This ambitious study examines the works of modern African American mystery writers within the social and historical contexts of African American literature on crime and justice. It begins with a historical overview that describes the movement by African American authors from slave narratives and antebellum newspapers into fiction writing, the work of early genre writers, such as Pauline Hopkins and Rudolph Fisher, the protest writers of the 1940s and 1950s, and the authors who followed in the 1960s. The historical section concludes with a discussion of works by late twentieth-century writers such as Toni Morrison and Ernest Gaines and the expansion of the audience for works by African American writers.The heart of the book is an analysis of works by modern African American mystery writers, focusing on sleuths, the social locations of crime, victims and offenders, the notion of 'doing justice', and the role of African American cultural vernacular in mystery fiction. A final section focuses on readers and reading, examining African American mystery writers access to the marketplace and the issue of the 'double audience' raised by earlier writers. It includes the results of an online survey of mystery readers and presents interviews with a cross-section of African American mystery writers and academic scholars.

About the Author
Frankie Y. Bailey is an associate professor in the University at Albany's School of Criminal Justice. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and currently serves as the secretary and a director-at-large of the Board of Directors. She is also a member of Sisters in Crime and of Romance Writers of America.

Reviews
"engagingly written...an important addition"-Mystery Scene; "Ms. Bailey's depth of knowledge on the subject is staggering"-Scarlet; "Frankie Bailey knows a thing or two about crime writing"-timesunion.com.


Awards
Winner of Macavity Award (Nonfiction) 2009. Short-listed for Agatha Awards (Nonfiction) 2008 and Anthony Awards (Critical Nonfiction) 2009 and Edgar Allan Poe Awards (Critical/Biographical) 2009.



Book Information
ISBN 9780786433391
Author Frankie Y. Bailey, Ph.D.
Format Paperback
Page Count 277
Imprint McFarland & Co Inc
Publisher McFarland & Co Inc