The following books were generously provided to the judges of the Fifth Annual International Crime Fiction Association Book Prize for non-fiction books on crime fiction published in 2022. 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.
The following books were generously provided to the judges of the Fourth Annual International Crime Fiction Association Book Prize for non-fiction books on crime fiction published in 2022, listed in alphabetical order by author/editor. The range and creativity of the volumes attest to the deep interest in crime fiction scholarship. Please consider ordering some for your libraries.
Blackwell, Laird. Clues From The Couch: Psychology In Detective Fiction From Willkie Collins To Winspear And Penny. McFarland.
Bloomfield, Jem. Witchcraft And Paganism In Midcentury Women’s Detective Fiction. Cambridge .
Gulddal, Jesper, Stewart King and Alistair Rolls, editors. The Cambridge Companiont to World Crime Fiction. Cambridge.
Heise, Thomas, The Gentrification Plot: New York and the Postindustrial Crime Novel. Columbia.
MacArthur, Sian. Gender Roles and Political Contexts in Cold War Spy Fiction. Palgrave Macmillan.
Mayhall, Laura E. Nym and Elizabeth Prevost, editors. British Murder Mysteries, 1880-1965. Facts and Fictions. Palgrave Macmillan.
Pamboukian, Sylvia A. Agatha Christie and the Guilty Pleasure of Poison. Palgrave Macmillan.
Prideaux, Desirée. Sleuthing Miss Marple: Gender, Genre, and Agency in Agatha Christie’s Crime Fiction. Liverpool UP.
Rolls, Alistair. Agatha Christie and New Directions in Reading Detective Fiction: Narratology and Detective Criticism. Routledge.
Sandberg, Eric. Dorothy L. Sayers. A Companion to the Mystery Fiction. McFarland.
Tocco, Fabricio. Latin American Detectives against Power. Individualism, the State and Failure in Crime Fiction. Lexington Books.
Van Dover, J. Kenneth. The Truman Gumshoes :The Postwar Detective Fiction Of Mickey Spillane, Ross Macdonald, Wade Miller and Bart Spicer. McFarland.
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 of the top three works, followed by a determination of the winner.
We are pleased to announce that the 2022 winner is:
Latin American Detectives Against Power, Fabricio Tocco
This is a brave and groundbreaking book. Reading Latin American crime fiction through the lens of canonical Anglo-American texts, authors and detective figures to begin with, it branches out into literature less seen and/or less often associated with detective fiction. Elucidating the creation of crime fiction within different political backdrops he shows how this type of literature can illuminate conceptions of place, politics, reading and resistance.
First runner up is:
Gender Roles and Political Contexts in Cold War Spy Fiction, Sian MacArthur
This is an excellent and timely book. Focusing on a period in crime fiction when one of the dominant forms was spy fiction, a very masculine genre with very masculine heroes, McArthur delves deeper looking at gender inequality, war, and power politics. This book deals exclusively with the cold war era and thus is able to extend the discussion successfully to some female authors writing at the same time such as Patricia Highsmith. She also manages to discuss homophobia, intolerance, the use of sex for power, through the male-centric tropes or the Anglo/American cold war spy thriller. Bringing the discussion up to day MacArthur is able to show that these intolerances and marginalising tropes, which include racism, have, happily lessened in contemporary spy fiction.
Second runner up is:
Agatha Christie and the Guilty Pleasure of Poison, Sylvia A. Pamboukian
This book has the lovely premise of Christie’s female poisoners as outlaws; rebels, justified seekers of revenge and retribution. Conducting useful comparisons with other iconic authors this book is full of interest. Following the current trend that sees Christie as a pioneer interested in subversion rather than conservative, reactionary and formulaic, this book gives an exciting and unexpected reading of her work.
Congratulations to all the authors and editors of these outstanding volumes of crime fiction scholarship.
University of Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States
Otto-Friedrich Universität
Bamberg, Germany
Falmouth University
Falmouth, England
