Title: Mystery fiction and modern life
First published: 1998
Description: This analysis of the genre shows that the fictional world portrayed by the mystery writer parallels the actual world of the reader. Because daily life is so implausible, readers willingly suspend disbelief as they are absorbed by the pages of detective fiction. This apparent unity of the fictional thriller and veritable circumstance produces a code of modernity that is the essence of the genre.

In the light of this concept of modernity Mystery Fiction and Modern Life examines works by Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, John Buchan, Eric Ambler, Dashiell Hammett, Ross Macdonald, Tony Hillerman, Agatha Christie, Helen MacInnes, Patricia Cornwell, Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, Anthony Price, and others.
Subjects: American Detective and mystery stories, American fiction, Crime in literature, Detective and mystery stories, American, Detective and mystery stories, English, English Detective and mystery stories, English fiction, History and criticism, Literature and society, Detective and mystery stories, history and criticism, American fiction, history and criticism, 20th century, English fiction, history and criticism, 20th century, English fiction, history and criticism, 19th century, Popular culture, History, Littérature et société, Histoire, Roman américain, Histoire et critique, Roman anglais, Criminalité dans la littérature, LITERARY CRITICISM, American, General
Places: English-speaking countries
Time periods: 20th century
LC classification: PS374.D4 K45 1998