Academic literature on the topic 'English Detectives'

ResumenLa novela de detectives es el marco idóneo para las características arquetípicas de las mujeres. Tradicionalmente las mujeres han sido culpadas por su curiosidad, atentas siempre a la vida de los demás; se les desea silenciosas y capaces de aguantar sin perder la calma los rigores de confinamientos prolongados. Paciencia, quietud y curiosidad construyen la perfecta detective, capaz de observar en las circunstancias más adversas a los sospechosos. En Inglaterra, donde surgieron las primeras detectives literarias, éstas han nacido prácticamente con el propio género policiaco. Se analiza su devenir con referencia a las autoras más significativas a lo largo de la historia.Palabras clave: mujeres, detectives, novela inglesa, novela nórdica, novela española.English Title: Development of Women Detectives in Contemporary LiteratureAbstract: Taking into account the archetypal characteristics attributed to women, the role of detective appears to be eminently suited to them: women were traditionally considered as gossips; moreover, for centuries, men have wanted women to be quiet, calm and somewhat confined. That combination of patience, calm and curiosity makes for the perfect detective, capable of surveillance of suspects even in difficult circumstances. Women detectives surfaced in English Literature from the outset of the genre. This paper outlines their evolution and also refers to the most famous women crime writers and their fictional detectives.Key words: women, detectives, English novels, Nordic novels, Spanish novels.La novela de detectives es el marco idóneo para las características arquetípicas de las mujeres. Tradicionalmente las mujeres han sido culpadas por su curiosidad, atentas siempre a la vida de los demás; se les desea silenciosas y capaces de aguantar sin perder la calma los rigores de confinamientos prolongados. Paciencia, quietud y curiosidad construyen la perfecta detective, capaz de observar en las circunstancias más adversas a los sospechosos. En Inglaterra, donde surgieron las primeras detectives literarias, éstas han nacido prácticamente con el propio género policiaco. Se analiza su devenir con referencia a las autoras más significativas a lo largo de la historia.

The present article reports on the study of the communicative strategy of self-presentation and the communicative tactics that manifest it in detective discourse. The analysis is based on the data from English detective novels. The object of the study is the characters’ speech: the detective’s interrogation of witnesses and suspects. The scope of the study is the communicative tactics of self-presentation as the means of influencing the suspect in order to obtain the necessary information to solve the crime. The purpose is cognitive and pragmatic analysis of the communicative tactics applied by the detectives to obtain the necessary information to solve a crime. The investigation is based on the general and special linguistic methods : synthesis and analysis, method of observation, descriptive method, pragmatic and linguistic method, analysis of contextual interpretation. The main results of the study. The cognitive and pragmatic analysis of the detective’s strategic plan has resulted in our own classification of communicative tactics and strategies applied by the detective during the interrogation of witnesses and suspects. It has been established that one of the major communicative strategies used by the detective is self-presentation. Self-presentation is realized by the following communicative tactics: tactics of distancing, solidarity, belonging to a certain group. Each of these tactics is manifested by certain lexical, morphological and syntactic means of the English language. The perspective for further research is seen in the comprehensive study of the linguistic mechanisms of manipulative impact on the recipient in fiction.

When T. S. Eliotfamously called Wilkie Collins's 1868 novelThe Moonstone“the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels” (The Moonstone1966, v), the implication, presumably, was that the “detectives” are the hero Franklin Blake and other English characters who carry out the detective function, such as the family lawyer, Mr. Bruff. In addition to a detective story, the novel has been read variously as imperialist, anti-imperialist, a narrative invested with economic undertones, and as an exploration of gift theory, among others. In all these iterations, however, the underlying assumption has been that the only real “detectives” in the novel are the English characters; it is they who solve the theft of the diamond and work to police it. The Brahmin priests, whose pursuit of the diamond parallels that of the English, have generally been viewed as peripheral to the main narrative; a marginal acknowledgement of the impact that India, in its various facets, had upon nineteenth-century English society. Vicki Corkran Willey calls the priests, tongue-in-cheek, “‘villains’. . . working in tandem with two other imported troublemakers – [John] Herncastle's stolen diamond and the drug, opium” (226). Timothy L. Carens describes them as practicing “dutiful self-renunciation” (246) in their search for the diamond, implying that passivity is inherent in such dutifulness, and Jenny Bourne Taylor suggests they are important only because of their use of “[c]lairvoyance [which] is projected on to them as a form of romantic fascination, [and] which they then internalize and represent” (193). Critics are in general agreement, then, that the priests are not central to the novel, and their involvement in the solving of the crime is minimal. The present essay will refute this perspective and argue that, in fact, the Brahmin priests are central to the narrative and far more active (and effective) policing agents than the English characters.

