Detectives in the Shadows: A Hard-Boiled History

by Susanna Lee

Overview

A century of American history reflected in the iconic private eye.

Steadfast in fighting crime, but operating outside the police force—and sometimes even the law—is the private detective. Driven by his own moral code, he is a shadowy figure in a trench coat standing on a street corner, his face most likely obscured by a tilted fedora, a lit cigarette dangling from his hand. The hard-boiled detective is known by his dark past, private pain, and powers of deduction. He only asks questions—never answers them. In his stories he is both the main character and the narrator.

America has had a love affair with the hard-boiled detective since the 1920s, when Prohibition called into question who really stood on the right and wrong side of the law. And nowhere did this hero shine more than in crime fiction. In Detectives in the Shadows, literary and cultural critic Susanna Lee tracks the evolution of this truly American character type—from Race Williams to Philip Marlowe and from Mike Hammer to Jessica Jones.

Lee explores how this character type morphs to fit an increasingly troubled world, offering compelling interpretations of The Wire, True Detective, and Jessica Jones. Suddenly, in the present day, the hard-boiled detective wears his—or her—fatigue outwardly, revealing more vulnerability than ever before. But the detective remains resolute in the face of sinister forces, ever the person of honor. For anyone interested in crime fiction and television, or for those wanting to understand America's idolization of the good guy with a gun, Detectives in the Shadows is essential reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421437101
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Susanna Lee is a professor of French and comparative literature at Georgetown University. She is the author of Hard-Boiled Crime Fiction and the Decline of Moral Authority and A World Abandoned by God.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction. A Silhouette
Chapter One. Arriving on the Scene
Chapter Two. A Moral Compass
Chapter Three. A Rugged Individual
Chapter Four. A Lone Wolf
Chapter Five. A Person of Honor
Appendix: Selected Authors' Fictional Works
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Trudy Nan Boyce

Cinch the belt on your trench coat, order a shot neat, and light up a smoke. Whether you're an academic or a noir fiction fan, there's something for everyone in Susanna Lee's book about the origins of the uniquely American hardboiled detective. From the Jazz Age to the present, Lee highlights how the private eye embodies American readers' desire for characters they'd want in their corner during hard or confusing times. Detectives in the Shadows is one of those books that is both enjoyable and educational. Bottoms up!

Gary Phillips

Susanna Lee offers a hard-bitten, clear-eyed, critical, and affectionate take on that most particular incarnation of the hawkshaw.

Kevin Burton Smith

Detectives in the Shadows is a feisty alternative view of American history as seen through the lens of hard-boiled detective fiction. Lee tails everyone from Race Williams and Hammett's Continental Op to Harry Bosch and Netflix's Jessica Jones, following the clues where they lead. Smart, brave, determined, neither tarnished nor afraid, and always fascinating. A must-read.

Alex Segura

A meticulous, engaging, and can't-miss history and analysis of the private eye genre and how it has evolved from the early days of Philip Marlowe to TV series like Jessica Jones. Lee explores every important aspect of the 'tainted knight' trope and its many offshoots to create an essential tome that's perfect for casual or hardcore fans of private eye fiction.

From the Publisher

Detectives in the Shadows is a feisty alternative view of American history as seen through the lens of hard-boiled detective fiction. Lee tails everyone from Race Williams and Hammett's Continental Op to Harry Bosch and Netflix's Jessica Jones, following the clues where they lead. Smart, brave, determined, neither tarnished nor afraid, and always fascinating. A must-read.
—Kevin Burton Smith, The Thrilling Detective Web Site

Cinch the belt on your trench coat, order a shot neat, and light up a smoke. Whether you're an academic or a noir fiction fan, there's something for everyone in Susanna Lee's book about the origins of the uniquely American hardboiled detective. From the Jazz Age to the present, Lee highlights how the private eye embodies American readers' desire for characters they'd want in their corner during hard or confusing times. Detectives in the Shadows is one of those books that is both enjoyable and educational. Bottoms up!
—Trudy Nan Boyce, author of The Policeman's Daughter

A meticulous, engaging, and can't-miss history and analysis of the private eye genre and how it has evolved from the early days of Philip Marlowe to TV series like Jessica Jones. Lee explores every important aspect of the 'tainted knight' trope and its many offshoots to create an essential tome that's perfect for casual or hardcore fans of private eye fiction.
—Alex Segura, author of the Pete Fernandez mystery series

Susanna Lee offers a hard-bitten, clear-eyed, critical, and affectionate take on that most particular incarnation of the hawkshaw.
—Gary Phillips, author of Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem

Editorial Reviews

05/11/2020

This pleasant but slight history of the distinctly American figure of the hardboiled detective opens by proposing that “for every tough season in American history, there is a detective who emerged to handle it.” Lee (Hard-Boiled Crime Fiction and the Decline of Moral Authority), a Georgetown comparative literature professor, argues that at moments of crisis, from Prohibition to the opioid epidemic, hard-boiled detectives have functioned as “wishful American self-portraits” who apply frontier individualism to societal anxieties and morally ambiguous situations. Lee traces the prototype back to 1923, when pulp fiction writer Carroll John Daly introduced his wildly popular character Race Williams. She then proceeds through the ’30s, with Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade and Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe; the ’40s, when Mickey Spillane created an explicitly anticommunist detective in Mike Hammer, and up to the present. Her argument becomes strained as this type of character becomes demonstrably less popular—indeed, her main contemporary example, Netflix series lead Jessica Jones, is also a superheroine, suggesting that the hard-boiled detective’s symbolic significance has faded over time. Despite this limitation, for detective fiction fans, this will prove an entertaining and informative trip through American history alongside their favorite gumshoes. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

One can say many things about crime fiction, and throughout this thoughtful, well-crafted piece of literary history, Lee succeeds in telling the story straight.
—Library Journal

For detective fiction fans, this will prove an entertaining and informative trip through American history alongside their favorite gumshoes.
—Publisher's Weekly

A revealing critique of a pop culture icon and required reading for mystery buffs.
—Julie Hale, BookPage

From the Publisher

A revealing critique of a pop culture icon and required reading for mystery buffs.

BookPage - Julie Hale

03/01/2020

The hard-boiled P.I. appeared in fiction for the first time in the 1920s and has endured for nearly a century. Drawing on iconic figures in detective fiction from pulp magazines to television, Lee (French, comparative literature, Georgetown Univ.; Hard-Boiled Crime Fiction and the Decline of Moral Authority) articulates a sophisticated thesis as to why their personas resonate with fans from the 1920s to today. Starting with Jon Carroll Daly's Race Williams, the author moves to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, considers the sea change in attitudes reflected in Mickey Spillane's appeal, and takes us on a whirlwind tour of TV detective heroes, such as David O. Rockford from HBO's The Wire. The book concludes with an essay on Jessica Jones, addressing why so few women are assigned the detective role. For Lee, these loner heroes encapsulate strains in American 20th-century culture, and with acute commentary, she explores the genre's predominant maleness and whiteness. VERDICT One can say many things about crime fiction, and throughout this thoughtful, well-crafted piece of literary history, Lee succeeds in telling the story straight.—David Keymer, Cleveland

Library Journal