Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, often a murder. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as historical fiction or science fiction, but the boundaries are indistinct. Crime fiction has several subgenres, including detective fiction, courtroom drama, hard-boiled fiction, and legal thrillers. Most crime drama focuses on crime investigation and does not feature the courtroom. Suspense and mystery are key elements that are nearly ubiquitous to the genre.
The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves the solving of a mystery or crime. Though works combining these genres have existed since at least the early 20th century, many credit Ellis Peters's Cadfael Chronicles (1977–1994) for popularizing what would become known as the historical mystery. The increasing popularity and prevalence of this type of fiction in subsequent decades has spawned a distinct subgenre recognized by the publishing industry and libraries. Publishers Weekly noted in 2010 of the genre, "The past decade has seen an explosion in both quantity and quality. Never before have so many historical mysteries been published, by so many gifted writers, and covering such a wide range of times and places." Editor Keith Kahla concurs, "From a small group of writers with a very specialized audience, the historical mystery has become a critically acclaimed, award-winning genre with a toehold on the New York Times bestseller list."
Lindsey Davis is an English historical novelist, best known as the author of the Falco series of historical crime stories set in ancient Rome and its empire. She is a recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger award.
Sara Paretsky is an American author of detective fiction, best known for her novels focused on the protagonist V. I. Warshawski.
Sujata Massey is an American mystery author and historical fiction novelist. Her books are published in English in the US and Canada, the United Kingdom and India, and Australia/New Zealand. Massey’s novels are also available in different languages and formats in Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain and Thailand.
Seichō Matsumoto was a Japanese writer, credited with popularizing detective fiction in Japan.
Otto Penzler is an American editor of mystery fiction, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City.
The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors' organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its "Dagger" awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. The Association also promotes crime writing of fiction and non-fiction by holding annual competitions, publicising literary festivals and establishing links with libraries, booksellers and other writer organisations, both in the UK such as the Society of Authors, and overseas. The CWA enables members to network at its annual conference and through its regional chapters as well as through dedicated social media channels and private website. Members' events and general news items are published on the CWA website, which also features Find An Author, where CWA members are listed and information provided about themselves, their books and their awards.
Jason Starr is an American author, comic book writer, and screenwriter from New York City. Starr has written numerous crime fiction novels and thrillers.
Gianrico Carofiglio is an Italian novelist and former anti-Mafia judge in the city of Bari. His debut novel, Involuntary Witness, published in 2002 and translated into English in 2005 by Patrick Creagh, was published by the Bitter Lemon Press and has been adapted as the basis for a popular television series in Italy. The subsequent novels were translated by Howard Curtis and Antony Shugaar.
Saskia Noort is a Dutch crime-writer and freelance journalist.
Petra Hammesfahr is a German crime writer. She has won several awards, including the Crime Prize of Wiesbaden and the Rhineland Literary Prize.
Johan Theorin is a Swedish journalist and author. Throughout his life, Johan Theorin has been a regular visitor to the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea. His mother’s family—sailors, fishermen and stone cutters—have lived there for centuries, nurturing the island’s legacy of supernatural tales and folklore.
Libby Fischer Hellmann is an American crime fiction writer who currently resides in Chicago, Illinois. Most of her novels and stories are set in Chicago; the Chicago Sun-Times notes that she "grew up in Washington, D.C., but she has embraced her adopted home of Chicago with the passion of a convert."
Iain Levison is a Scottish-American writer born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1963.
Zygmunt Miłoszewski is a Polish writer. Previously he was a journalist and editor for the Polish edition of Newsweek. He is an author of novels, features and short stories.
Mystery Scene is an American magazine, first published in 1985, that covers the crime and mystery genre with a mix of articles, profiles, criticism, and extensive reviews of books, films, TV, short stories, audiobooks, and reference works.
Alberto Yarini y Ponce de León was a Cuban racketeer and pimp during the period of the Cuban War of Independence against Spain. Yarini was well known in his time, is Cuba's most famous pimp, and came to symbolize the concept of Cubanidad, the Cuban national identity, to many Cubans, long after his death.
Cut Like Wound is a detective fiction novel written by Anita Nair, set in the city of Bengaluru. The novel, written in Indian English, was first published in India by HarperCollins. To bring out the true functioning of a police establishment in India, the author interacted in real life with the officials in a police station. It is Anita Nair's first book of crime fiction. This book also marks the entry of Borei Gowda as detective protagonist.
Teresa Solana i Mir is a contemporary Spanish writer of crime fiction in Catalan. She studied philosophy and the Classics at Universitat de Barcelona. Her work has been translated to English, French, German, Esperanto, Italian and Spanish.
