Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—either professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades.
Young and Innocent, released in the US as The Girl Was Young, is a 1937 British crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Nova Pilbeam and Derrick De Marney. Based on the 1936 novel A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey, the film is about a young man on the run from a murder charge who enlists the help of a woman who must put herself at risk for his cause. It is notable for an elaborately staged crane shot Hitchcock devised towards the end of the film, which identifies the real murderer.
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 serious crime, generally 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 multiple sub-genres, including detective fiction, courtroom drama, hard-boiled fiction, and legal thrillers. Most crime drama focuses on crime investigation and does not feature the court room. 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."
Mystery fiction is a genre of fiction that usually involves revealing the identity of a murderer or of the perpetrator of some other type of crime. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime. The central character is often a detective, who eventually solves the mystery by logical deduction from facts presented to the reader. Some mystery books are non-fiction. Mystery fiction can be detective stories in which the emphasis is on the puzzle or suspense element and its logical solution such as a whodunit. Mystery fiction can be contrasted with hardboiled detective stories, which focus on action and gritty realism.
Crime is a typically 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century genre, dominated by British and American writers. This article explores its historical development as a genre.
Peter Robinson is an English-Canadian crime writer. He is best known for his crime novels set in Yorkshire featuring Inspector Alan Banks. He has also published a number of other novels and short stories as well as some poems and two articles on writing.
The Arthur Ellis Awards are a group of Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and mystery writing published in the previous year. The award is presented at a gala dinner in the year following publication.
Ruth Ellis was a British escort and nightclub hostess. She was the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom after being convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely.
Ordeal by Innocence is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 November 1958 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at twelve shillings and sixpence (12/6) and the US edition at $2.95.
Alafair S. Burke is an American crime novelist, professor of law, and legal commentator. She is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen crime novels, including The Ex,The Wife, and The Better Sister, and two series—one featuring NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher; the other, Portland, Oregon, prosecutor Samantha Kincaid. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Detective Superintendent Alan Banks is the fictional protagonist in a series of crime novels by Peter Robinson. From 2010 to 2016 several of the novels were adapted for television, and other original stories were produced, under the series title DCI Banks with Stephen Tompkinson in the lead role.
Cold Is the Grave is the 11th novel by Anglo-Canadian detective fiction writer Peter Robinson in the Inspector Banks series, published in 2000. It won the 2001 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel, and the Danish Palle Rosenkrantz Award.
Rick Mofina is a Canadian author of crime fiction and thriller novels. He grew up in Belleville, Ontario, and began writing short stories in school, selling his first short story at the age of fifteen. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the International Thriller Writers, the International Crime Writers Association, the Crime Writers' Association and Crime Writers of Canada, Rick continues to be a featured panelist at mystery conferences across the United States and Canada.
William Herbert Deverell is a Canadian novelist, activist, and criminal lawyer. He is one of Canada's best-known novelists, whose first book, Needles, which drew on his experiences as a criminal lawyer, won the McClelland & Stewart $50,000 Seal Award. In 1997 he won the Dashiell Hammett Prize for literary excellence in crime writing in North America for Trial of Passion. That book also won the 1998 Arthur Ellis Award for best Canadian crime novel, as did April Fool in 2003. Trial of Passion launched his first crime series, featuring the classically trained, self-doubting Arthur Beauchamp, QC, a series that continued with April Fool, Kill All the Judges, Snow Job, and I'll See You in My Dreams.
Robert Ellis is an American writer of crime fiction. Ellis's novels are set in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but primarily in Los Angeles, California, where he lived most of his adult life before returning to the East Coast.
Fictional detectives are characters in detective fiction. These individuals have long been a staple of detective mystery crime fiction, particularly in detective novels and short stories. Much of early detective fiction was written during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction" (1920s–1930s). These detectives include amateurs, private investigators and professional policemen. They are often popularized as individual characters rather than parts of the fictional work in which they appear. Stories involving individual detectives are well-suited to dramatic presentation, resulting in many popular theatre, television, and movie characters.
Not Safe After Dark (1998) is the first collection of short stories by Peter Robinson; stories previously published in crime anthologies and magazines. They include three Inspector Banks short stories, one previously unpublished. The 1998 edition published by Crippen & Landru, Virginia as Not Safe After Dark and Other Stories included thirteen stories ; the 2004 edition published by Macmillan, London as Not Safe After Dark and Other Works included twenty stories. Robinson is the writer of the Inspector Banks series of novels.
The Price of Love (2009) is the second collection of short stories by Peter Robinson; stories previously published in crime anthologies and magazines. They include an Inspector Banks novella and three Inspector Banks short stories. Canadian detective fiction writer Robinson is the author of the Inspector Banks series. Eleven stories, subtitled Eleven ways to pay with your life.
Anne Emery is a Canadian writer of murder mystery novels. Emery has been awarded the 2019 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel, silver medal in the 2011 Independent Publisher Book Awards, and the 2007 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel.
