Writers of fiction have always confronted topics of crime and punishment. This age-old fascination with crime on the part of authors and readers is not surprising, given that criminal justice touches on so many political and psychological themes essential to literature and comes equipped with a trial process that contains its own dramatic structure. This volume explores this profound and enduring literary engagement with crime, investigation, and criminal justice. The collected essays explore three themes that connect the world of law with that of fiction. First, defining and punishing crime i ... More

Writers of fiction have always confronted topics of crime and punishment. This age-old fascination with crime on the part of authors and readers is not surprising, given that criminal justice touches on so many political and psychological themes essential to literature and comes equipped with a trial process that contains its own dramatic structure. This volume explores this profound and enduring literary engagement with crime, investigation, and criminal justice. The collected essays explore three themes that connect the world of law with that of fiction. First, defining and punishing crime is one of the fundamental purposes of government, along with the protection of victims by the prevention of crime. And yet criminal punishment remains one of the most abused and terrifying forms of political power. Second, crime is intensely psychological and therefore an important subject with which a writer can develop and explore character. A third connection between criminal justice and fiction involves the inherently dramatic nature of the legal system itself, particularly the trial. The ongoing public conversation about crime and punishment suggests that the time is ripe for collaboration between law and literature in this troubled domain.