Murder Done to Death : Parody and Pastiche in Detective Fiction

An art form comes of age when it is imitated, then parodied and finally repeated in pastiche.

Crime and detective fiction is now so well established in different formats that it lends itself easily to these literary forms.

After a brief history of the genre is an analysis of a large number of parody books and short stories, with details of correspondence and interviews the writer has had with masters of the craft, like Georges Simenon and Margaret Millar.

The next section covers those books written by teams of six or more crime writers.

The pastiche section deals with a number of books and short stories in-depth, crime stories for younger readers, and the exploits of literary detectives and criminals. "Do It Yourself Sleuthing" covers dossiers, games and books of solvable short crime stories.

This leads naturally to all forms of parody and pastiche in films, theater, television and radio, including stage and film musicals.