Violent Sidekicks in American Crime Fiction Series
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- ISBN 9781041329008
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 27 Aug 2026
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Violent Sidekicks in American Crime Fiction Series: Hawk, Clete, Pike, Mouse, Bubba, Win examines six violent sidekicks in contemporary American novels authored by Robert Parker, James Lee Burke, Robert Crais, Walter Mosley, Dennis Lehane and Harlan Coben. These popular, award-winning series derive from the hard-boiled tradition established in the U.S.A. from the 1920s, centrally featuring private detectives with their sidekicks as important secondary characters.
The study analyzes the violent nature and conduct of each sidekick in turn, drawing comparisons and contrasts between them as well as with their detective counterparts. It examines the origins of their violence and its role in the novels, demonstrating that the sidekicks are remorseless and lacking in conscience, while detectives are somewhat less so. The violence committed is not always proportionate but is usually justified.
This volume is an indispensable resource for researchers and advanced students engaging with genre studies, hard-boiled detective traditions, representations of violence, and the moral complexities of popular American narratives.
Terry Keefe is Professor Emeritus at Lancaster University, U.K. He holds degrees in French, Philosophy, and French philosophy. For over thirty years, he taught and researched French literature and philosophy at Leicester University (serving as Dean of Arts) and Lancaster. He has published books on existentialist fiction, Simone de Beauvoir, Zola, and autobiography. After early retirement, he engaged in conservation work, edited an environmentalist journal, and lectured on mysteries and mystery novels. In 2021, he published a book on premonitions of the Titanic disaster.
