Crime and the Printed Word

The two principal professions which produce factual and imaginative writing for the general public are journalism and literature, but many ancillary occupations are associated with writing and publishing. Reporters, authors, editors, literary agents, book designers, illustrators, printers, and booksellers all have specific skills and personal agendas which may bring them into conflict with each other while they are ostensibly working toward common goals – publication and sales. Political or religious beliefs, ambition, greed, envy, jealousy, or revenge may lead to crime among these talented individuals before or after publication. Even readers and book collectors play important roles. Some crimes are particular to this world, such as the suppression of information and falsification of facts in journalism or plagiarism and counterfeit editions in book publishing. These crimes are especially onerous and, when exposed in black and white, may incite murder.

 


 

BOOK COVER

In Jim Kelly’s The Funeral Owl Philip Dryden, editor of two local Norfolk newspapers, The Crow and Ely Express, reveals the behind-the-scenes work of producing the provincial press. Dryden finds himself playing sleuth as he collects information on a local crime wave ranging from metal thefts and bootlegging to ritual murder. His sensitive nose for news and knowledge of the local area and its residents enable Dryden to discover facts vital to the police. So he forms a prickly partnership with Inspector George Friday in which they exchange news for mutual benefit. However, Friday strictly controls the release of their findings lest premature publication jeopardize police operations. So Dryden constantly frets that he will miss a deadline. Further tension is created because Dryden never completely trusts the police, suspecting them of shoddy work and a
preference for a quick fix over the truth.

 


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John Dunning's Bookman's Wake considers the art of printing from font design and paper choice, to layout of the text and the creation of unique variants. Artistic talent and taste inform every aspect of production when a gifted printer strives to create a physical artefact worthy of the literary genius of the work it contains. When bookseller and bibliophile Cliff Janeway embarks on a dangerous quest to find a unique copy of E.A. Poe's The Raven, he is motivated by his belief that "A magnificent picture is never worth a thousand perfect words. Ansel Adams can be a great artist, but he can never be Shakespeare." Language is essential to plumb the depths of the human condition. Janeway also reveals great familiarity with the book trade during his search.

 

 


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Full of ironic humor, Peter Lovesey's Bloodhounds focuses on consumers of the printed word in the form of a crime fiction reading group named the Bloodhounds. Although readers play a vital role a symbiotic relationship with authors, in Bloodhounds Lovesey pokes gentle fun at the foibles of fans. The ill-assorted members meet weekly to discuss their favorite genres and authors. Within a locked room murder mystery (á la John Dickson Carr), Lovesey parodies generic features, writers, and characters as members discuss their literary preferences and reveal their intolerances. They are challenged to solve the theft of a rare postage stamp when it turns up in their midst at a meeting, followed shortly by the discovery of a dead body on a member's houseboat.

 


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Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose (content coming soon!)

 

 

 

 

 


 

Crime and Comedy

COMEDY is a term which comprehends many meanings from a broad philosophical distinction between a positive and a negative worldview, as in Greek theatre, to farcical prat falls and wisecracks which generate giggles and guffaws. Crime and comedy may seem strange bedfellows, but comic characters, situations, and episodes have appeared in detective fiction from the early years of the genre. Scores of parodies of different types of mystery stories have been published mocking generic conventions as well as individual writers and characters. Caricatures have exposed ridiculous behavior in crime novels of manners, and the detective as clown has delighted readers as he strives to extricate himself from perilous scrapes or indulges in high jinks while trying to solve a murder mystery. In addition there is the amusing word play employing double entendre or sly innuendos as opposed to physical farce encountered in wild chase scenes. Comedy is a serious genre because it strives to expose human folly and vice, a goal which it shares with the crime novel. So they are not such strange bedfellows after all.

 


 

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In the theatre comedies of manners have ridiculed unhealthy, anti-social, pretentious, and absurd behavior of the upper social echelons in order to encourage reform. Comedy also flourishes in genre fiction and scores of different types of mystery stories. Robert Robinson's Landscape with Dead Dons (1956) – relying on caricature, situational irony, and word play – exposes the rarefied, ego-centric, complacent, narrow-minded, ignorant, prejudiced attitudes and values of university dons and staff. Although it employs physical humour in the farcical treatment of the corpse of the college president and the spectacular prat fall at the climax, the sequestered environment and hothouse atmosphere of the university as well as the precious and precocious behavior of its denizens are mocked and censured. It deals with both vicious and foolish aspects of human behavior.

