The Mysteries of the Cities

A popular crime genre in the nineteenth century, urban mysteries have largely been ignored ever since. This historical and critical text examines the origins of the innovative genre, which grappled with the rise of enormous, anonymous cities, beginning in France in 1842, then spreading rapidly across the continent and to America and Australia. Writers covered include Eugène Sue, George Reynolds, Paul Féval, George Lippard, “Ned Buntline” and Donald Cameron.

Stephen Knight is a well-known authority on crime fiction and literature through the ages. He has worked at universities in Australia, England and Wales and is a research professor in literature at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Stephen Knight
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 240
Bibliographic Info: 11 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6341-1
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8844-5
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1
Introduction      5

1. Master of the Mysteries: Eugène Sue’s Les Mystères de Paris      13
2. The Voice of the People: George Reynolds’s The Mysteries of London      56
3. Across the Channel: Paul Féval’s Les Mystères de Londres      112
4. The Philadelphia Version: George Lippard’s The Quaker City      131
5. “A Perfect Daguerreotype of This Great City”: Edward Zane Carroll Judson’s The Mysteries and Miseries of New York      156
6. Mysteries Across the World: Donald Cameron’s The Mysteries of Melbourne Life      182

Notes      205
Bibliography      219
Index      227

• “Impressive”—Literature & History
• “An invaluable study of the city mystery genre”—Edgar Allan Poe Review
• “This interesting volume on comparative crime fiction explores the detective story genre of the nineteenth century”—Reference & Research Book News