Masters of the "humdrum" Mystery
Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, Alfred Walter Stewart and the British Detective Novel, 1920-1961
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers · Print & ebook · June 15, 2012
In 1972, in an attempt to elevate the stature of the "crime novel," influential crime writer and critic Julian Symons cast numerous Golden Age detective fiction writers into literary perdition as "Humdrums," condemning their focus on puzzle plots over stylish writing and explorations of character, setting and theme.
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- Who it’s for
- This study revisits three British Golden Age writers, examining their puzzles and social dimensions.
- Genres
- Mystery & Crime Crit, 20th-Century Literary Criticism, British & Irish Literary Criticism
- Published
- McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, June 15, 2012
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Start with this bookAbout this book
In 1972, in an attempt to elevate the stature of the "crime novel," influential crime writer and critic Julian Symons cast numerous Golden Age detective fiction writers into literary perdition as "Humdrums," condemning their focus on puzzle plots over stylish writing and explorations of character, setting and theme.
Continue reading
This volume explores the works of three prominent British "Humdrums"--Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, and Alfred Walter Stewart--revealing their work to be more complex, as puzzles and as social documents, than Symons allowed. By championing the intrinsic merit of these mystery writers, the study demonstrates that reintegrating the "Humdrums" into mystery genre studies provides a fuller understanding of the Golden Age of detective fiction and its aftermath.
Three Humdrum Writers
This study revisits three British Golden Age writers, examining their puzzles and social dimensions.
Come here for
- Close readings of Cecil Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, and Alfred Walter Stewart
- A case for reading their puzzles as social documents
Expect
- Criticism of the “Humdrum” label Julian Symons applied to detective writers
- Discussion of the British detective novel from 1920 to 1961
Where it sits
| Mystery & Crime Crit | 97% |
|---|---|
| 20th-Century Literary Criticism | 59% |
| British & Irish Literary Criticism | 53% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
- Authors
- Curtis J. Evans, Curtis Evans, Cecil J.C. Street
- Publisher
- McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
- Published
- June 15, 2012
- Format
- Print & ebook