Crime fiction has been one of the most popular genres since the 19th century but has roots in works as varied as Sophocles Herodotus & Shakespeare In this Very Short Introduction Richard Bradford explores the history of the genre by considering the various definitions of 'crime fiction' & looking at how it has developed over time Discussing the popularity of crime fiction worldwide & its various styles; the role that gender plays within the genre; spy fiction & legal dramas & thrillers; he explores how the crime novel was shaped by the work of British & American authors in the 18th & 19th centuries Highlighting the works of notorious authors such as Edgar Allan Poe Conan Doyle Agatha Christie & Raymond Chandler
- to name but a few
- he considers the role of the crime novel in modern popular culture & asks whether we can & whether we should consider crime fiction serious 'literature' ABOUT THE SERIES The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas & enthusiasm to make interesting & challenging topics highly readable

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Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play Meet the most unconventional investigative team of all time in the BBC mystery adventure series Crime Traveller Written by award-winning author Anthony Horowitz creator of the brilliant Alex Rider adventures Foyle s War Rosemary & Thyme & Midsomer Murders Crime Traveller stars Michael French (East Enders Holby City) & Red Dwarf s Chloë Annett (Casualty Doctors) as sleuths Jeff Slade & Holly Turner Detective duos come & go working on intuition clues & good luck but Slade & his beautiful colleague Holly are armed with something very special in the ongoing fight against crime their very own time machine Invented by Holly s father Professor Frederick Turner the time machine may be a bizarre mixture of DIY technology but it works just sending the charming maverick detective Slade on a dangerous rollercoaster ride through both the present & the past Intriguing complex puzzles are solved with the aid of their unreliable collection of nuts & bolts & flashing lights but they must always obey the rules of quantum physics or risk being lost forever Aided by a superb cast that

Includes:: Waking The Dead s Sue Johnston & directed by Brian Farnham (Rosemary & Thyme Poirot Heartbeat Bergerac) Crime Traveller is a stylish fast-paced drama that was shown on prime time BBC television during the late 1990 s gathering a strong & loyal cult following hooked on the mysteries of time travel & crime fighting & paving the way for dramas such as the BBC s acclaimed series Life On Mars This DVD Box Set

Includes:: an exclusive interview with writer & creator Anthony Horowitz the man behind the newest big screen hero; Alex Rider DVD Special Features Cast & Crew Biographies Episode Synopsis Exclusive Anthony Horowitz Interview & Original Production Traile



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Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play Bad Karma Ray Liotta stars as Jack Malloy a hardcore career criminal until a near-death experience causes him to turn his world around But when his former partner Yates (Dominic Purcell of Prison Break & Straw Dogs is released from prison he tracks Jack down to blackmail him into one last job For one of them coming to terms with the past will be bloody murder The Entitled Without the security of the job he wants or the future he dreamed of Paul Dynan (Kevin Zegers) plans the perfect crime to help his struggling family
- extort a fortune from three wealthy men (Ray Liotta Victor Garber Stephen Mc Hattie) The plan to abduct their socialite children (Laura Vandervoort Dustin Milligan John Bregar) & collect a healthy ransom of 3-million dollars Over the course of one long night Paul & his accomplices hold the rich kids hostage awaiting the ransom with little idea of the secrets that will surface between the fathers when they are forced to choose between their children & their money Once blood is shed & things go horribly wrong Paul must fight to stay one step ahead of his own twisted game Officer Down One year ago dirty cop Detective Callahan (Stephen Dorff) was shot in a drug bust gone wrong & saved by an anonymous stranger who gave him a second chance to clean up his life But when the stranger finally comes forward seeking revenge against the men responsible for a string of assaults on young women at a local strip club Callahan must go rogue to find the attacker in an effort to hide how his past played a part in these crimes His desperation to find the attacker & cover his tracks takes him down a violent road of deception cover-ups & fraud Can he play the "good cop" & track down the assailant while still keeping his reputation clean?
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play DVD Special features Original Theatrical Trailer Interactive Menus Screens & Chapter Selections Soundtrack in Mono English French Italian Spanish Subtitles English French Italian Spanish Swedish Norwegian Danish English for the hard of hearing ...

