The Mysteries of the Cities Urban Crime Fiction in the Nineteenth Century

A popular crime genre in the nineteenth century, urban mysteries have largely been ignored ever since. This historical and critical text examines the origins of the innovative genre, which grappled with the rise of enormous, anonymous cities, beginning in France in 1842, then spreading rapidly across the continent and to America and Australia. Writers covered include Eugène Sue, George Reynolds, Paul Féval, George Lippard, “Ned Buntline” and Donald Cameron.