The African American Experience in Crime Fiction ─ A Critical Study

This study traces the emergence of the murder mystery in African American literature, from the early 20th century through the beginning of the 21st. It examines how specific novels portray legal, medical, educational, cultural, and literary systems that have determined attitudes and prejudices toward African Americans, focusing on Pauline Hopkins Hagar's Daughter; Rudolph Fisher's The Conjure-Man Dies; Chester Himes' Harlem Domestic series, particularly Plan B; Ishmael Reed's novels featuring PaPa LaBas, Mumbo Jumbo and The Last Days of Louisiana; Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist; and the works of Stephen L. Carter and Walter Mosley. The introductory and concluding chapters include discussion of primetime television series, particularly 24 and Monk. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Robert E. Crafton is an associate professor of English at Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania.