Britain has a distinguished – and distinctive – tradition of crime writing. This course explores the development of this tradition from the nineteenth century, through ‘The Golden Age’ of the 1920s and 30s, to the present day. The focus will be upon both close readings of individual texts and broader cultural and historical interpretations of the genre, with emphasis on the context the texts emerge from.

Topics to be considered include: the role of the setting; feminism in the detective novel; the significance of genre; and the politics and ideology of representing crime. Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, PD James, Val McDermid, and Vaseem Khan are just some of the authors included on the syllabus.

The class hikes in the footsteps of Conan Doyle’s infamous Hound of the Baskervilles on Dartmoor and visits Greenway, Agatha Christie’s beautiful home, on a day-long study trip to Devon.

Related study trips

A day trip into Devon, visiting Greenway (Agatha Christie's home), and Dartmoor.

ASE reserves the right to change the content of course-specific study trips where necessary.