Sara Paretsky 168 16. The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco 178 17. Southern Seas, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán 189 18. The Naming of the Dead, Ian Rankin 199 19. Postmortem, Patricia Cornwell 209 20. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson 219 21. Sacred Games, Vikram Chandra 229 Index 238