Traces the history of the art of detective fiction from more intellectual short stories of Poe and Doyle through the early "hard-boiled" private eye fiction and the "cozies" of the 1930s and 1940s to the many varieties of today. Identifies adaptations of the genre in pre-1950 radio broadcasts and later films and TV shows. Through charts, short papers and presentations students analyze artistry in plotting, characterization, formulaic devices, and literary techniques of effective short stories and novels in comparison with less well-constructed examples of the genre. Fulfills general education requirement in literature. [3 credits]