Clues: A Journal of Detection

The oldest US scholarly journal on mystery, detective, and crime fiction

Published biannually by McFarland & Co., the peer-reviewed Clues: A Journal of Detection features academic articles on all aspects of mystery and detective material in print, television, and film without limit to period or country covered. It also reviews nonfiction mystery works (biographies, reference works, and the like) and materials applicable to classroom use (such as films). The first issue of Clues was published in 1980, with the late Pat Browne as editor. The journal is now in its 42nd volume year, with Caroline Reitz as executive editor and Elizabeth Foxwell as managing editor.

News

[5-4-2025} Clues 43.1: Christie, Hammett, Hamilton, Høeg, multilingual study, Ukrainian crime fiction, and more
[3-9-2025] Clues 42.2: BIPOC Female Detectives in a Global Context (incl links to ebook versions)
[9-14-2024] Clues CFP: "Reappraising James Ellroy" (proposal deadline: Mar. 1, 2025)
[5-20-2024] Clues 42.1: Carr, Christie, Conan Doyle, Eco, island mysteries, Korean crime fiction, etc.
[3-14-2024] Clues CFP: Teaching Forum, Crime Fiction in the Multilingual Classroom (deadline Sept. 1, 2024)
[11-27-2023] Clues 41.2: Chilean detective fiction, Connelly, Johnson, Penny, Teaching Forum on Crime Fiction and Creative Writing
[9-16-2023] Clues CFP: "Disability and Detective Fiction" (proposal deadline Mar. 15, 2024)
[6-5-2023] Clues 41.1: Detective Fiction and Borders
[2.6.2023] Clues CFP: "BIPOC Female Detectives" (proposal deadline Apr. 30, 2023)
[10.2.2022] Clues CFP: "Teaching Crime Fiction as Creative Writing" (deadline Feb. 1, 2023)
[4.11.2022] Clues 40.1: Historical Crime Fiction
[2.12.2022] Call for Proposals: "Teaching Crime Fiction after BLM" (deadline Apr. 20, 2022)
[10.11.2021] Clues 39.2: Christie, Austen-Leigh, Robinson, Upfield, and more
[7.30.2021] Call for Proposals: "Borders and Detective Fiction" (theme issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection)
[3.22.2021] Clues 39.1: Domestic noir

[8.27.2020] Clues 38.2: Genre b(l)ending

[6.9.2020] Call for Proposals, "Historical Crime Fiction" (theme issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection)

[6.5.2020] New Clues executive editor announced

[4.6.2020] Clues 38.1: Asimov, Christie, Conan Doyle, Ellroy, Flynn, Hammett, and more

[9.2.2019] Clues 37.2: Interwar mysteries

[4.23.2019] Clues 37.1: Canadian crime fiction, Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, Shelley, Trauma, Dementia, and more

[4.1.2019] "CFP--Genre Bending: Crime's Hybrid Forms" (deadline Oct. 25, 2019)

[10.30.2018] Clues accepted for inclusion in the European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences (ERIH Plus)

[8.27.2018] Clues 36.2: Atkinson, Conan Doyle, Chandler, Hammett, Macdonald, and a noir graphic novel

[8.21.2018] Subscribe to Clues Tables of Contents RSS Feed

[6.7.2018] "CFP--Interwar Mysteries: The Golden Age and Beyond" (deadline Oct 12, 2018)

[3.19.2018] Clues 36.1: Christie, Conan Doyle, Green, Hammett, Silva, and more

[10.9.2017] Clues 35.2: Bentley, Charteris, Christie, Hammett, Melville, et al.

[5.16.2017] Clues 35.1: Conan Doyle, French, Mitchell, Oates, et al.

[8.29.2016] Clues 34.2: Webb, Woollcott, and actuarial detection

[4.11.2016] Clues 34.1: "Reappropriating Agatha Christie"

[11.23.2015] Former Clues exec editor Kinsman to receive MWA Raven Award

[09.17.2015] Clues 33.2: "Re-Evaluating Patricia Highsmith"

[05.27.2015] Review dime novels for Northern Illinois University

[10.05.2014] Links to mystery course syllabi

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