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THE SCENE OF THE CRIME
by David Geherin
McFarland & Co., February 2008
217 pages
$35.00
ISBN: 0786432985


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

If you are like me and not only immerse yourself in crime fiction but are also inquisitive enough to want to read more widely, that is, non-fiction discussion of the genre, then David Geherin's SCENE OF THE CRIME: THE IMPORTANCE OF PLACE IN CRIME AND MYSTERY FICTION is a welcome addition to anyone's collection.

SCENE OF THE CRIME analyses the work of more than a dozen different authors, looking at how both place and setting are used in contemporary mystery and crime novels. Starting with an initial chapter that takes a general look at the way in which place features in fiction, it goes on to examine recent work from some of the world's best-selling crime and mystery authors. These include Water Mosely and urban Los Angeles afro-centricity as it appears in DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, Southern Louisiana in all its heat, mugginess, and exoticism as seen in THE NEON RAIN to Ian Rankin's Edinburgh with its gloomy weather, Donna Leon's Venice as articulated in ACQUA ALTA with its southerly winds pushing the Adriatic waters into the city; and even Ancient Rome with all its exoticness as seen in SILVER PIGS which features Lindsey Davis's Marcus Didius Falco.

Geherin does an excellent job of explaining the way in which each of the authors has managed to encompass their different settings into their work without allowing it to dominate their stories but still on the other hand showing how importance it is. The fact that the wide variety of authors discussed covers America to Europe and the African continent is also an added bonus and itself shows how wide-ranging the genre now is.

SCENE OF THE CRIME a most interesting and fascinating book and well worth all the time and effort that has been put into it. This is certainly a book that should be found on any self-respecting crime fiction aficionado's book shelf especially if you are interested in more than just the story that the author has written.

Reviewed by Ayo Onatade, July 2001

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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