Detecting change: Gender and ethnicity in the detective novel

Novel: A Forum on Fiction, Summer 2000 by Catano, James V

In summary, all three of these texts provide us with generic, historical, and thematic foundations for pursuing the full diversity-to use Klein's term-of contemporary detective fiction. There are some areas (the psychological ramifications of the genre's sadomasochism or connections between power, race, and especially class as addressed by writers such as Mosley, for example) that might have been more fully developed. But these works have laid the groundwork for such specific work, and their own desires to rewrite the genre's traditions argue for leaving such detailed analyses to later study. Indeed, as these texts critique the common tradition and issues related to it, they readily make apparent the full complexity of cultural training, doing so, moreover, in an engaging and historically alert fashion. Those interested in the detective genre and its related arenas will find the issues raised, both within each book and across textual boundaries, to be an ongoing source of discussion.

There are a few editorial elements whose addition would have added to the books' substantial benefits, the most notable being full indexes for all the texts. Klein's text provides no index at all, a lacuna perhaps resulting from its anthology format. Walton/Jones provide primarily a name and title index. Nickerson is alone in offering a detailed index of topics. The other two books would have benefited from inclusion of a full index, whether they be marketed for scholars, teachers, and/or students. More particular editorial work would also have been useful in Diversity, especially since this book declares itself to be designed for the classroom, where example is an important teaching tool. Unfortunately, comma splices have slipped past the editors (e.g., 210, 211), and there are references to notes that are missing or never produced (207n3-no corresponding note provided; note 2 completely missing). Nickerson's notes also suffer from some slight repetition across chapters (Todorov references: 9, 68, 221:n12, 233:n24), although these latter slips are so slight as to be almost invisible.

Such editorial gaffes may detract slightly from the readability of these texts. But they do not and cannot remove the real benefits that Klein, Nickerson, and Walton/Jones have provided for reading and teaching the detective novel. Each study offers a particular angle on what is supposedly a simple formulaic structure. In doing so, each also admirably proves its ultimate case: that the detective novel, with its myriad forms and critical responses, offers equally myriad opportunities for critical study of the complex and intertwined routes taken by genre, culture, and the necessary interactions of the two. Use these books as a road map, and our ethnic, gendered streets will look even more interesting and maybe a little less mean.

JAMES V. CATANO, Lousiana State University