Detection existed in fiction long before Poe and Doyle. Its real origins lurk in the popular press of the early Nineteenth century, where the detective and the case were steadily developed. The well-known masters of early crime fiction, including Collins and Dickens, drew on this material, found in texts that have rarely been reprinted or even discussed. In this revealing book, Heather Worthington combines scholarly and archival study with theoretically informed analysis to unearth the foundations of detective fiction. This is essential reading for those researching in, studying, or just fascinated by crime fiction.

Acknowledgements Introduction PART ONE: CRIMINAL NARRATIVES: TEXTUALISING CRIME Commodified Crime: Murder for the Masses Murderous Illegalities: Legalised Murder Murder for the Literary Classes Connoisseur of Crime: De Quincey's Defence of the 'Murd'rous Art' Sensational Literature and Literal Sensation: Blackwood's Tales of Terror PART TWO: MAKING THE CASE FOR THE PROFESSIONALS Literary Professional: Professional Literature Preventive Medicine: 'Passages from the Diary of a Late Physician' Legal Treatments: Evidence of Necessity Legal Treatments: Proving the Case Agent of the Law: A Gent of the Law Accessory after the Fact PART THREE: A CONSPICUOUS CONSTABULARY: OR, WHY POLICEMEN WEAR TALL HELMETS Police in Literature: Literary Police Transitional Text, Textual Transition: From Delinquency to Detection A Life, Partly Regular, Partly Adventurous The New Police: Perception and Reception Preventive Police or Personal Threat? An Orderly Body of Men A Common Sight: A Site of Commonality The Discipline of Ideology The Profession of Policing A Rich Inheritance Dickens's Detective Police Conclusion: A Rich Inheritance Notes Bibliography Index