The following books were generously provided to the judges of the Second Annual International Crime Fiction Association Book Prize for non-fiction books on crime fiction published in 2019. All books reviewed were worthy entries in the contest, and the range and creativity of the volumes attest to the deep interest in crime fiction scholarship.
Though the corona virus/COVID-19 crisis derailed all normal plans and resulted in the cancellation of the seventh annual conference Captivating Criminality 7: Memory, History and Revaluation, the three judges on three continents proceeded with the review of new titles for the Second Annual Prize.
The following books were generously provided to the judges of the Second Annual International Crime Fiction Association Book Prize for non-fiction books on crime fiction published in 2019, listed in alpha order by author/editor. The range and creativity of the volumes attests to the deep interest in crime fiction scholarship.
Aramburu, Diana. Resisting Invisibility: Detecting the Female Body in Spanish Crime Fiction. University of Toronto Press.
Baker, Deborah E. and Theresa Starkey, eds. Detecting the South in Fiction, Film and Television. Louisiana State University Press.
Gregoriou, Christina, and David Platten, Gigliola Sulis, Retold, Resold, Transformed: Crime Fiction in the Global Era. Mimesis International.
Gulddal, Jesper, Stewart King and Alistair Rolls, eds. Criminal Moves: Modes of Mobility in Crime Fiction. Liverpool University Press.
Helligren, Per. Swedish Marxist Noir. McFarland.
King, Stewart. Murder in the Multinational State: Crime Fiction from Spain. Routledge.
McKendry, Anne. Medieval Crime Fiction: A Critical Overview. McFarland.
Martin, Andy. With Child. Polity.
Phillips, Bill, ed. Family Relationships in Contemporary Crime Fiction: La Famiglia. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Rolls, Alistair, John West-Sooby and Marie-Laure Vuaille-Barcan, Translating National Allegories: The Case of Crime Fiction. Routledge.
Van Dover, J.K. The Detective and the Artist. Painters, Poets and Writers in Crime Fiction, 1840s-1970s. McFarland.
Watson, Kate, and Katharine Cox. Tattoos in Crime and Detective Narratives: Marking and Remarking. Manchester University Press.
Worthington, Helen. Key Concepts in Crime Fiction. Palgrave.
The IFCA Book Prize recognizes ingenuity, innovation, and scholarship in the academic study of crime fiction and crime writing in its widest sense. In response to these criteria, the judges first made a short list, followed by a determination of the winner.
The short list included the following works:
1. Baker, Deborah E. and Theresa Starkey, eds. Detecting the South in Fiction, Film and Television. Louisiana State University Press.
This continues the trend of crime fiction studies looking at regions and peripheries. This volume explores the idea of the rural and some more non-traditional sites for crime fiction. The focus on the South of the US also opens up spaces for some really useful explorations of slavery and race. There are also some excellent discussions about gender and queerness. Overall this is an impressive collection with authors from different backgrounds.
2. Gulddal, Jesper, Stewart King and Alistair Rolls, eds. Criminal Moves: Modes of Mobility in Crime Fiction. Liverpool University Press.
Challenges the notion of fixed generic limitations in crime fiction, to a genre that moves across boundaries. Some really interesting discussions about reading and mobility, and new readings of some classic text.
3. Watson, Kate, and Katharine Cox. Tattoos in Crime and Detective Narratives: Marking and Remarking. Manchester University Press.
An original topic with a good mix of canonical texts and authors and others. The inclusion of children’s literature in a crime fiction studies collection is important. There is a wonderful selection of different types of texts explored and the coverage feels comprehensive and as if it opens up and expands on a very fertile field of study. The historical contextualization, (beginning with Ascari’s Foreword) is exemplary and the cultural connotations of skin and tattooing is explored in depth.
Tattoos in Crime and Detective Narratives: Marking and Remarking by Kate Watson and Katherine Cox, published by Manchester University Press, was chosen as the winner of the Second Annual International Crime Fiction Association Book Prize.
University of Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States
Otto-Friedrich Universität
Bamberg, Germany
Falmouth University
Falmouth, England
