“Snow” by John Banville Published October 6, 2020 “Snow” by John Banville is an historical novel that uses the classic cozy mystery format to reveal more than just whodunit. Detective Inspector St. John Strafford (that’s Strafford with an “r,” as he diligently points out in nearly every introduction) is a Dublin detective sent south to the County […]
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By Connie Willis Published in 1997 A science and mystery fiction mash-up with plenty of historical flair There isn’t an assassination attempt in To Say Nothing of The Dog, if we don’t count a cat being saved from first degree drowning by a mindful time traveler enthralled by the creature, extinct in her own time. […]
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Was Sherlock Holmes a real person? What’s the difference between a crime novel and a mystery novel? What really happened to all the TP? Survey mystery fiction and its conventions, from the genre’s 19th-century origins to the classic Golden Age puzzle to its many postmodern manifestations. Writers to be studied will include Edgar Allan Poe, […]
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Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel tells the story of Sierva Maria de Todos los Angeles, a girl neglected by her parents who finds in the Yoruba faith of the slaves a refuge for her longings. In a South American seaport of the eighteenth-century, Sierva is bitten by a dog while she walked on the streets with […]
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In Finch, we witness one very difficult week of detective John Finch, “Finchy” as his beloved partner Wyte calls him, while he tries to solve an impossible murder case. Living in the dystopian city of Ambergris that is slowly decaying and putrefying after the “Rising” of the Grey Caps, the powerful colonizers of this once magnificent city, Finch […]
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The Physicists is a satiric drama written by Durrenmatt in 1962. Despite belonging to the genre of satiric drama, The Physicists resembles elements of a mystery fiction. The plot takes place at a sanatorium run by psychiatrist Mathilde von Zahnd. She takes care of three mentally ill patients, who each believe they are Sir Isaac […]
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by Michelle Dean 9/03/14 9:25am Link: http://review.gawker.com/what-takes-a-mystery-novel-to-another-level-a-q-a-with-1629500294 Tana French’s Dublin murder mystery novels, of which the new release The Secret Place is the latest, always hit the bestseller lists. But her readers are a proud cult in my experience, always happy to find another fan to discuss them with. She has a talent for lighting up […]
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Berkeley Mystery Fiction 