Talking about detective fiction

P D James is well known as a writer of detective fiction. In this book she discusses the writing of detective fiction, particularly British books in this genre. Authors she discusses include Arthur Conan Doyle, G K Chesterton, Agatha Christie, E C Bentley, Gladys Mitchell, Edmund Crispin, Cyril Hare, Josephine Tey, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh. There is also a chapter on American 'hard boiled' detective writing highlighting the work of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. The author looks at why readers enjoy detective fiction and provides an insight into what methods authors, including herself, use to write successful detective novels.