Justice and Revenge in Contemporary American Crime Fiction

Stuart Sim is retired Professor of Critical Theory at Northumbria University, UK. A Fellow of the English Association, he has published widely in the fields of critical theory and the novel as social criticism. Recent works include The End of Modernity (2010), The Lyotard Dictionary (ed., 2011), and Fifty Key Thinkers in Postmodernism (2013).

• 1. Introduction: The Anti-Detective Figure and the 'New America' 2. James Ellroy: The LA Quartet and 'Absolute Justice' 3. James Lee Burke: Dave Robicheaux - Keeping Evil at Bay 4. Walter Mosley: Easy Rawlins and the African American Experience 5. Sara Paretsky: The Female Private Investigator Versus Patriarchy 6. George Pelecanos: Nick Stefanos - The Private Investigator and 'Absolute Justice' 7. Conclusion: Crime Fiction and Moral Decline Notes Bibliography Index