Among the most popular of literary forms, crime fiction has played a central role in the development of national literatures for more than a century. Crime and Detective Fiction examines practices of crime writing in American literature and in regions as far and wide as China, Japan, and Scandinavia. Readers will appreciate familiar authors in the genre, such as Arthur Conan Doyle and Raymond Chandler, as well as important new additions, most prominently represented by Steig Larrson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.