Murder by the Book? is a thorough - and thoroughly enjoyable - look at the blossoming genre of the feminist crime novel in Britain and the United States. Sally Munt asks why the form has proved so attractive as a vehicle for oppositional politics; whether the pleasures of detective fiction can be truly transgressive; and when exactly it was that the dyke detective appeared as the new super-hero for today. Along the way Munt poses some critical questions about the relations between fiction and activism, politics and representations, the writer and the reader. This will be an enticing book both for addicts of the genre and for teachers and their students.
Author(s): Sally Rowe Munt
Year: 1994
Language: English
Pages: 272
Book Cover......Page 1
Half-Title......Page 2
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Dedication......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Acknowledgements......Page 8
1 Masculinity and masquerade or ‘Is that a gun in your pocket?’......Page 10
2 The New Woman—a sheep in wolves’ clothing?......Page 38
3 A case of ‘death by political correction’?......Page 66
4 ‘A change is gonna come’?......Page 90
5 The inverstigators......Page 126
6 Murdering the inner man?......Page 152
7 ‘What does it mean to sing “somewhere over the rainbow” and release balloons?’......Page 174
8 An unsuitable genre for a woman?......Page 196
Notes......Page 212
Fictional bibliography......Page 242
Critical bibliography......Page 248
Index......Page 260
