Detective Fiction: From Victorian Sleuths to the Present

During my holiday absence, I slowed my typical consumption of academic materials. Even though the postings in my little blog are not, by their very nature, a job (despite the laborious effort), I needed a short break! To paraphrase the old adage, however, the brain wants what the brain wants. I found myself slipping away from my preoccupation with remaining unoccupied: Listening to lectures on my mp3 player while others at family gatherings sat around espousing the worst kind of tripe about the American government, the United Nations, the Pope, etc.

I tried to pick a lecture series that seemed to be more entertaining fare than my typical consumption. Thus, with very little forethought, I began The Modern Scholar course Detective Fiction: From Victorian Sleuths to the Present.  Like Scholar lecture series I have completed before, Detective Fiction is divided into 14 lectures each with a length of approximately 30 minutes. The lecture series contains the following lectures: Lecture 1 Mysterious Origins, Lecture 2 Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, and the Victorian Era, Lecture 3 The Queen of Crime: Agatha Christie and the Golden Age, Lecture 4 Gifted Amateurs: Academics to Zoologists, Lecture 5 Private Investigators and Hard-boiled Heroes, Lecture 6 Cops, Capers, and Police Procedurals, Lecture 7 Spies Among Us: Espionage and Techno-thrillers, Lecture 8 In the Teeth of the Evidence: Lawyers and Legal Eagles, Lecture 9 Medicine for Murder: The Medical Mystery, Lecture 10 Probing the Past: Historical Detective Fiction, Lecture 11 Women of Mystery: Beyond Female Intuition, Lecture 12 International Intrigue: Detective Fiction Goes Global, Lecture 13 Investigating Identity: Ethnic Sleuths, and Lecture 14 Regional Sleuths and Future Trends in Detective Fiction.

The presenter for the course was M. Lee Alexander, Ph D., a visiting assistant professor of English at the College of William and Mary. Her CV indicated that she teaches detective fiction, creative writing, and “Tolkien and His Circle,” a course about the group of authors called “the Inklings.” Professor Alexander also teaches English as a second language (ESL) courses for graduate students. She has authored many scholarly articles and poems, and a chapbook of poetry called Observatory (2007). Dr. Alexander has presented scholarly papers concerning detective fiction, emphasizing the links between modern popular culture and the classic tradition at international conferences, including “Mr. Monk Meets Sherlock Holmes: Disability and the Consulting Detective” at Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes: Their Cultural Afterlives Conference at the University of Hull, England (2009), and “To Make a House a Holmes: Sherlockian Subtext of House, MD” at Sherlock Holmes: The Man and His Worlds Conference, Bennington College, Vermont (2010).

Detective fiction, as we know it, has its beginnings in American literature. Some of the first instances are Edgar Allan Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “Mystery of Marie Rogêt,” and “The Purloined Letter” in Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. However, William Godwin, an English journalist, political philosopher, and writer, is considered by many to have written the first detective novel, Caleb Williams in 1794. It describes the story of a wealthy squire named Ferdinando Falkland. Falkland tries to ruin the life of his secretary Caleb Williams after he discovers a secret about his employer’s past.

The big name in detective fiction, is, of course, Sherlock Holmes—the iconic character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Holmes stories were written in the Victorian era. Holmes defining characteristic as a detective was observation and deduction. The character was always the smartest man in the room. Other interesting facets of Holmes’ character were his eccentricities. Modern psychology might consider him to have Asperger's syndrome with a healthy dose of narcissism bordering on personality disorder. While these characteristics might have been debilitating in “real life” they often serve as catalysts for Holmes’ amazing abilities. Holmes often self-medicates, particularly with opium.

The rest of the course looks at how diverse detective fiction has grown since the time of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. There are numerous subgenres of detective fiction—some for animal lovers, some for would-be lawyers, international sleuths—you name it, there is probably a book out there incorporating whatever interest, hobby, or disability possible into the work of professional, private, and amateur detectives. The field shows no sign of slowing its expansion.

As a side note, I was surprised to find that many detective fiction authors have created works that are considered genuine literature. I found it surprising because it is more often thought of as “pulp” or cheap fiction. Overall, I found this to be a fun and inspiring course. I am even considering writing a detective fiction novel myself. I think it would be quite interesting work, as I loved being a professional investigator when I worked for a governmental agency. I think most avid readers would find this series of lectures to be interesting and enriching.

Oh, and happy learning!!!