Abstract
This chapter explores the overlap between techniques of writing detective fiction and academic traditions of writing about unusual or dramatic crimes, drawing on a non-fiction novel that I am writing about a murder case from 1925. I argue that techniques of ‘detective fiction’, such as suspense, the limited point of view of a ‘detective’, and the problem of ‘motive’ offer historians tools to denaturalize ‘seeing like a cop’. Rather than reading against the grain of criminal justice sources, the chapter demonstrates methods that lean into the storytelling in all police records by exploring one ‘detective’ figure: Adrian Edmond, lead investigator for this case.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Historical Research, Creative Writing, and the Past |
| Subtitle of host publication | Methods of Knowing |
| Editors | Kevin A. Morrison, Pälvi Rantala |
| Publisher | Routledge |
| Chapter | 8 |
| Pages | 166-180 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781000890105 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781032180885 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 selectio and editorial matter, Kevin A. Morriso and Pälvi Rantala; individual chapters the contributors.
Keywords
- Creative Methodologies
- detective fiction
- witchcraft
- historiography
- creative writing
- creative histories
