Late Victorian Crime Fiction in the Shadows of Sherlock - (Crime Files) by C Clarke (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This book investigates the development of crime fiction in the 1880s and 1890s, challenging studies of late-Victorian crime fiction which have given undue prominence to a handful of key figures and have offered an over-simplified analytical framework, thereby overlooking the generic, moral, and formal complexities of the nascent genre.

Review Quotes

"Clarke also subjects the texts she investigates to a systematic and nuanced analysis, revealing their reflection of contemporary social reality, larger disputed issues, tensions, anxieties, and concerns. Indeed, there are many more forgotten detective narratives that lend themselves to this type of analysis, and are yet to be explored." (Haia Shpayer-Makov, Victorian Studies, Vol. 58 (4), 2016)

'This rigorous and passionate book will make you want to sprint to Project Gutenberg in search of the texts, as well as give you a keen appreciation of just why Victorian magazine editors vied to find the next Arthur Conan Doyle.' - Times Higher Education

About the Author

Clare Clarke is Assistant Professor of Nineteenth-Century Literature at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She specialises in detective fiction and the literature and culture of the late-Victorian era. Her research has been published in CLUES, Women's Writing, and Victorian Literature and Culture.