Sleuthing ethnicity: the detective in multiethnic crime fiction

Abstract

Sleuthing Ethnicity: The Detective in Multiethnic Crime Fiction reflects the fact that ethnic detective novels have by now become an accepted subgenre of detective fiction. This volume focuses on the characteristics of ethnic detective fiction and the important genre modifications effected by the subgenre. As many contributors indicate, in ethnic detective fiction the importance of the detective's community of origin often superseded the traditional loneliness of the detective. Moreover, ethnic crime fiction addresses issues of personal and social identity that point out the importance of the ethnic community for the individual detective. The essays collected in this volume confront these established issues of ethnic detective fiction but also move beyond them by focusing on wider topics: the intersection of ethnicity and gender; marketing strategies for ethnic mysteries; juvenile ethnic detective literature; changing sexual politics; and historical issues of ethnic crime. The additional focus of this collection of essays on recent international detective fiction outside the United States redirects attention to questions of authenticity, authority, and stereotyping.