 


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Margery Allingham's More Work for the Undertaker is set in a quiet enclave of London in the aftermath of World War II. The immediate locale resembles the traditional social structure of an English village with its important family in their grand house and various professional practitioners and tradesmen nearby to cater to their needs. But the ravages of war have altered reality and produced unwelcome changes in this once secure neighborhood which many find difficult to accept. Underneath the fragile surface calm dark forces with far reaching social tentacles are at work, so Albert Campion and Lugg must work under cover to thwart the spread of evil as they confront bizarre, often grotesque, circumstances iin this black comedy.

 

 


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In Colin Watson's The Flaxborough Crab Inspector Purbright is perplexed by a series of sexual assaults on young women by elderly men who chase them by running sideways in a crab-like manner. When one of the villains dies in pursuit in an accidental drowning, an inquest is held which suggests that he was suffering from a serious disorder of the central nervous system caused either by a prescription drug or a herbal diet supplement called Samson's Salad. Whatever the cause, it must be identified to stop further attacks. Investigation brings to light the vices and follies of a wide range of Flaxborough's citizens and ends ultimately in an unholy alliance between Purbright and Miss Lucilla Teatime, small-time con artist.

 

 


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Any regular reader of Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr mysteries might experience some surreal moments in The Burglar in the Library. Consummate urbanite Bernie, accompanied by his pet groomer pal Carolyn and his cat Raffles, becomes snowbound in an English style country inn called Cuttleford House. In pursuit of an important book, Bernie unexpectedly finds himself in the middle of a traditional whodunit plot ala Agatha Christie with a body in the library and a typical assortment of ill-assorted hotel guests. All communication with the outside world has been cut off so Bernie must solve the case as both the snow and the bodies continue to pile up.

 

 


 

Detective Partnerships - The Odd Couples

Detective partners are often "uneasy bedfellows" – ill matched couples in a close working relationship. However, the friction between them generates competitive energy yielding positive results. From the beginning of the genre the opposing views of complementary characters have opened alternate paths of investigation and stimulated insights to solve crimes. Meet some intriguing odd couples in the whodunits of William D. Montalbano, Kate Ellis, Frank Tallis, Ruth Dudley Edwards and Charles Todd.
 


 

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William D. Montalbano's Basilica opens with a dramatic murder as a priest plummets from the gallery in St. Peter's dome. Montalbano pairs a very odd couple in a fast-paced thriller which moves between Miami and Rome as Paul Lorenzo, a burnt out police officer cum religious brother, and Ricardo ("Tredi") Sanchez de Arellano, recently elected Pope, battle to defeat a powerful Caribbean drug cartel which is using a Vatican bureau to launder money. Montalbano exposes internecine power struggles as Tredi tries to reform outmoded ideas, attitudes, and structures within the church. Both men embark on a spiritual journey as Paul investigates several murders which occur. Tredi gives Paul information to advance the inquiries but cannot act directly himself because of his role as Pope. Secondary characters are interesting and well drawn, especially Luther, a would-be priest, and Tilly, a feminist former nun.

 

 


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Detective Chief Inspector Gerry Heffernan, career cop of the old school, and Sergeant Wesley Peterson, university graduate and amateur archaeologist, are polar opposites except for their dedication to catching crooks in Kate Ellis' police procedural The Bone Garden. Middle-aged Gerry is unkempt, disorganized, physically awkward, overweight, and tactless – rather like a bull in a china shop. Wesley, on the other hand, is young, neatly dressed, well mannered, articulate, educated, empathetic, scrupulous in following rules, and analytical. They are called in to investigate the murder of a traveler in a caravan park and discover a newspaper clipping which links him to the restoration of an 18th century property destined to become an arts center, where excavations in the gardens uncover other older murders among skeletal remains. Wesley is able to exercise his detective skills to solve past and present murders.

