About this course

Are you the next Hercule Poirot? A budding Sherlock Holmes?  Embrace your inner Dick Tracy and dive into the world of detective Fiction.

Explore the back-stories of some of the earliest examples of crime fiction.

This course delves deep into the evolution of the crime fiction genre from the early nineteenth century to the present day with a focus on detective novels. Many of these novels shaped the way we think about reading and have engaged generations of readers from childhood through to our twilight years.

Did you know that over 2 billion copies of Agatha Christie’s detective novels are estimated to have been sold?

On this course you will develop advanced skills in analysing and contextualising crime fiction texts from the UK, the US, Australia and beyond.

Join us and embark on the fascinating tale behind the twist.

What you'll cover

  • The early history of detective fiction
  • Detective fiction sub-genres
  • Reading detective fiction
  • Pots and narrative structures
  • Classic detective fiction devices

What you'll achieve

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • Discuss the history of crive fiction and some of the key crime fiction subgenres.
  • Explore the key formal, thematic and contextual characteristic of individual crime fiction texts
  • Investigate crime fiction texts in relation to the genre and the idea of genre evolution.

Who is the course for?

This course is for anyone looking to improve their knowledge of crime fiction.  Avid readers and true crime connoisseurs should find a lot to engage them here.

Meet the instructors

Dr Jesper Gulddal

Dr Jesper Gulddal

Jesper Gulddal is a Professor of English Literature at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He is also a specialist in - and avid reader of - crime fiction and have published extensively in this area.

Like this open course?

Take the full semester 10 unit course

Learn more