Subgenres of Crime Fiction

alevel english literature

Cosy Crime

These are very popular. They are usually set in a middle class environment and often revolve around a murder that’s solved by friendly police or private detective, with his dopey side-kick or an amateur sleuth. There’s no graphic descriptions of the crime or gruesome details of the murder. Once the crime is solved, everyone can go back to their cosy lives

Locked room mystery

so called because the crime takes place under an impossible set of circumstance. For example when it’s impossible for someone to have entered or left a locked room

Hard-boiled

these are the opposite of cosy, they’re graphic, gruesome and unsentimental. They contain details of the crimes committed, which are often violent or sexual in their nature. They often feature psychopaths or serial killers and have detectives with deeply flawed characters.

Private detective

These focus in the work of a private detective, rather than the police, in finding the perpetrator of the crime

Courtroom drama

These revolve around the courtroom procedure related to the crime. Inevitable the reader knows the main suspects, as they are in the dock, and the details of the crime are revealed as the court case proceeds. This type of fiction often uses flash-back techniques to reveal the storyline.

Legal dramas

These are a lot like courtroom dramas but they are not conducted wholly in the courtroom. The main focus of the detective work fails on the legal team.

Spy

The action centres on espionage. It usually features a spy working for an intelligence agency

Caper

These are told from the criminal’s point of view with the main focus of the story being on the perpetrator’s attempts to avoid detection and capture. These usually have elements of audacity, adventure or humour which distinguish them from normal crime fiction

Police procedural

These focus on the work of police to identify the perpetrator and often include lots of detail about crime detection, interview and forensic techniques. The main character is usually a detective or a police man.