The Corpse as Narrative Object in Hardboiled Detective Fiction: Dead Ends and Red Herrings (Crime Files) - Hardcover

Moore, J. Muriel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3032222567 ISBN 13: 9783032222565

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2026

Synopsis

This book examines how the representation of objects, specifically dead bodies, functions as the motivating force of hardboiled detective fiction narratives. Conducting a semi-interactive autopsy into the body in and of the genre, the author deploys several theoretical frames including narratology, body-as-text theory, object theory, reader-response theory, formalism, and genre theory to demonstrate the significance of objects, symbols, and things in narrative. While primarily focusing on the works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, the book references lesser-known accomplices. Chapters outline the experience of reading and writing objects as a narrative compulsion, facilitated and exemplified by the figure of a private eye as they endeavor to plausibly recreate and solve the crime, reanimating the inanimate thing on the floor through storytelling and reclaiming their own integrity and agency by asserting authority over conflicting versions of the facts. 

About this title

About the Author

J. Muriel Moore received her PhD in English Language and Literature at Queen's University, Canada. Her specializations include genre fiction, narratology, reader-response theory, women writers, disability studies, and popular culture. 

From the Back Cover

This book examines how the representation of objects, specifically dead bodies, functions as the motivating force of hardboiled detective fiction narratives. Conducting a semi-interactive autopsy into the body in and of the genre, the author deploys several theoretical frames including narratology, body-as-text theory, object theory, reader-response theory, formalism, and genre theory to demonstrate the significance of objects, symbols, and things in narrative. While primarily focusing on the works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, the book references lesser-known accomplices. Chapters outline the experience of reading and writing objects as a narrative compulsion, facilitated and exemplified by the figure of a private eye as they endeavor to plausibly recreate and solve the crime, reanimating the inanimate thing on the floor through storytelling and reclaiming their own integrity and agency by asserting authority over conflicting versions of the facts. 

J. Muriel Moore received her PhD in English Language and Literature at Queen's University, Canada. Her specializations include genre fiction, narratology, reader-response theory, women writers, disability studies, and popular culture. 

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3032222567
• ISBN 13: 9783032222565
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 306