Social commentators have noted a marked decline in moral values in contemporary American society, both in public and private life, and this comes through very strongly in its crime fiction. In this study, the work of James Ellroy, James Lee Burke, Walter Mosley, Sara Paretsky, and George Pelecanos is explored in terms of the agenda of social criticism lying behind it. There is a turn towards revenge and vigilante activity on the part of their detective figures that presents a very unflattering picture of American culture and how it is developing. Ellroy dubs this 'absolute justice', but it proves to be part of the problem rather than any effective solution to dealing with the problem of evil. Each of these authors is wrestling with the issues this raises, and as Stuart Sim argues, their detective figures are no longer moral exemplars but symptoms of a wider social malaise.
- ISBN10 1137469668
- ISBN13 9781137469663
- Publish Date 1 April 2015
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 21 April 2015
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Palgrave Macmillan
- Imprint Palgrave Pivot
- Format eBook
- Pages 128
- Language English