Recommended reading - The Essential Elements of the Detective Story, 1820-1891 (2017):

The Essential Elements of the Detective Story, 1820-1891 (2017).

by LeRoy Lad Panek and Mary M. Bendel-Simso.

Published by McFarland & Company.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 9781476666990

ISBN-13: 978-1476666990

Description:

Until recently, only a privileged few could read the rare, early writings that formed the basis of detective fiction in America and made it one of the most popular literary genres of the 19th century. Drawing on the unprecedented access provided by digital collections of period newspapers and magazines, this book examines detective fiction during its formative years, focusing on such crucial elements as setting, lawyers and the law, physicians and forensics, women as victims and heroes, crime and criminals, and police and detectives.

Recommended reading - The Origins of the American Detective Story (2006):

The Origins of the American Detective Story (2006).

By LeRoy Lad Panek.

Published by McFarland.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0786427760

ISBN-13: 978-0786427765

Description:

Edgar Allan Poe essentially invented the detective story in 1841 with Murders in the Rue Morgue. In the years that followed, however, detective fiction in America saw no significant progress as a literary genre. Much to the dismay of moral crusaders like Anthony Comstock, dime novels and other sensationalist publications satisfied the public's hunger for a yarn. Things changed as the century waned, and eventually the detective was reborn as a figure of American literature. In part these changes were due to a combination of social conditions, including the rise and decline of the police as an institution; the parallel development of private detectives; the birth of the crusading newspaper reporter; and the beginnings of forensic science. Influential, too, was the new role model offered by a wildly popular British import named Sherlock Holmes.

Focusing on the late 19th century and early 20th, this volume covers the formative years of American detective fiction.