Crime fiction is often mistakenly held to be based on books and male detection. In fact, in the nineteenth century periodicals were a major mode of publication and from the mid-century on women inquirers played a recurring role in the developing genre, while most early male detectives were, by later standards, distinctly under-gendered. Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal was a major early source; by the 1860s, female detectives were being created by male writers and in Bleak House (1852–53), Dickens gave Inspector Bucket’s wife distinct inquiring capacities. The major Australian author Mary Fortune – with more than four hundred stories in magazines over forty years from the 1860s – developed female inquirers over time. By the 1890s, professional English woman detectives were created, Loveday Brooke by C.L. Pirkis and Florence Cusack by L.T. Meade, while Baroness Orczy created as well as her best-selling ‘Scarlet Pimpernel’ the leading police detective Lady Molly, like the others first appearing in magazines.

Purpose The use of the media in live cases has been explored in terms of its use and value to an investigation. However, it is unclear as to whether engaging with the media in cold-case investigations results in a positive or negative reception, and what impact this can have on a case’s possibility for progression. Because of the passage of time and a lack of, or a failed, prosecution means that the approach to media use needs to be different. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the media could be used as an investigative resource for cold cases. Design/methodology/approach This study is a result of a 7-month observation period with a 2-force collaborative cold-case team in England, and supplemented with interviews with 12 experienced cold-case detectives. Using inductive thematic analysis, the themes identified allow an exploration of detectives’ use of the media and the effect that this has on progressing cases. Further, there is discussion as to whether the media’s involvement is positive or negative. Findings The overarching theme is that when using the media, cold-case detectives are met with a positive reception and interest. The media can be used to obtain information, particularly in cases with minimal information, and it is important to use murder-anniversaries to obtain help from the public. However, this needs to be a carefully managed strategy as the media coverage can be negative, including inaccurate or inappropriate reporting which can be of detriment to the investigation. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper to explore how cold-case detectives have used the media to progress cases, and the findings demonstrate that when the public are encouraged to come forward with information, there is a better chance of case progression. Further research is required to explore how all cold cases can receive appropriate coverage.

While Wilkie Collins’ novels The Moonstone (1868) and The Woman in White (1859-60) have long been accepted as part of the early mystery canon, Collins’ earlier novel The Dead Secret (1857) is rarely included. The Dead Secret is here reconsidered as one of the earliest English female detective novels, revealing its heretofore unrecognised significance to the genre of detective fiction and the evolution of the literary female detective. The Dead Secret’s protagonist, Rosamond, is almost Holmesian in her methodical collection of evidence and tactical lines of questioning to arrive at the solution of the mystery, but she also employs techniques more often attributed to female detectives, demonstrating the importance of emotion, intuition, surveillance, and proximity. In solving the mystery, Rosamond also disrupts the status quo, as is more typical of sleuthing heroines of sensation fiction. The Dead Secret demonstrates Collins’ innovations to the emerging genre of detective fiction, before its tropes become typified by Sherlock Holmes, and reveals the overlap of tropes that originate with sensation novels.

The article deals with the peculiarities of the image of the female detective in the English female detective prose of the 19thand 20thcenturies. We have traced the changes in theportrayal of the female detective in English literature and singled out the factors which influenced them. First of all, every writer’s experience and life conditions make an impact on the construction of their images. It is obvious that S.Hopley couldn’t but work secretly as her creator C.Crowe wrote detective using the other name. It was the trend of the nineteenth century. In the first part of the twentieth century, women started to obtain different professions alongside men. A.Christie and D.Sayers had an opportunity to be not only writers but even theoreticians of the genre. That is why Miss Marple and H.Vane were able to show their achievements together with men. And the second part of the twentieth century presented women with total freedom. So, we can read about Sharon McCone who is a successful private detective. The second important fact is the situation in the society which for sure is reflected in the realistic literary works and can be easily noticed in the behaviour of the characters. And the last efficient thing is the plot of the story because it dictates the actions which sometimes do not depend on the personality.The article analyzes the characteristic features of the female detectives belonging to three stages of detective development: detective classics(until the early twentieth century), detective modernism(1910–the 1970s), and detective postmodernism(after the1970s).The female detective of detective classics is clever and kind but lacks self-confidence and support. Detectivemodernism shows us an intelligent, smart, very brave, and attentive detective. The woman detective of the postmodern period is smart, courageous, emotional, and hard-working. Thus, we have suggested the canonic image of the female detective. She has a sharp mind, a very high level of knowledge, a sense of responsibility, a strong wish to work, and a little time for her personal life. This woman is pretty, careful, witty, and ready to investigate at any time