Who was the murderer who committed an atrocity at an East End brothel in 1691? & was he ever caught? What superstitions lay behind the unfathomable slaughter of three innocent children at a remote farmhouse in County Durham in 1683? When was a parish constable murdered in cold blood by a party of men that allegedly included the illegitimate son of King Charles II? Where did violent lethal confrontations occur between supporters & opponents of King James II during the so-called Bloodless Revolution of 1688? Why was Dr Clenche ruthlessly garrotted in the back of a coach meandering through the darkened London streets? How did the very first killing attributed to the nation s civil wars occur in Manchester? Is there any truth in the legend of Exmoor s lawless Doone clan? These cases & many more are explored in depth within this work & harken back to a time of witchcraft purges duelling & political assassinations when the punishment for killing one s fellow man was either more barbaric than the crime itself or corruptly lenient Within these pages the story of violent crime in 17th century Britain is told from sociopathic noblemen & ruthless bandits to war crimes & judicial assassinations Illustrated throughout & shedding a unique light on the era Crimes & Criminals of 17th Century Britain is the first work of its kind to explore the monstrous murders that occurred against the backdrop of a nation that repeatedly imploded ...

Father Frank Docherty has had his run-ins with the church authorities in the early 1970s he was expelled from the Sydney archdiocese for preaching against the Vietnam War & has lived in Canada as a monk ever since Twenty-five years later back in Australia to give a lecture about celibacy & paedophile priests he comes across an ex-nun who claims to have been abused by a now eminent cleric If Docherty is to help her he will be up against an institution bent on avoiding scandal What is more the accused man&s sister is the woman Docherty nearly broke his vows for long ago This searing impassioned novel captures the Catholic Church at a pivotal moment when it tried to silence its victims wreaking lasting damage not only on innocents but on itself ...

The sixth Will Trent novel from the No 1 Bestseller A woman is found brutally murdered in a sordid Atlanta apartment Her blood-soaked body bears a chilling similarity to a woman found dead almost 40 years earlier Soon Special Agent Will Trent finds himself returning to the home he grew up in & a past that could hold the clue to the killings ...

Ariel Vromen directs this action thriller starring Kevin Costner When CIA agent Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds) is killed his thoughts & skills are transferred into the mind of Jericho Stewart (Costner) a volatile death-row inmate so details of his unfinished mission can be uncovered Jericho tormented by an array of memories & flashbacks struggles under the pressure of Bill&s boss Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman) & goes rogue The cast also

Includes:: Tommy Lee Jones & Gal Gadot Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play

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Criminal is a series of knife-sharp noir-tinged tales about the people who live on the wrong side of the law Jacob a cartoonist & insomniac is drawn into a web of sex betrayal & murder when a chance encounter over dead-of-night coffee leads him to Iris a mysterious dancer & her thug boyfriend Soon the secrets of Jacob's past as a counterfeiter are dragged to the surface
- & then his Bad Night really gets started Award-winning writer Ed Brubaker (" Gotham Central") & acclaimed artist Sean Phillips (" Marvel Zombies") continue their critically acclaimed neo-noir series spotlighting the people who live on society's underbelly
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' As enlightening about crime in modern society as any book I have read' The Times'A richly researched supremely sane discussion of the causes of & ways of preventing crime From bobbies on the beat (they don't reduce crime) to the idea that "prison works" (it doesn't) Gash's important book may well change your attitude to criminality & the justice system' Guardian There are two myths about crime In one the criminal act is a selfish choice & tough punishment the only solution In the other the system is at fault & perpetrators will change only when society reforms Both these narratives are wrong Interweaving conversations & stories of crime with findings from the latest research Tom Gash dispels the myths that inform our views of crime from the widespread misconception that poverty causes crime to the belief that tough sentencing reduces it He examines the origins of criminal behaviour the ebb & flow of crime across the last century & the effectiveness of various government crack-downs
- & in doing so reveals that crime is both less rational & much easier to reduce than many believe Can we suspend our knee-jerk reactions let go of cherished myths & embrace the truth about crime?
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