Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are types of stories that focus on crimes, especially the process of solving them. These stories often follow an amateur or professional detective as they investigate a crime, such as a murder. Most crime stories emphasize the investigation rather than the courtroom. Suspense and mystery are common features in this genre.

Crime fiction is usually different from mainstream fiction and other types of stories, like historical or science fiction. However, the lines between these categories are not always clear. This genre includes several subgenres, such as detective fiction (like the "whodunit"), courtroom drama, hard-boiled fiction, and legal thrillers.

History

Proto-science and crime fiction have been written throughout history. Examples include the Epic of Gilgamesh from Mesopotamia, the Book of Tobit, Urashima Tarō from ancient Japan, and One Thousand and One Nights (also called Arabian Nights).

One example is the medieval Arabic story The Three Apples, part of Arabian Nights. In this tale, a fisherman finds a heavy locked chest by the Tigris River and sells it to the Abbasid Caliph, Harun al-Rashid. When the chest is opened, it contains the body of a young woman who was cut into pieces. The Caliph orders his vizier, Ja'far ibn Yahya, to solve the crime within three days or face execution. The story is described as a "whodunit" mystery with many plot twists and includes detective fiction elements.

Other Arabian Nights stories, such as The Merchant and the Thief and Ali Khwaja, feature early fictional detectives who solve crimes and present evidence in court. The Hunchback's Tale is an early courtroom drama presented as a suspenseful comedy.

The earliest known modern crime fiction is E. T. A. Hoffmann’s 1819 novella Mademoiselle de Scudéri. Other early works include Thomas Skinner Surr’s Richmond (1827), Steen Steensen Blicher’s The Rector of Veilbye (1829), and Letitia Elizabeth Landon’s The Knife (1832), where the truth remains unclear at the end.

Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, such as The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841), introduced the detective C. Auguste Dupin, a precursor to Sherlock Holmes. Poe’s stories set the framework for classic detective fiction. His detective’s unnamed companion serves as the narrator, similar to Dr. Watson in later Sherlock Holmes stories.

Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White (1860) and The Moonstone (1868) are notable works. Émile Gaboriau’s Monsieur Lecoq (1868) introduced a methodical, scientifically minded detective.

Locked-room mysteries became a key development in crime fiction. Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, especially those by Doyle, helped popularize the genre. Paul Féval’s Les Habits Noirs (1862–67) featured Scotland Yard detectives and criminal plots. Fergus Hume’s The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886) was the best-selling crime novel of the 19th century.

The rise of mass media in the UK and US in the late 1800s helped spread crime fiction. Magazines like Strand, McClure’s, and Harper’s became central to publishing fiction, offering affordable, illustrated stories.

Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories first appeared in Strand magazine in serial form. After Holmes was "killed" in The Final Problem, public demand led Doyle to bring him back.

In Italy, crime fiction was called libri gialli ("yellow books") due to their yellow covers. The genre was banned during WWII but grew in popularity after the war, influenced by American hard-boiled fiction. Italian authors like Leonardo Sciascia, Umberto Eco, and Carlo Emilio Gadda used detective stories to create postmodern works with unsolved crimes and imperfect detectives.

In Spain, Pedro Antonio de Alarcón’s The Nail and Other Tales of Mystery and Crime (1853) was early crime fiction. Spanish writers often criticized police and wealthy elites.

In China, crime fiction dates to the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Cheng Xiaoqing translated Sherlock Holmes into Chinese and wrote his own series, Sherlock in Shanghai. During the Mao era, crime fiction was suppressed, but after Mao, it focused on themes like corruption and the Cultural Revolution.

The Golden Age (1920s–1954) featured British authors like Agatha Christie, who wrote The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) and The Murder at the Vicarage (1930). Dorothy L. Sayers’ Wimsey novels and others by Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh were also popular.

G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown stories and Henry Christopher Bailey’s works were also part of this era. In the US, S. S. Van Dine’s Philo Vance and Ellery Queen (a character and pen name) were notable.

After the Golden Age, American crime fiction shifted toward hard-boiled realism, influenced by the Great Depression and World War II. Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest (1929) is an example of this style.

Psychology

Crime fiction affects readers' emotions and helps them imagine being witnesses to crimes by connecting with characters who see crimes happen. Many readers use crime fiction as a way to take a break from their own lives and focus on stories instead. These stories offer a way to escape by being interesting but not too similar to real-life problems. Forensic crime novels are sometimes called "distraction therapy," suggesting that reading about crimes might help improve mental health and possibly prevent depression.

