SOCIAL AND LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY IN MODERN BRITAIN THROUGH THE CONTEMPORARY DETECTIVE NOVEL
Received: 30th April 2021; Revised: 3rd August 2021, 4th December 2021; Accepted: 17th December 2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20319/pijss.2021.73.82103Keywords:
Society, Language, Diversity, Detective Fiction, Class, CrimeAbstract
The aim of this paper is twofold: to examine how present-day detective novels reflect Britain’s geographic, social, and linguistic diversities in a way that perhaps no other single genre of fiction does, and to consider how this differs from those works that are generally regarded as the classic examples in this field. Current writing in this category exhibits various characteristics that distinguish these works from older works, and these features are reviewed and possible reasons for the recent diversification considered. However, attention is also paid to the fact that there are, nonetheless, modern works which seem to more closely follow the model of the ‘traditional’ detective story. It is possible that there are two distinct trends involved, which overlap in some areas to complement each other in terms of filling the various niches in the readership of detective fiction. This is essentially an empirical study, based on the author’s extensive reading of detective fiction, both classic and contemporary, over a number of years. Although much of this was originally done as a hobby, personal observation of the extremely wide-ranging nature of the modern British detective novel led to a desire to examine the diversity of the genre in detail.
References
Abbott, R. (2013 -2021). DCI Tom Douglas Thrillers. Thomas & Mercer (Books 1-2), Black Dot Publishing (Books 3-10).
Allingham, M. (1929-1965/1968). Albert Campion Series. Various Publishers.
Beckham, B. (2015). Murder in Adland. (Daniel Skelgill Series). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Beckham, B. (2012-2021). Daniel Skelgill Series. Various publishers.
Beyer, C. (2017) Contemporary Crime Fiction: A Surfeit of Riches. American, British and Canadian Studies, 28(1): 5-16. https://doi.org/10.1515/abcsj-2017-0001
Billingham, M. (2014). The Bones Beneath. Atlantic Monthly Press. (Book 14 of the DI Tom Thorne Series, 2001-2020. Various publishers).
Brennan, G. (2014, September 30). Undercover. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Christie, A. (1920-1975). Hercule Poirot Series. The Bodley Head (first 2 books)/ William Collins & Sons.
Christie, A. (1930-1976). Jane Marple Series. William Collins & Sons.
Cleeves, A. (2006-2018). Shetland Series. Pan Macmillan.
Collins, P. (2011, January 7). The Case of the First Mystery Novelist. The New York Times Book Review:46. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/books/review/Collins-t.html
Collins, W. (1859-1860). The Woman in White. Serialized in Charles Dickens’ magazine, All the Year Round and Harper’s Weekly. Published as a book in 1860 by Sampson Low.
Collins, W. (1868). The Moonstone. Tinsley Brothers.
Crime Fiction Studies. (2020, March). Edinburgh University Press.
Dalgleish, J. M. (2018-2019). Dark Yorkshire Series. Hamilton Press.
Dalgleish, J. M. (2018-2020). Hidden Norfolk Series. Hamilton Press.
Deadgood.co.uk (2019, July 29). Top 8 crime novels set in Wales. Retrieved from https://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk/crime-fiction-set-in-wales/
Dennison, M. (2014, August 16th). Fifty years of Inspector Wexford – and a new detective on the block. The Spectator. Retrieved from https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/fifty-years-of-inspector-wexford-and-a-new-detective-on-the-block
Dexter, C. (1975-1999). Inspector Morse Series. Pan Macmillan (current publ
Doyle, A. C. (1887). A Study in Scarlet. First published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual.
Doyle, A. C. (1890). The Sign of the Four. Spencer Blackett.
Doyle, A. C. (1901-1902). The Hound of the Baskervilles. George Newnes.
Doyle, A. C. (11914-1915). The Valley of Fear. Smith, Elder & Co.
Ellis, J. (2010-2020). Nikki Galena & Joe Easter Series. Joffe Books.
Fandom. com (n. d.). Inspector Morse Wiki: Endeavour Morse. Retrieved from https://inspectormorse.fandom.com/wiki/Endeavour_Morse#
Fee, D. (2013-2020). DCI Ian Wilson Series. Mist Media.
Flynn, D. (2019, September 9). Is Crime Fiction the New Working-Class Novel? The Irish Times. Retrieved from https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/is-crime-fiction-the-new-working-class-novel-1.4010153
Free US and World Maps.com. (n.d.). Royalty Free Printable, Blank, United Kingdom and Ireland Map with Administrative District Borders and Names. Retrieved from https:// www.freeusandworldmaps.com/html/Countries/Europe%20Countries/UnitedKingdomPrint.html
Grainger, P. (2013-2018). DC Smith Series. Covey Publishing. /Self-published on Kindle.
Grainger, P. (2019-2020). Kings Lake Series.
Green, A., and Dalrymple, R. (2021). Playing at Murder: The Collaborative Works of the Detection Club. Crime Fiction Studies, 2(1): 63-78. https://doi.org/10.3366/cfs.2021.0034
Griffiths, E. (2009-2020). Dr. Ruth Galloway Series. Self-published on Kindle.
Haycraft, H. (1942 [1941]). Murder for Ppleasure: The life and times of the detective story. London: Peter Davies. (Cited in Hoffman, 2016).
