Minette Walters and the Meaning of Justice


Book Description

Edgar Award-winning crime novelist Minette Walters is known for revitalizing the tradition of the stand-alone psychological thriller in books such as The Ice House, The Dark Room, Acid Row and Fox Evil. This book offers an in-depth analysis of Walters' narrative technique and examines the major themes found throughout her work, including truth and justice, the treatment of children, patterns of victimization, British social issues, body image and body politics, the fashioning of identity, and heroism and evil in society. In addition, it includes a valuable interview with Walters.




Crime Writers


Book Description

This invaluable resource provides information about and sources for researching 50 of the top crime genre writers, including websites and other online resources. Crime Writers: A Research Guide is an easy-to-use launch pad for learning more about crime fiction authors, including those who write traditional mystery novels, suspense novels, and thrillers with crime elements. Emphasizing the best and most popular writers, the book covers approximately 50 contemporary authors, plus a few classics like Agatha Christie. Each entry provides a brief quotation that gives some indication of writing style; a biographical sketch; lists of major works and awards; and research sources, including websites, biographies, criticism, and research guides. There are also read-alikes for selected authors. Of special note is the inclusion of websites and other online resources, such as blogs and social networking sites, which are often overlooked in author-reference sources. The book also provides an overview of the genre and subgenres, a timeline, and a comprehensive bibliography. An ideal resource for genre studies and literature classes, this guide will also be invaluable to readers' advisors, book club leaders, students, and genre fans.







Martha Grimes Walks Into a Pub


Book Description

Since the 1979 discovery of her work in a slush pile at Little, Brown, Martha Grimes has gone on to publish more than 30 books, win international acclaim (and a Nero Wolfe Award) for her detective series, and develop a following of readers whose loyalty translates to repeated stays on the best-sellers lists. This collection of 10 critical essays provides an in-depth analysis of Grimes' oeuvre, principally the Richard Jury, Emma Graham, and Andi Oliver series. The essays address Grimes' themes of parental abandonment, loneliness, obsession, greed, mistaken and dual identity, the resilience of children, stunted romantic relationships and animal cruelty. Particular attention is paid to her engaging characters, strong sense of place and the comedy, which feature so strongly in her novels.




100 British Crime Writers


Book Description

100 British Crime Writers explores a history of British crime writing between 1855 and 2015 through 100 writers, detailing their lives and significant writing and exploring their contributions to the genre. Divided into four sections: ‘The Victorians, Edwardians, and World War One, 1855-1918’; ‘The Golden Age and World War Two, 1919-1945’; ‘Post-War and Cold War, 1946-1989’; and ‘To the Millennium and Beyond, 1990-2015’, each section offers an introduction to the significant features of these eras in crime fiction and discusses trends in publication, readership, and critical response. With entries spanning the earliest authors of crime fiction to a selection of innovative contemporary novelists, this book considers the development and progression of the genre in the light of historical and social events.




Home/Fronts


Book Description

In recent years, the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have had an impact on the UK rivalled only by Brexit and the global financial crisis. For people at home, the wars were ever-present in the media yet remained distant and difficult to apprehend. Janina Wierzoch offers an analytical survey of British contemporary war narratives in novels, drama, film, and television that seek to make sense of the experience. The study shows how the narratives, instead of reflecting on the UK`s role as invader, portray war as invading the British home. Home loses its post-Cold War sense of »permanent peace« and is recast as a home/front where war once again becomes part of what it means to be »us«.




Between the Dark and the Daylight


Book Description

Crime fiction’s biggest names have been rounded up for a truly impressive collection of 2008’s best short stories. Featuring authors like Michael Connelly, Charlaine Harris, and 2009 Edgar Award winner T. Jefferson Parker, this volume should be on the shelf of every mystery fan.




The Transformative Power of Literature and Narrative: Promoting Positive Change


Book Description

Narrative plays a central role for individual and collective lives - this insight has arguably only grown at a time of multiple social and cultural challenges in the 21st century. The present volume aims to actualize and further substantiate the case for literature and narrative, taking inspiration from Vera Nünning's eminent scholarship over the past decades. Engaging with her formative interdisciplinary work, the volume seeks to explore potentials of change through the transformative power of literature and narrative - to be harnessed by individuals and groups as agents of positive change in today's world. The book is located at the intersection of cognitive and cultural narratology and is concerned with the way literature affects individuals, how it works at an intersubjective level, enabling communication and community, and how it furthers social and cultural change.




The Tiger Woods Phenomenon


Book Description

The essays in this book arise from the premise that Tiger Woods is not simply a phenomenal player but is also an Everyman who has displayed all-too-human foibles and weaknesses. The first half of the collection focuses on Tiger's superman game and how he has affected, and been affected by, the golfing world. Works on the sport that examine this supreme golfer cannot capture the full significance of the Tiger Woods phenomenon, however. Unlike many other talented athletes, Woods has transcended his sport, becoming a cultural icon. In the second half of the book, scholars examine everyman Tiger, illustrating how his life reflects significant and often contentious issues within American culture and the world.




Women of Mystery


Book Description

And though she laments, "So many mysteries, so little time," she makes a good effort at mentioning "some of the best of the rest.""--BOOK JACKET.