Review of Continent of Mystery: A Thematic History of Australian Crime Fiction, by Stephen Knight

Abstract

The last decade has seen an expansion of interest in Australian popular fiction, with work by Fiona Giles and others on romance, and Robert Dixon's book on adventure fiction. Stephen Knight bas now produced the first scholarly study of Australian crime fiction. Knight examines written forms of 'crime fiction' from 19th century periodical serials to contemporary novels. Knight dissects how Australian crime writing differs: how our land, our heritage and our culture produce criminal texts largely at variance with those in other countries.

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Published 1 May 1998 in Volume 18 No. 3. Subjects: Crime fiction.

Cite as: Johnson-Woods, Toni. ‘Review of Continent of Mystery: A Thematic History of Australian Crime Fiction, by Stephen Knight.’ Australian Literary Studies, vol. 18, no. 3, 1998, doi: 10.20314/als.8606536f4e.