Detectives in the Shadows: A Hard-Boiled History

by Susanna Lee

Steadfast in fighting crime, but operating outside the police force--and sometimes even the law--is the private detective. Driven by his own moral code, he is a shadowy figure in a trench coat standing on a street corner, his face most likely obscured by a tilted fedora, a lit cigarette dangling from his hand. The hard-boiled detective is known by his dark past, private pain, and powers of deduction. He only asks questions--never answers them. In his stories he is both the main character and the narrator.

America has had a love affair with the hard-boiled detective since the 1920s, when Prohibition called into question who really stood on the right and wrong side of the law. And nowhere did this hero shine more than in crime fiction. In Detectives in the Shadows, literary and cultural critic Susanna Lee tracks the evolution of this truly American character type--from Race Williams to Philip Marlowe and from Mike Hammer to Jessica Jones.

Lee explores how this character type morphs to fit an increasingly troubled world, offering compelling interpretations of The Wire, True Detective, and Jessica Jones. Suddenly, in the present day, the hard-boiled detective wears his--or her--fatigue outwardly, revealing more vulnerability than ever before. But the detective remains resolute in the face of sinister forces, ever the person of honor. For anyone interested in crime fiction and television, or for those wanting to understand America's idolization of the good guy with a gun, Detectives in the Shadows is essential reading.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mystery, History

232 pages, Hardcover

First published June 2, 2020

Reviews

[Two Envelopes And A Phone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough book to rate - I thought about whether this book deserves 4 stars from me, not three - but I still recommend it to anyone interested in a fairly quick overview and analysis of the hard-boiled subgenre of Crime & Mystery fiction. Notice I said ‘overview’, and ‘analysis’...and did not use the word the book uses to label itself: ‘history’.

This is not my, personal, ‘dream history’ of the hard-boiled genre - in that it cherry-picks obvious, well-known examples of the hard-boiled detective, follows that line-up of rumpled individualists from decade to decade, and forms whatever arguments it makes based on only those ‘celebrity’ cases. Race Williams (okay, he’s kind of forgotten), Sam Spade, the Continental Op, Mike Hammer, Spenser, and - as the book basically leaves novels and short stories behind in favour of TV - Harry Orwell, Jim Rockford, The Wire, True Detective, and Jessica Jones. That’s what you get; that is the history of hard-boiled on offer here. Lew Archer is ignored, and Milhone and Warshawski get mentions but not much attention. Putting it in its worst light...if you told me the author got assigned this topic as a book she should write, I would say it’s possible she has not read expansively in the genre and so boned up on the big names, and switched over to TV so as to avoid the alternate history of hard-boiled - again more my dream history of the topic - including Fredric Brown, Ed Lacy, Raoul Whitfield, and on and on through books, books more books, archetypes and outliers, neglected and semi-neglected...plus more talk of films to come from those books.

Fortunately, whatever she has read or not read notwithstanding, the book - while taking the safest and most obvious path through the hard-boiled wilderness - has some interesting things to say. I certainly come out of it wanting to watch The Wire, the first Season of True Detective, and Jessica Jones. When it comes to the broader appeal of this book - and I would say it’s related more to analysis than history - it’s an entertaining look at the evolution of the hard-boiled detective from 1922 to 2018 - what happened, to get us from Race Williams, to Jessica Jones, basically. Oh, and the 1960s are kind of a blip, but I guess the author couldn’t get around that; as she remarks, the 1960s were not a stand-out decade for the hard-boiled genre. But besides that, she takes things, generally in compelling fashion, from decade to decade. It does get tied to whatever was going on in the USA at the time whatever hard-boiled detective was popular (and representative of whatever optimism or disillusionment was prevalent in the United States of America during the era...mostly disillusionment after the 1920s, when the first recognizable, and now obscure, hard-boiled heroes were more confident, and not prone to introspection, or...thought).

Some discussion of the role of women throughout the history of hard-boiled fiction (this is a serious, and much-needed case of something evolving through time...thank goodness), and the advent of better representation than just another white male. The book also deals with the political context that co-exists with whatever hard-boiled entertainment was being provided at the time - and how this affected what a hard-boiled detective thought and felt about society, and what he or she fought against, hopefully always with a sense of that keyest of keywords : Honor.