Within the framework of this article, the author examines in detail the structure of the hyperconcept "Englishness", paying special attention to the concept of "gardening" included in it, which is most widely represented in British detectives of the XIX century. Using the continuous sampling method, its conceptual component was analyzed. The selected examples are classified according to the representation of the "garden" frame, which is verbalized using such hyperonyms as "flowers", "trees", as well as through the lexemes "grass", "plants". A special role in the detectives of the XIX century is played by the lexeme "rose" as part of the hyperonym "flowers". The following works served as material: "Moonstone" by W. Collins, "A Study in crimson tones" by A. K. Doyle, "Ignorance of Father Brown" by G. K. Chesterton. The author's main contribution to the study of the hyperconcept "Englishness" can be considered an analysis of the representation of the hyperconcept by studying one of its constituent concepts, in our case, the concept of "gardening". Since today most researchers study the complex concept of "Englishness", guided by the techniques of cultural and literary approaches, the relevance of this study is that it is carried out in a linguistic way. As a result, it was concluded that gardening is an integral part of English life, which is verbalized in British detectives of the XIX century. The English people have a special love for roses, which are also represented in the concept of "gardening".

Within the framework of this study, the task of this article was to analyze and compare the image of Home and Family in teenage detective novels from the point of view of similarities and differences written by German (E. Kestner, A. Steinhöfel, A. Schlüter, J. Steinleitner) and English speaking writers (M. Blyton, R. Stevens, A. Bradley and S. Cleverly). The relevance of the task is determined by the fact that the characters of these novels have a significant impact on the formation of the life values of a teenage reader, including the attitude to crime and the punishment. The object of consideration is the images of “home” and “family”, and the material of the study is detective novels for teenagers written in German and English. The study allows us to conclude that despite the fact that the images of “home” and “family” are plot­forming elements in the detective stories of foreign writers, however, their role and significance in the lives of adolescents themselves, as well as their view to these images in the works of German and English speaking authors, differ significantly. While the family and home in German culture is the place where a teenager, in close connection with his parents, goes through the stages of his growing up, relying on the care and experience of the older generation, the family and home for British teenagers is associated with classmates and a school where strict mentors and not parents play the role of educators and teachers and educators. Sometimes it appears to be a negative role.

C. L. (CATHERINE LOUISA)PIRKIS'S“The Murder at Troyte's Hill,” second in her series of stories about Detective Loveday Brooke, begins with Brooke's boss debriefing her on a case: “Griffiths, of the Newcastle Constabulary, has the case in hand…. Those Newcastle men are keen-witted, shrewd fellows, and very jealous of outside interference. They only sent to me under protest, as it were, because they wanted your sharp wits at work inside the house” (528). This is a typical beginning for one of Brooke's adventures, which were published in the London magazineLudgate Monthlyin 1893 and 1894. As one of the earliest professional female detectives in English literary history, Brooke's career was marked by conflicts with territorial male officers and the ever-present pressure to keep her detective work “inside the house.” Emerging at a historical moment when understandings of women, criminality, and law enforcement were rapidly changing in Britain, Pirkis's stories offer an interpretation of these intersecting cultural shifts that is surprisingly different from her contemporaries. In a decade rife with scientific interrogation into the nature of criminality, such as in the work of Havelock Ellis and Francis Galton, detective fiction of the 1890s tended to mimic scientific discourse in its representations of criminals. The Brooke stories, however, challenge such conceptions of deviance and reveal the poverty of their underlying understandings of crime as well as gender.