 

 


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As usual in Frank Tallis' books, in Death and the Maiden Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt consults his friend Dr. Max Liebermann, Freudian psychoanalyst, to solve the puzzling murder of Ida Rosenkrantz, celebrated soprano at the Viennese opera. The autopsy reveals that while sedated she was suffocated when someone sat on her chest, cutting off her air supply and breaking a rib. The case is highly political because the mayor has numbered among her recent lovers and scandal could ruin his chances of re-election. Intense rivalry at the opera house also reveals motives among professional colleagues. Rheinhardt must navigate carefully between powerful factions as he follows up leads which threaten both the royal and the civil seats of power. The inquiry is also impeded by anti-semitism when Liebermann expresses professional theories. What unites this unlikely pair of sleuths is a mutual love of music, which they share with the reader. As Rheinhardt sings lieder to Liebermann's piano accompaniment, Tallis reveals a rare talent for translating musical expression into language.

 

 


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In the latest adventure of Ruth Dudley Edwards' odd couple, Publish and Be Murdered, retired civil servant Robert Amiss, appointed pro-tem business manager, and swashbuckling Baroness "Jack" Troutbeck, columnist and trustee, try to sort out organizational problems at a venerable political journal called The Wrangler only to be confronted with the "accidental" death of an alcoholic staff writer followed by the murder of the self-serving editor. Edwards lampoons the reactionary values which have resulted in a complete inversion of normal business practices and hence protect an editor who subverts the avowed mission of the journal, a circulation manager who doesn't keep track of subscribers, an advertising manager whose methods are hopelessly out of date, and typists using antiquated machines instead of computers. Other staff members include caricatures such as the Dickensian Uriah Heep counting pencils; disorderly, bickering copy editors reminiscent of the Mad Hatter; and a termagant at reception equal to the worst excesses of the Red Queen. In the midst of this maelstrom, Amiss manages to isolate the vital clue which unravels the mystery.

 

 


 

Crime and Religion

Religion has always been a powerful influence in society, from mankind's earliest attempts to understand the human condition and to propitiate the powerful forces governing the universe. Many manifestations of supernatural intervention in human affairs, recorded since ancient times, have subsequently been given rational explanations as human beings have gained greater knowledge of the physical universe. For example, the discovery that the cryptic utterings of the Delphic oracle were produced by hallucinogenic gases resulting from subterranean earthquakes. The 20th century witnessed the rise of secularism in many parts of the world because religious beliefs were discredited as ignorant and reactionary.
 


 

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Zoe Ferraris' Finding Nouf presents the problems faced by a female forensic scientist and a male desert guide, who are forbidden by Islam to meet because they are not married to each other, as they try to solve the murder of a young girl found dead in the desert. This book focuses on the social problems created by the rigid Islamic restrictions governing gender roles, rather than spiritual issues.

 

 


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In Tony Hillerman's Ghostway, Navajo police officer Jim Chee experiences internal conflict between his rational understanding of religious practices and his beliefs in the Navajo Way. A shoot-out, in which LA car thief Albert Gorman kills a gang hit man, sends Chee in pursuit of the culprit. The gunman's trail leads directly to Ashie Begay's deserted hogan (house) whose north wall has a hole chopped in it. This is customary after someone dies inside to prevent his chindi (ghost) from infecting it. Chee's fear of contracting ghost sickness, possession by the evil spirit of the deceased, delays his search of the hogan. When he finally risks entry, his knowledge of Navajo customs and beliefs enables him to find religious artifacts which propel the investigation in new directions.


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Tarquin Hall's whodunit, The Man Who Died Laughing, involves an attempt by Dr. Suresh Jha, founder of the Delhi Institute for Rationalism, to expose religious fakery and superstition, in particular the deliberate exploitation of a credulous public for profit, power and fame by a prominent guru, Maharaj Swami. When Dr. Jha is murdered in a public park by an apparition of the Goddess Kali, P. I. Vish Puri must decide whether he was killed by supernatural means or slain by mortal man. The narrative focuses on the fine line between miracles and magic and queries whether miracles actually occur. Hall's tale reveals some surprising truths about the role of religion in India and the complex attitudes of Indian people toward spiritual matters. As the narrative unfolds, Hall gently mocks the tradition of the P.I. detective story, both adopting and inverting features of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous superman sleuth, Sherlock Holmes.

