About the course: Crime fiction encompasses detective fiction, mysteries, suspense, espionage, heists and police procedurals. Students comb through classic and modern texts and analyze movies and TV shows to address contemporary issues such as racism, homophobia and public policy.

Instructor: Neil Easterbrook, professor of English

Class times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 to 10:50 a.m.

Class size: 35 students

Visual media: The Maltese Falcon, Chinatown, Gone Girl, Law & Order

Photo by Getty Images © ILBUSCA

Texts: Crime Fiction by John Scaggs (Routledge, 2005)

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2011)

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2018)

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (W.W. Norton & Co., 2008)

“The Purloined Letter” by Edgar Allan Poe

“The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Arthur Conan Doyle

Classwork: Eight quizzes covering weekly readings, lectures and class discussion

Two essay-based exams, a midterm and a final

One eight-page paper providing a detailed analytic restatement of Crime Fiction