An Introduction To Crime Thriller Novels

By Eloise Hewitt


Criminals and the transgression they commit are something that has fascinated societies for centuries. Everything from ancient mythology to the latest cinematic blockbuster has looked at the digressions of criminals and how to punish them. Despite the emergence of television, movies and video games crime thriller novels remain very influential and engaging to a wide array of readers.

When people think of crime thrillers they tend to think of noir style detective stories. The likes of Hammett, Chandler and so forth created a world of iconic images that many people have associated with detectives and crimes. For example when people think of a detective they tend to think of someone wearing a hat and a trenchcoat looking for clues.

Another example of the genre is the whodunit. In simple terms this is where a murder takes place and the detective has to track down the killer. Crucially they not only have to find them but they have to be able to prove that this person is the killer. Often the fun for the reader is checking the clues to see if they can be one step ahead of the detective.

Another iconic image is that of the noir detective, usually a character dressed in a hat and crumpled trenchcoat as they pound the streets looking for a murderer. The term film noir refers to the detective stories in the cinema. However most of these iconic men in trenchcoats and their stories of murder go back to stories by writers such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett.

While this is one type of thriller there are variations. One interesting psychological spin has come from the Hannibal series of novels. In The Silence of The Lambs we have a detective who has to rely on a prisoner for information on a killer. The twist is that this prisoner is the infamous Hannibal Lecter, an intellectual genius who is also a murderer and a cannibal.

Of course when talking about detectives it is hard to ignore classics such as Sherlock Holmes. In many ways his stories are the quintessential crime thrillers. There are also the roots of the buddy genre with Sherlock Holmes and his sidekicks Doctor Watson while his conflict with the villain Moriaty and their battle of wills can be seen across a number of stories.

Stories about murder and criminals do not necessarily have to be heavy in tone. Writers such as Alexander McCall Smith have a more light hearted approach. Also characters such as Poirot or Miss Marple often have a more comedic approach with a lot of the fun of the story being how they interact with society around them as much as the investigation of the crime itself.

There are a wide array of novels out there that look at crimes. Whether it is a classic whodunit or the latest twist on the noir genre there is something to please a range of tastes. Use your regular search engine to find out more about the latest releases and feedback from fellow readers to find the ones that will be best suited to your personal tastes.




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