 


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Sharan Newman's The Outcast Dove depicts the tensions simmering beneath the surface in the tenuous accord between Christian and Jewish residents in 12th century Toulouse. The shaky toleration is exemplified when a small group of Jews bound for Navarre to rescue a merchant's fiancé joins a Christian expedition to Valencia to ransom knights taken in battle with Saracens at Al-Andalus. Before leaving, a young monk Victor is murdered and some of the ransom money goes missing. The general hostility among the party of travelers is exacerbated by personal animosities. Heading the group of monks from the priory of Saint Pierre de Cuisines, Brother James, a Christian convert who abandoned his Jewish family, is actually Solomon's father. Solomon has never forgiven him for his desertion. Enmity based on prior military conflicts, also exists between Solomon and Jehan of Blois, leader of the monks' security escort. These personal grudges threaten the success of the mission. Beliefs, rituals, and customs of both faiths provide a rich background.


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William Kienzle's The Rosary Murders Father Bob Koesler works with the Detroit police Lt. Walter Koznicki to track down a serial killer of priests and nuns who twines a rosary around the lifeless left hand of his victims. The book discloses the conflict between traditional and contemporary approaches in dealing with human behavioral problems, i.e. 'sins.' The aftermath of Vatican II finds both clergy and laity sharply divided. Its rulings devastated conservative Roman Catholics while liberals felt it didn't go far enough. The characters in this whodunit are all Catholics so readers view the problems through the eyes of the faithful. Father Bob Koesler, editor of the diocesan weekly newspaper and part time priest, must mediate between various factions in discussing controversial issues in print and as he performs parish duties. Kienzle reveals the incompetence, hypocrisy, and corruption of Koesler's colleagues which strain his conscience and his compassion. His personal conflict is heightened when he realizes that the perpetrator of the murders of nuns and priests has confessed his crimes and their motive, but he cannot violate the sanctity of the confessional to help prevent further murders.


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In Eliot Pattison's Water Touching Stone Shan Tao Shun, a former Beijing police inspector living in exile in a remote Tibetan monastery, leaves his Buddhist sanctuary to investigate the death of a Tibetan teacher in Chinese-occupied Xinjiang province. One by one Lau's displaced orphaned students, who live with foster families among the nomadic Kazakh herding tribes, are being murdered by a demonic figure who slashes their clothes and steals a shoe. This book discloses the attempts by the oppressive Chinese regime to obliterate the Tibetans' cultural identity by outlawing their religion and destroying their traditional way of life by replacing herding with agriculture and justifying it on economic grounds. Shan must work covertly to protect the surviving boys. As he searches for information among the local rural people, he must sift through entrenched beliefs comprised of myth and superstition to find the truth and apprehend a vicious serial killer.


 

 

Crime in the Arts

Crimes occur in the museums, art galleries and ateliers, in concert halls and opera houses, on stage and backstage, in authors; studies and libraries. Most art crimes involve forgery or theft, but ambition, jealousy, and revenge can also lead to murder. Are crime among the virtuosi and literati more ingenious, imaginative, and elegant? Is an artist above the law if he commits a crime while creating a masterpiece? Explore these issues in the artful whodunits of Michael Gruber, Barbara Paul, Reginald Hill, John Dunning, and Ellen Pall.

Human nature being what it is, crimes occur in all walks of life and the arts are no exception. Murders happen in museums, art galleries, concert halls, theatres and the opera house. This course deals with crimes involving painting, drama, music, sculpture, literature, and architecture.

The artist has always had special status in society. Dating back to the ancient Greeks who believed poetry was divine, conferred directly by the gods the poet's role was to guide humans through the wisdom and beauty of his words. The ecstatic prophecies of the priests of the oracles were regarded as divine inspiration, and "the poet was identified with the seer," so a tradition of associating poets with madness grew which is still with us today. And not merely poets but all artists, especially painters.


 

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The Renaissance revenge tragedy, inspired by Seneca's tragedy of blood, informs the plot of Barbara Paul's The Fourth Wall, as a series of murders threatens to close a Broadway show. The author produces a tour de force as she observes the conventions of both the Elizabethan drama and the modern whodunit.

 

 


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Our first book, Michael Gruber's The Forging of Venus, deals with a drug-induced altered state of consciousness which enables a painter not merely to imitate the style of a Velazquez but to imagine and create a previously unknown masterpiece. Questions in the book include whether he has been divinely inspired and whether he should escape prosecution because he has created a work of genius.