Hill, L. (2017). Bloody Women: How Female Authors Have Transformed the Scottish Contemporary Crime Fiction Genre. American, British and Canadian Studies, 28(1): 52-71. Retrieved from https://www.storre.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/28045/1/Bloody%20Women_%20Female%20Authors.pdf.
Hoffman, M. (2016). Gender and Representation in British ‘Golden Age’ Crime Fiction. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53666-2
Isaac, J. (2014). The Truth Will Out. Legend Press. (DCI Helen Lavery Series).
Isaac, J. (2019). Deathly Silence. Legend Press. (DCI Helen Lavery Series).
Isaac, J. (2014-2019). DCI Helen Lavery Series. Self-published on Kindle (Book 1). Legend Press (Books 2 and 3).
James, P. D. (1962-2008). Adam Dalgleish Series. Simon & Schuster/Faber & Faber.
James, P. D. (1962-2008). Cordelia Gray Series. Simon & Schuster/Faber & Faber.
Kaplan C. (2013) ‘Queens of Crime’: The ‘Golden Age’ of Crime Fiction. In: Joannou, M. (Ed.), The History of British Women’s Writing, 1920–1945 (pp. 144-157). The History of British Women’s Writing (Series). Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137292179_9
Kidd, J. (2019). Things in Jars. Canongate Books.
Kirk, J. D. (2019-2020). DCI Logan Series. Zertex Crime.
Krier, L. M. (2015-2021). DI Ted Darling Series. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (Books 1, 7-9), Amazon Digital Services (Books 2-6, 10), LEMAS Publishing/Livres LEMAS (Books 11-17).
Leitch, T. (2020, September). The Many Pasts of Detective Fiction. Crime Fiction Studies 1(2):157-172. https://doi.org/10.3366/cfs.2020.0018
Luebering, J. E./Britannica, Editors of Encyclopedia (2007). Detective Story. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/detective-story-narrative-genre
McCall Smith, A. (1998-2020). The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series. Anchor Books (Books 1-20), Pantheon (Book 21).
McCleave, S. (2020-2021). DI Ruth Hunter/Snowdonia Murder Mystery Series.
McDermid, V. (1987-2003). Lindsay Gordon Series. Various publishers, currently published by Harper Collins.
McDermid, V. (2003-2018). Karen Pirie Series. Atlantic Monthly Press (Book 2 only published by Harper Collins).
Mc Dermid, V. (2014, November 15th). Val McDermid: the brillliant unconventional crime novels of Josephine Tey. The Telegraph. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/val-mcdermid-the-brillliant-unconventional-crime-novels-of-josephine-tey/
McGilloway, B. (2007-2012). Inspector Devlin Series. Constable (Books 1-3), Witness Impulse (Books 4 and 5).
McGilloway, B. (2011-2017). DS Lucy Black Series. Witness Impulse (Books 1 and 3), Constable (Books 2 and 4).
McGowan, C. (2013-2018). Paula Maguire Series. Headline.
Mackintosh, C. (2014). I Let You Go. Sphere.
McKinty, A. (2012-2018). DS Sean Duffy Series. Serpent’s Tail/Seventh Street Books.
Marcus, L. (2003). Detection and literary fiction. In Priestman, M. (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction (pp. 245-268). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521803993.015
Marsh, N. (1934-1982). Roderick Alleyn Series. Harper Collins (Diamond Anniversary Collection, 2009).
Marsons, A. (2015-2021). DI Kim Stone Series. Bookouture.
Martin, F. (2004-2020). Hillary Greene Series. Joffe Books.
Martin, F./Cato, J. (2010-2019). Jenny Starling Series. Joffe Books. (7 bks. Books 1-5 published under the alternate pen name Joyce Cato).
Martin, F. (2018-2020). Ryder & Loveday Series. HQ Digital.
May, P. (2011-2013). The Lewis Trilogy. Quercus Publishing Plc.
Neville, S. (2009-2014). DI Jack Lennon Series. Soho Press Inc./Soho Crime.
Neville, S. (2015-2016). DCI Serena Flanagan Series. Vintage Digital.
Phillips, M. (1989-1997). Sam Dean Series. Michael Joseph/St. Martin’s Press.
Quinn, A. (2012-2017). Inspector Daly Series. Open Road Integrated Media/Head of Zeus.
Rankin, I. (1987-2020). Inspector Rebus Series. Simon & Schuster/Macmillan.
Rendell, R. (1964-2013). Inspector Wexford Series. Various publishers.
Ross, L. J. (2014-2020). DCI Ryan Series. Kindle/Dark Skies Publishing.
Salkeld, J. J. (2015). A Half-Remembered Life. Herringbone Press. (Lakeland Murders Series).
Salkeld, J. J. (2015-2018). Natural Detectives Series. Herringbone Press.
Salkeld, J. J. (2014-2020). The Lakeland Murders Series. Herringbone Press.
Sayers, D. (1923-1937). Lord Peter Wimsey Series. Various publishers, but most books originally published by Gollancz.
Tey, J./Mackintosh, E. (1929-1952). DI Alan Grant Series. Simon & Schuster.
* N.B ‘Leicestershire’ is wrongly spelt as ‘Leichestershire’ in the map of the UK counties in 5.1 above.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Anne C. Ihata
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
