Detective Fiction: The Theory (62 books)

A list of nonfiction books focusing on critical and literary study of the detective fiction genre: its tropes, conventions, legacy, et cetera. Works relating to the elements of crime, mystery, and other adjacent fiction are naturally acceptable (whereas those on true crime aren't. Please do not add true crime books to this list, nor any works of fiction by themselves).

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1	The Poetics of Murder: Detective Fiction and Literary Theory by Glenn W. Most (Editor) 4.18 avg rating — 11 ratings score: 100, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
1	How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America by Lee Child (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.14 avg rating — 764 ratings score: 100, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
1	Angel of Death (Inspector Sheehan Mysteries, #1) by Brian O'Hare (Goodreads Author) 4.21 avg rating — 873 ratings score: 100, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4	Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction: 0 (Critical Survey by Carl Rollyson (Goodreads Author) (Editor) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings score: 99, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4	Gardening Can Be Murder by Marta McDowell (Goodreads Author) 3.47 avg rating — 561 ratings score: 99, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
6	Theory and Practice of Classic Detective Fiction by Jerome H. Delamater 2.75 avg rating — 4 ratings score: 98, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
7	What About Murder? (1981-1991): A Guide to Books about Mystery and Detective Fiction by Jon L. Breen 4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings score: 97, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
8	100 Masters of Mystery and Detective Fiction by Fiona Kelleghan (Editor) 3.50 avg rating — 4 ratings score: 96, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
9	Make Mine a Mystery: A Reader's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction (Genreflecting Advisory Series) by Gary Warren Niebuhr 4.25 avg rating — 16 ratings score: 95, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction, The by Deane Mansfield-Kelley (Editor) 3.99 avg rating — 139 ratings score: 94, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
11	Reference Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction by Richard J. Bleiler really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5 ratings score: 93, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
12	Cliffsnotes Detective in Fiction by L. David Allen liked it 3.00 avg rating — 3 ratings score: 92, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
13	Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James 3.76 avg rating — 2,279 ratings score: 91, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
14	Narratives of Enclosure in Detective Fiction: The Locked Room Mystery by Michael L. Cook really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5 ratings score: 90, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
15	The Rise of the Detective in Early Nineteenth-Century Popular Fiction by Heather Worthington 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings score: 89, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
16	Victorian Detective Fiction and the Nature of Evidence: The Scientific Investigations of Poe, Dickens, and Doyle by Lawrence D. Frank liked it 3.00 avg rating — 9 ratings score: 88, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17	From Agatha Christie to Ruth Rendell: British Women Writers in Detective and Crime Fiction by Susan Rowland (Goodreads Author) 3.64 avg rating — 22 ratings score: 87, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
18	Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks by John Curran 4.20 avg rating — 10,002 ratings score: 86, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
19	Masters of the "Humdrum" Mystery: Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, Alfred Walter Stewart and the British Detective Novel, 1920-1961 by Curtis Evans 4.31 avg rating — 16 ratings score: 85, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	Whatever Happened to Sherlock Holmes?: Detective Fiction, Popular Theology, and Society by Robert S. Paul 3.80 avg rating — 5 ratings score: 84, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
21	The Case of Sherlock Holmes: Secrets and Lies in Conan Doyle's Detective Fiction by Andrew Glazzard 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings score: 83, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
22	Detective Fiction and the Rise of the Japanese Novel, 1880–1930 (Harvard East Asian Monographs) by Satoru Saitō 4.38 avg rating — 8 ratings score: 82, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
23	Murder Most Modern: Detective Fiction and Japanese Culture by Sari Kawana 3.90 avg rating — 31 ratings score: 81, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
24	The Imagination of Evil: Detective Fiction and the Modern World by Mary Evans 3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings score: 80, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
25	Guilty But Insane: Mind and Law in Golden Age Detective Fiction by Samantha Walton really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings score: 79, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
26	Detective Fiction and the Ghost Story: The Haunted Text by Michael Cook 3.14 avg rating — 7 ratings score: 78, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
27	Detective Fiction and the Problem of Knowledge: Perspectives on the Metacognitive Mystery Tale by Antoine Dechêne really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings score: 77, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
28	Art in Crime Writing: Essays on Detective Fiction by Bernard Benstock (Editor) 2.33 avg rating — 3 ratings score: 76, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
29	The Art of Detective Fiction by Warren Chernaik (Editor) 3.60 avg rating — 5 ratings score: 75, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
30	Detecting the Social: Order and Disorder in Post-1970s Detective Fiction by Mary Evans 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings score: 74, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