 

 


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One of the most difficult tasks an author can undertake is writing about music –- an abstract art form -- evoking its qualities so that the reader falls under its spell. Reginald Hill not only achieves this minor miracle but manages to employ Mahler’s “Kindertoten Lieder” to develop character and invoke theme in his tale of a drowned town in the Yorkshire dales, On Beulah Height.

 

 


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The illicit traffic in stolen antiques and their forgery form the basis of the plot in Tasha Alexander's Only to Deceive set in 19th century London and Paris.

 






BOOK COVER

John Dunning's Booked to Die takes readers into the twilight world of the secondhand book trade in modern American writers. Not concerned with the actual creation of literature but with the market it generates, this tale depicts the rabid enthusiasm of the book collector and the dealers who pander to this addiction.

 






 

New Blood: First Novel Award Winners

BOOK COVER

A surprising number of awards are conferred annually in the genre of Detective Fiction by professional organizations like Mystery Writers of America and the Crime Writers Association of the UK as well as by libraries, journals, and fan groups. The journal Mystery Readers International awards the Macavity and Deadly Pleasures gives the Barry. A cross section of fans, authors, editors and agents vote at conventions like Bouchercon for the Anthony and Malice Domestic for the Agatha. The cherished MWA Edgars and the CWA Daggers recognize best first novels. Discussion will canvass the chances for future fame of Louise Penny (CWA 2006), Tana French (Edgar 2008), Attica Locke (MWA 2009), and Johan Theorin (CWA 2009).

 

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Murder in Faraway Places

Human nature is the same all over the globe, so crimes and crime solving occur worldwide. Detective fiction also flourishes abroad. In addition to exciting puzzle plots, whodunits set in faraway places often offer evocative descriptions of foreign locales and interesting insights into the indigenous culture -- including the customs, values, attitudes, employment and amusements of the local people. This term we will examine how crimes are investigated in Italy, Australia, Japan, Sweden and/or Russia. So become an armchair traveler and satisfy your wanderlust vicariously following the literary trails of Michael Donna Leon, Peter Temple, Barbara Cleverly, and Henning Mankell.

BOOK COVER

John Dunning's Booked to Die takes readers into the twilight world of the secondhand book trade in modern American writers. Not concerned with the actual creation of literature but with the market it generates, this tale depicts the rabid enthusiasm of the book collector and the dealers who pander to this addiction.

 






BOOK COVER

John Dunning's Booked to Die takes readers into the twilight world of the secondhand book trade in modern American writers. Not concerned with the actual creation of literature but with the market it generates, this tale depicts the rabid enthusiasm of the book collector and the dealers who pander to this addiction.

 






BOOK COVER

John Dunning's Booked to Die takes readers into the twilight world of the secondhand book trade in modern American writers. Not concerned with the actual creation of literature but with the market it generates, this tale depicts the rabid enthusiasm of the book collector and the dealers who pander to this addiction.

 






BOOK COVER

John Dunning's Booked to Die takes readers into the twilight world of the secondhand book trade in modern American writers. Not concerned with the actual creation of literature but with the market it generates, this tale depicts the rabid enthusiasm of the book collector and the dealers who pander to this addiction.

 






 


The Detective as Outsider

BOOK COVER

From his first appearancer in literature, the detective has been an eccentric figure; e.g., Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Philo Vance, Sam Spade, and Nero Wolfe. In the second half of the twentieth century, this literary tradition has led to a great many sleuths who can be considered "outsiders" because of their social class, race, ethnicity, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, age as well as physical and mental disabilities. Their marginal status has not prevented them from attracting loyal readers. Indeed, their special outlook and the challenges they face may even have contributed to their appeal. This course will explore the extent to which the detective's outsider status affects his/her character and ability to solve crimes Is it integral to the events in the story or just an intriguing background? Reading list will include authors such as Walter Mosley, Jane Haddam, Jeffrey Deaver, and Val McDermid.

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Out of the Past: Truth Will Out

BOOK COVER

The old adage "Truth will out" lies at the heart of many detective stories in which past villainy haunts and incites present day crimes as the villain tries to ensure that evil deeds remain buried. The discussion will explore this concept in novels by Peter Temple, Mark Mills, Peter Robinson, Stieg Larsson, and/or Dorothy L. Sayers.

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