The Origins of the American Detective Story
(2006).
By LeRoy Lad Panek.
Paperback.
ISBN-13: 978-0786427765
Edgar Allan Poe essentially invented the
detective story in 1841 with Murders in the Rue Morgue. In the years that
followed, however, detective fiction in America saw no significant progress as
a literary genre. Much to the dismay of moral crusaders like Anthony Comstock,
dime novels and other sensationalist publications satisfied the public's hunger
for a yarn. Things changed as the century waned, and eventually the detective
was reborn as a figure of American literature. In part these changes were due
to a combination of social conditions, including the rise and decline of the
police as an institution; the parallel development of private detectives; the
birth of the crusading newspaper reporter; and the beginnings of forensic
science. Influential, too, was the new role model offered by a wildly popular
British import named Sherlock Holmes.
Focusing on the late 19th century and early
20th, this volume covers the formative years of American detective fiction.
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