31	British Detective Fiction 1891–1901: The Successors to Sherlock Holmes by Clare Clarke really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6 ratings score: 73, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
32	Allusion in Detective Fiction: Shakespeare, the Bible and Dorothy L. Sayers by Jem Bloomfield (Goodreads Author) liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings score: 72, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
33	The Metaphysical Mysteries of G.K. Chesterton: A Critical Study of the Father Brown Stories and Other Detective Fiction by Laird R. Blackwell 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings score: 71, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
34	Morality and the Law in British Detective and Spy Fiction, 1880-1920 by Kate Morrison 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings score: 70, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
35	The Detective's Companion in Crime Fiction: A Study in Sidekicks by Lucy Andrew (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings score: 69, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
36	The Detective as Historian: History and Art in Historical Crime Fiction by Ray B. Browne 3.31 avg rating — 13 ratings score: 68, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
37	Ocular Proof and the Spectacled Detective in British Crime Fiction by Lisa Hopkins 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings score: 67, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
38	Detection and Its Designs: Narrative and Power in Nineteenth-Century Detective Fiction by Peter Thoms 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings score: 66, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	Philosophies of Crime Fiction by Josef Hoffmann 3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings score: 65, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
40	A Narratological Approach to Lists in Detective Fiction by Sarah J. Link liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings score: 64, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
41	Fear and Clothing: Dress in English Detective Fiction between the First and Second World Wars by Jane Custance Baker 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings score: 63, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
42	Chemical Crimes: Science and Poison in Victorian Crime Fiction by Cheryl Blake Price it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating score: 62, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
43	Medieval Crime Fiction: A Critical Overview by Anne McKendry 4.12 avg rating — 8 ratings score: 61, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
44	Animals in Detective Fiction by Ruth Hawthorn (Editor) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings score: 60, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
45	Unwilling Executioner: Crime Fiction and the State by Andrew Pepper really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings score: 59, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
46	Latin American Detectives against Power: Individualism, the State, and Failure in Crime Fiction by Fabricio Tocco 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings score: 58, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
47	Detecting Chinese Modernities: Rupture and Continuity in Modern Chinese Detective Fiction (1896–1949) by Yan Wei 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings score: 57, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
48	Jolly Good Detecting: Humor in English Crime Fiction of the Golden Age by Bruce Shaw liked it 3.00 avg rating — 4 ratings score: 56, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
49	The Figure on the Carpet: Detective Fiction and Literature by Martin Priestman 2.89 avg rating — 9 ratings score: 55, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
50	Agatha Christie and New Directions in Reading Detective Fiction by Alistair Rolls 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings score: 54, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
51	The Bible in Crime Fiction and Drama: Murderous Texts by Caroline Blyth (Editor) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating score: 53, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
52	Form and Ideology in Crime Fiction by Stephen Thomas Knight 3.30 avg rating — 10 ratings score: 52, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
53	The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction by Barry Forshaw 3.77 avg rating — 70 ratings score: 51, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
54	Bloody Murder: From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel by Julian Symons 3.81 avg rating — 228 ratings score: 50, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
55	Dime Novels and the Roots of American Detective Fiction by Pamela Bedore 3.57 avg rating — 7 ratings score: 49, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
56	Western and Hard-Boiled Detective Fiction in America: From High Noon to Midnight by Cynthia S. Hamilton 3.40 avg rating — 5 ratings score: 48, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
57	The Legendary Detective: The Private Eye in Fact and Fiction by John Walton 3.33 avg rating — 18 ratings score: 47, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
58	Truth to Post-Truth in American Detective Fiction by David Riddle Watson 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings score: 46, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
59	Detective Fiction in a Postcolonial and Transnational World by Nels Pearson 3.67 avg rating — 3 ratings score: 45, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
60	Sleuthing Ethnicity: The Detective in Multiethnic Crime Fiction by Dorothea Fischer-Hornung (Editor) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings score: 44, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
61	Crime Fiction as World Literature by David Damrosch (Editor) 3.67 avg rating — 6 ratings score: 43, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
62	Blood on the Table: Essays on Food in International Crime Fiction by Jean Anderson (Editor) 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings score: 42, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars