The History Of

Crime Fiction

By Ollie Dwyer

The start of fictional crime

drama

The earliest known example of a crime story was “The Three Apples” this was a tale narrated by Scheherazade and it was wrote in the book “One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights).

In this tale one man orders his political adviser to solve the crime and find the murderer within three days, or be executed if he fails his assignment. In the end the case is solved as the murderer confesses to his crime.

Many of the first signs of crime dramas came from Chinese backgrounds. Gong’an fiction was the genre which referred to Chinese crime fiction.

Early examples of crime stories includes, Steen Steensen Blichers The Rector of Velibye (1829), and Philip Meadows Taylor's Confessions of a Thug (1839). These are forerunners of some of the crime fiction that is seen today.

The 1920s and 30s are commonly known as the Golden age for fictional crime dramas and detective fiction.

Some of the most significant authors for crime dramas in this period were Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.

A typical plot of the Golden Age mystery followed these lines:• A body is found (usually a stranger)

by someone who was not expecting to find it there, e.g. a maid finds a dead body in a bathroom

• A detective will be called and the main suspects for the crime (murder) will form around the person who has been murdered e.g. friends or perhaps enemies of the person, usually not a great deal of distance from the crime scene

• The police will not be able to figure out what happened themselves so it is up to the detective to find out, at first things are still unclear.

Crime Drama ‘The Golden Age’

The formula to writing crime drama has changed a lot since it was first founded in the late 1800’s. Today crime dramas often follow the criminal in the light of the good person, and the police/detective in the view of being the ‘bad character’.

However the traditional formula is still seen a lot in modern day media. For example the American TV series ‘CSI’ follows the traditional crime drama plot. In most of the episodes a body is discovered at the start, usually by someone who isn’t a detective. The CSI team then come to investigate the scene and spend the rest of the episode forming suspects and following up on evidence, to try and figure out who the criminal is.

An example of a crime drama that doesn’t follow the police and instead follows the criminal is the series ‘Top Boy’, which is produced in London England and was shown on ITV.

Modern crime drama

Here are a list of the most successful TV crime dramas:• Breaking bad (2008)• Arrow (2012)• Sons of Anarchy (2008) • The Blacklist (2013)• Dexter (2006)• Boardwalk Empire (2010)• Prison break (2005)• Luther (2010)• Burn notice (2007)• Law and order (1990)• Ripper Street 2012• NCIS: LA (2009)• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

(2000)

Here as some of the most popular crime films:• The Shawshank redemption (1994)• The Dark Night Rises (2012)• Gangster Squad (2013)• The godfather (1972)• Goodfellas (1990)• The Departed (2006)• Bad Boys (1995)

Most successful crime dramas These films and TV series may also fit into other genres but their main genre is based around crime. For example ‘Bad Boys’ and ‘The Departed’ also fit into the genre of action films.