This Masters course aims to explore the techniques, structures and contexts of crime fiction, thereby enabling students to develop their own writing practice and produce original crime fiction. The course involves close reading and analysis of a diverse range of crime fiction texts, explorations of the conventions and plasticity of the genre, workshopping of students' creative work and contributions by writers in the field.

10 x 2hr weekly seminars over ten weeks as scheduled on MyCampus 

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Portfolio of original crime writing (4,500 words) - 80%

Presentation (10 minutes) - 20%

The course aims to:

■ Investigate the multiple structures, styles, histories and concerns of a range of international crime fiction novels 

■ Present a wide range of crime fiction texts for analysis

■ Investigate the elasticity and parameters of the crime genre

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Critically analyse and assess the structures, styles, concerns and ethics of crime fiction, orally and in writing through creative practice 

■ Appraise the changing crime fiction marketplace and identify new trends within crime fiction 

■ Apply a wide range of crime fiction craft and techniques via written work

■ Produce their own original creative work of crime fiction, edited to a high standard 

■ Challenge, through oral debate and in writing, the parameters of crime fiction in their practice  

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.