Categories

In the history of crime fiction, some authors have been unwilling to publish their novels using their real names. More recently, some authors have chosen to use fake names because they believe that large book sellers know how many books they sold in the past and have some influence over publishers. These authors think the only way to stand out and increase their sales is to use a name that no one recognizes.

In the late 1930s and 1940s, British County Court Judge Arthur Alexander Gordon Clark (1900–1958) wrote several detective novels under the name Cyril Hare. He used his deep knowledge of the English legal system in these books. When Julian Barnes (born 1946) was young and not well known, he wrote some crime novels under the name Dan Kavanagh. Some authors enjoy using different names for their work. For example, Ruth Rendell (1930–2015) wrote one type of crime novel as Ruth Rendell and another type as Barbara Vine. John Dickson Carr also used the name Carter Dickson. Author Evan Hunter, who was himself a pseudonym, wrote his crime fiction under the name Ed McBain.

Tropes

Crime fiction has grown over time, and many common elements appear in this type of story. These elements can be found in different subgenres and forms of media, such as books, movies, and television.

Although the way stories are told may change, many aspects of crime fiction remain the same. Often, these stories begin after a crime has already happened. They also reflect the culture and society where the story is set, whether based on recent events or widely accepted ideas. Common features include serial killers and characters who may not tell the truth.

During the Golden Age of crime fiction, a popular storytelling method involved solving mysteries through clues and hints. This approach helped move the story forward. Detective characters became famous in literature, starting with Edgar Allan Poe and later with Arthur Conan Doyle. Hard-boiled detective stories, which focus on tough, realistic characters, gained popularity in America and France.

Crime fiction often uses dark themes from real life, such as slavery and organized crime. It also frequently references real crimes. These connections to reality can be shown in many ways. For example, crime stories from Spain often criticized authority, while stories from Japan praised the government’s effectiveness.

Espionage, or secret spying, is another common part of crime fiction. These stories often include political conflicts, moral choices, and the work of spies. Many stories from the Cold War era explored these themes. Examples include works by John le Carré and the book Gorky Park (1981), written by Martin Cruz Smith.

Crime fiction can also be inspired by the legal system worldwide, with different levels of realism. These stories explore morality and the questionable parts of society based on the rules they follow. Examples include Rudolph Mason: The Strange Schemes (1896) by Melville Davisson Post and To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) by Harper Lee. Stories like Double Indemnity (1934) are based on real-life cases.

Availability

Only a few authors are considered "classics" because their works are widely accepted and understood by people everywhere, no matter when they are read. A classic is a book that remains popular and relevant across different times and places. Agatha Christie is a well-known example. Her books, written between 1920 and 1976, are still published in the United Kingdom and the United States. Her stories, which often feature detectives like Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, earned her the title "Queen of Crime." Her most famous books include Murder on the Orient Express (1934), Death on the Nile (1937), and And Then There Were None (1939), which is the best-selling mystery novel in the world.

Some authors who are still writing today have seen their older books reprinted because crime fiction remains popular. For example, Val McDermid began writing in 1987, and Carl Hiaasen, who lives in Florida, has been writing since 1981. Their books are still available in bookstores.

Publishing companies sometimes choose to reprint books by authors who are no longer well-known, especially if those books were successful in the past. Penguin Books, for example, has used its classic green cover design to reprint books by older authors. In 1999, Pan Books started a series called "Pan Classic Crime," which includes works by Eric Ambler and Hillary Waugh. In 2000, Canongate Books, based in Edinburgh, began a series called "Canongate Crime Classics," featuring mystery stories and noir novels. However, books from smaller publishers like Canongate are often not sold in large bookstores or abroad. The British Library has also started republishing forgotten crime books since 2012, calling the collection the "British Library Crime Classics series."

Sometimes, older crime books are revived by movie makers instead of publishers. When a movie is made based on a book, publishers often release a special edition of the book with a picture from the movie on the cover and the film’s credits on the back. This is a way to attract people who want to read the book before watching the movie or vice versa. Examples include The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (1955), Sliver by Ira Levin (1991), and American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (1991). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC has also created a series called "Bloomsbury Film Classics," which includes books that were turned into movies. These include The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White (1936), which Alfred Hitchcock adapted into The Lady Vanishes (1938), and The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin (1976), which became a film in 1978.

Older books can also be found in the growing Project Gutenberg database, which offers free access to many classic texts.