So, we know mysteries and mystery writing is incredibly popular. We also know that the first crime fiction originated and prospered in the UK in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The British whodunits had a charming ‘stiff upper lip’ genteel style where, on the surface at least, everyone had lovely manners and no blood or violence ever marred the pages.
But that was about to change when detective fiction went global, starting with a new wave across the pond, along the mean streets of America.
The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Private Dick
Post World War II introduced a new character from the United States, the private dick, a hard-boiled, smart-talking fallen angel from the Underwood typewriters of giants like Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and James M Cain.
These tough-guy outcasts—and they were always guys—gave as good as they got, skirting the lines of morality while usually solving the mystery at their personal expense.
The dialogue was snappy, the women voluptuous and the whiskey sour.
But that was just the start of the explosive global growth in the interest in murder, crime writing and detective fiction. C.S.I., anyone?
We’ll leave that for our next posting.
(And thanks to Islander Books for the vintage cover pic.)
