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The man who invented the modern cop novel

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Re: The man who invented the modern cop novel

#21

Post by mellosouls »

jjtheblunt wrote: post #5
CharleFKane wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoy the Wambaugh I’ve read, but I had some issues with this article. Version_five is right about Martin Beck. (I wouldn’t count Maigret or Chandler as “police procedurals”.) Also on the list and predating Wambaugh: Ed McBain’s “87th Precinct” novels. First one published in 1956, last one in 2005.

Do Sherlock Holmes stories not count?

No, I'm a massive Holmes fan but I think he fits almost into the superhero genre.

While the more abstract elements of puzzle-cracking are brilliantly elaborated within a legal mystery framing in the Sherlock universe, I would say police procedures themselves are barely to be seen except where he benevolently tolerates or accedes to them at the request of others.

Investigative rigor and procedure are common to both forms, but the police procedural itself has a considerably wider remit I think that even the classic lone wolf cop fits into in a way that types like Holmes and modern successors like Jack Reacher do not.

Re: The man who invented the modern cop novel

#22

Post by Hunpeter »

StrangeSound wrote: post #16
OJFord wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't the word 'cop' do that already? It does for me anyway.

I'm not sure "cop" has American origins. http://orvillejenkins.com/words/cops.html

Interestingly, in my native language (Hungarian) the word "kopó", which means a kind of hunting dog, used to be slang for a detective. I thought there maybe was some connection to "cop", but apparently it's just a coincidence.

Re: The man who invented the modern cop novel

#23

Post by OJFord »

StrangeSound wrote: post #16
OJFord wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't the word 'cop' do that already? It does for me anyway.

I'm not sure "cop" has American origins. http://orvillejenkins.com/words/cops.html

Neither does 'Fall' (season), but in modern usage it all but guarantees the speaker is North American (or ESL and learnt it from them).

Re: The man who invented the modern cop novel

#24

Post by version_five »

Karellen wrote: post #19
OJFord wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't the word 'cop' do that already? It does for me anyway.

I reckon quite a few countries with English as an official language will have "cop" as a nickname for "police" - even in places where their police culture might significantly different from US police culture.

Also, in non-English speaking places, there are usually long standing slang words of similar standing, e.g "flic" in French. The evolution of police novels is multi-linglua (Wahloo / Sjowall, Simenon) so reading "cop" in english is not a dead giveaway, though I understand the point having read through the discussion.

Re: The man who invented the modern cop novel

#25

Post by causi »

You know it's funny; I've seen probably four or five HN submissions about "cop novels" over the years but for all my time spent in book stores and on the internet I have never seen one in person or heard someone talk about one outside of HN.

Re: The man who invented the modern cop novel

#26

Post by hillsboroughman »

The modern cop novel was a formula popularized in England by Edgar Wallace already in the 1915-20 timeframe. His novels show great command of police procedure incl crime scene analysis, lab work, post mortem, ballistics, finger printing etc.. He is said to have written some 170 novels, not all of them were police thrillers. Later in life, he went to Hollywood and wrote screenplays.

I guess his earlier work is not very well-known in the US.

Just my 2c

Re: The man who invented the modern cop novel

#28

Post by coldtea »

causi wrote: post #25

You know it's funny; I've seen probably four or five HN submissions about "cop novels" over the years but for all my time spent in book stores and on the internet I have never seen one in person or heard someone talk about one outside of HN.

You haven't seen anybody talk about one of the most popular genres of fiction?

Re: The man who invented the modern cop novel

#30

Post by borroka »

jgalt212 wrote: post #27

The Bernie Gunther series (mostly set in pre-WW2 Berlin) are great cop novels. https://berniegunther.com/

Philip Kerr was an extraordinary writer, very inventive and with a distinctive prose. One caveat: over the course of the BG series he became, in my opinion, a little too verbose, too good with words for the narrative need. But an excellent, excellent series that I intend to read again.

PK also wrote an investigative trilogy set in the world of soccer, which is hugely entertaining. An outstanding author -- who sadly passed away way when too young -- who is not popular enough.

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