Crime Uncovered

<p>The private investigator is one of the most enduring characters within crime fiction. From Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade - the hard-boiled loner trawling the mean streets - to Agatha Christie's Captain Hastings - the genteel companion in greener surrounds - the P. I. has taken on any number of guises. In <em>Crime Uncovered: Private Investigator</em> editors Alistair Rolls and Rachel Franks dive deep into crime literature and culture challenging many of the assumptions we make about the hardy P. I.</p><p>Assembling a cast of notable crime fiction experts including Stephen Knight and Carolyn Beasley the book covers characters from the whole world of international noir - Giorgio Scerbanenco's Duca Lambert Léo Malet's Nestor Burma and many more. Including essays on the genealogy and emergence of the protagonist in nineteenth-century fiction; interviews with crime writers Leigh Redhead Nick Quantrill and Fernando Lalana; and analyses of the transatlantic exchanges that helped to develop public perception of a literary icon <em>Crime Uncovered: Private Investigator</em> will redefine what we think we know about the figure of the P. I.</p><p>Rolls and Franks have engaged here the tension between the popular and scholarly that is inherent in any critical examination of a literary type along the way unraveling the mystery of the alluring enigmatic private investigator. <em>Crime Uncovered: Private Investigator</em> will be a handy companion for any crime fiction fan.</p>