I’m not political by nature - though I’m more politically aware than I have ever been in my life - but I think I would tell you this: as the history of US politics and Presidents is worked through in this book, I think it’s fair to say this book will be enjoyed more by Democrats than Republicans. I don’t know how someone would see it otherwise; I’m talking about the book’s assessments of Carter and Reagan, and then of course the paragraphs dealing with Obama and then Trump. Relating this back to the hard-boiled genre, I guess if you have a falling out with this book, it’s because you didn’t want a book about the history of hard-boiled detectives to be so tied to this kind of discussion. I found it interesting...and just when she’s blathered on enough about politics and the people of each era, she brings in the hard-boiled detectives that were, it seems, a response, in some ways, to US politics, race and gender issues, and the effect of social media on political thought and how people receive and filter political news. Or any news. What does this have to do with all things hard-boiled? Well, you’ll have to read the book.

This is a very streamlined, big-names-only-please ‘history’ of the hard-boiled detective. You will not be allowed off the path. But I threw away my expectations after seeing that 20 authors I wanted discussed - even quickly - were not in the Index, and noticed ‘oh, so, instead of that I’m gonna get analysis of a lot of TV shows I did not watch’. And I learned about an important author in the genre that I had never heard of, before this book. Feeling a little ashamed, is this supposedly eclectic reader who covers all the bases. Apparently not. And I do want to watch the first season of True Detective.

[John Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been an interesting book except for all the political speeches.
At first this book discusses the detective story from Poe to to the 1920's and a character named Race Williams, who is not afraid of anything or anybody, written by Carroll John Daly. From there we go to Hammett and Chandler with history of the Continental OP, Sam Spade. Philip Marlowe and the like.
Then after a long discussion of politics we jump into Mickey Spillaine's Mike Hammer, which gets us through the 50's and 60's. More political and social disasters till 1973 near the end of Nixon and Robert B. Parker's Spenser, which carries our tough but compassionate detective until Parker's death. Still carried on by other writer's.
TV comes with a slew of detectives but Rockford and Harry O (a personal favorite) come on the scene. Oh yes NBC's Mystery Movies and Mannix are briefly mention.
Skipping through the Carter years to Reagan, who greatly despised. We go to: the female detective are few and far between but Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky are mentioned along with a nod to Laura Lippmann and Marcie Muller.
In the end only Jessica Jones, Marvel superhero detective, yep she's got powers and a back story that will make you squirm, gets the most pages.

Recommended only for the Appendix with Selective Author's Fictional Works. Too much politics in a world gone mad.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

The opening chapters were okay. But soon they were infected by Lee's desire to preach her shallow, biased understanding of American history (FDR good, Jimmy Carter honest, all Republicans bad) and how people who like to read hard-boiled detective fiction are white supremacist male chauvinists. Toward the end, she focuses on TV police procedurals (in a book on hard-boiled detective fiction). I imagine that she sees the statist nature of police procedurals as a positive, but it was somewhat disconcerting. Of course, the book was published in June of 2020, which means it was probably finished in 2019, before the George Floyd killing.
This title was misleading. It was not a history of the genre. It was a highly political, selective analysis of the genre with the goal of criticizing one half the country and praising the statist side of the country. I'm just glad it was part of my membership with Audible. I would be even more disappointed if I had paid for it.

[JustEvan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book that started out well, but devolved into needless politics. While there is some merit to comparing the literature of the time with other larger points in the culture the author doesn't do so honestly. Democrat presidents are almost wholly blameless for anything bad going on and Republican presidents are singularly insidious on one hand and complete dunces on the other. Pages and pages of vitriol against Regan, while Carter is a sainted man, still teaching Sunday school who just had some bad luck.
If the book just stuck to the topic of noir detectives, it would have been fine and the general leftward lean of academic literature could be mostly overlooked with a mild eye-roll. But, no. It has to be shoved in with a crowbar and ruin everything.
Don't bother.

[Brooke · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are looking for a history of the hard-boiled detective story that focuses on the authors and characters, this isn't it. The introduction and first chapter were promising but then it becomes bogged down. The author spends more time describing the politics of a time period than the detectives. This one is going to the used book store at the library.

[Gwen - Chew & Digest Books - · Rating 3 out of 5]

This quickly got dark for me and not only did I struggle to finish it but I'm giving what used to be one of my favorite genres the side eye now.

Others have mentioned politics yet what struck me was that societal norms in general were pretty crappy.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good overview or introduction to the hard boiled detective. I liked to see how the detectives reflected the decades they were in. I’m ready for volume and learn ability some lesser known detectives.

[Leighton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about how cultural icons evolve with the culture they reflect. Reviews that rate it low for containing politics missed the point. If you would like a chronology of detective fiction, I HIGHLY recommend wikipedia.org

[A'Llyn Ettien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting overview of the 'hardboiled detective' character type as it has evolved over the decades.

[Simon Popek · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,0 ⭐️

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worthless.