Detective Fiction in a Postcolonial and Transnational World

Taking up a neglected area in the study of the crime novel this collection investigates the growing number of writers who adapt conventions of detective fiction to expose problems of law ethics and truth that arise in postcolonial and transnational communities. While detective fiction has been linked to imperialism and constructions of race from its earliest origins recent developments signal the evolution of the genre into a potent framework for narrating the complexities of identity citizenship and justice in a postcolonial world. Among the authors considered are Vikram Chandra Gabriel García Márquez Michael Ondaatje Patrick Chamoiseau Mario Vargas Llosa Suki Kim and Walter Mosley. The essays explore detective stories set in Latin America the Caribbean India and North America including novels that view the American metropolis from the point of view of Asian American African American or Latino characters. Offering ten new and original essays by scholars in the field this volume highlights the diverse employment of detective fictions internationally and uncovers important political and historical subtexts of popular crime novels.