Strange Countries and Secret Worlds in Ruth Rendell's Crime Novels^*

* This article benefited considerably from suggestions made by Paul F. Starrs, Gary J. Hausladen, and several anonymous reviewers. I would also like to thank Lawrence D. McCann and J. Douglas Porteous for their helpful advice and encouragement, Jill Jahansoozi for her enthusiasm, and Kathie Merriam for encouraging appreciation of the mystery genre within our geography department.

Abstract

Mystery novels and academic geography have not often intersected. Yet crime fiction can incorporate spatial relationships and real‐life regional characteristics. In recent decades mysteries have been freed from the long tradition of presenting elaborate puzzles, and now they feature human interactions in realistic settings. Writers like Ruth Rendell integrate place into their character development and plot lines. Rendell depicts changing urban landscapes in late‐twentieth‐century England and effectively explores contemporary British culture.

• England
• landscape change
• literary geography
• mysteries
• place
• territoriality

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lisa Kadonaga

Ms. Kadonaga is a doctoral candidate in geography at the University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada v8w 3P5.