Call for Papers: Sleuths, Private Eyes, and Policemen

CFP – Sleuths, Private Eyes, and Policemen: An International Compendium of the 100 Greatest Literary Detectives.

Edited by Eric Sandberg (eric.sandberg@oulu.fi)

I am looking for contributors for Sleuths, Private Eyes, and Policemen: An International Compendium of the 100 Greatest Literary Detectives, a new reference work under contract with Rowman & Littlefield for publication in late 2017.

This collection will focus on the investigators who lie at the heart of crime fiction (and who appear with surprising frequency in other genres), and will offer academics and general readers a rigorous, opinionated, and entertaining survey of the key figures in one of our richest literary traditions. The hundred entries will offer broad historical and international coverage, but must be based on books available in English.

Each entry will be approximately 1000 words in length, and will contain 1) an initial ‘characteristic’ quotation, 2) an essay summarizing the distinctive features of the investigator, outlining major features of their fictional careers, and making the case for their ‘greatness’ based on factors such as literary-historical importance, uniqueness, literary quality, and cultural resonance, and 3) a bibliography of key works in which the investigator appears. A sample entry will be available for contributors.

Possible entries include the characters listed below, but proposals for entries on other investigators are most welcome, as are multiple entries by single contributors.

Please submit a 100-word rationale for the inclusion of your selected characters, along with a short (50 word) bio, and a short list of any relevant publication or teaching experience by 15 March 2016 to eric.sandberg@oulu.fi. Complete entries will be due by 30 July 2016.

Possible characters (but suggestions are welcome)

Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie
Miss Marple, Agatha Christie
Adam Dalgliesh, P. D. James
Cordelia Gray, P. D. James
Father Brown, G.K. Chesterton
Inspectors Morse and Lewis, Colin Dexter
Inspectors Dalziel and Pascoe, Reginald Hill
Inspector Trent, E. C. Bentley
Albert Campion, Margery Allingham
Sir John Appleby, Michael Innes
Inspector Allan Grant, Josephine Tey
Philo Vance, S. S. Van Dyne
D.I. Tom Thorne, Mark Billingham
Inspector Ghote, H. F. R. Keating
Mr. Peters, Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Vish Puri and Mama Ji, Tarquin Hall
Sexton Blake, Various Authors
Bulldog Drummond, Sapper
Inspector Rebus, Ian Rankin
Mma Precious Ramotswe, Alexander McCall Smith
Quint Dalrymple, Paul Johnston
Jack Laidlaw, William McIlvanney
Kate Brannigan, Val McDermid
Lindsay Gordon, Val McDermid
Maureen O’Donnell, Denise Mina
Paddy Meehan, Denise Mina
Jackson Brodie, Kate Atkinson
Quirke, Benjamin Black (John Banville)
Roderick Alleyn, Ngaio Marsh
Eberhard Mock, Marek Krajewski
Teodor Szacki, Zygmunt Miloszewski
Inspector Boruvka, Josef Škvorecký
Anastazja Kamienska, Aleksandra Marinina
Mei Wang, Diane Wei Lang
Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson, Arnaldur Indridason
Maria Kallio, Leena Lehtolainen
Inspector Kurt Wallander, Henning Mankell
Erika Falck and Patrik Hedström, Camilla Läckberg
Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler
The Continental Op, Dashiell Hammett
Harry Bosch, Michael Connelly
Richard Jury and Melrose Plant, Martha Grimes
C. Auguste Dupin, Edgar Allan Poe
Nero Wolfe, Rex Stout
P. I. Spenser, Robert B. Parker
Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, Walter Mosely
Kemal Pasha, Jenny White
Alex Delaware, Jonathan Kellerman
Steve Carella, Ed McBain
Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones, Chester Himes
Virginia Kelley, Nikki Baker
Kate Fansler, Amanda Cross
Sharon McCone, Marcia Muller
Pam Nilsen, Barbara Wilsen
Mario Conde, Leonardo Padura
Inspector Maigret, Georges Simenon
Chief Inspector Adamsberg, Fred Vargas
Arsène Lupin, Maurice Leblanc
Michele Ferrara, Michele Giuttari
Salvo Montalbano, Andrea Camilleri
Commissario Soneri, Valerio Varesi
Pepe Carvalho, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán
Detective Leo Caldas, Domingo Villar
Sergeant Jakob Studer, Friedrich Glauser
Inspector Bärlach, Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Kemal Kayankaya, Jakob Arjouni
Inspector Imanishi, Seicho Matsumoto
Detective Mitarai, Soji Shimada
Detective Benny Griessel, Deon Mayer