Wilkie Collins, Vera Caspary and the Evolution of the Casebook Novel
by A.B. Emrys
Average rating:
0 | rating | ![]() |
0 | rating | ![]() |
0 | rating | ![]() |
0 | rating | ![]() |
Your rating: -
Book Presentation:
Wilkie Collins was one of the most popular novelists during England’s Victorian era. While Collins scholarship has often focused on social issues, this critical study explores his formal ingenuity, particularly the novel of testimony constructed from epistolary fiction, trial reports and prose monologue. His innovations in form were later mirrored by Vera Caspary, who adapted The Woman in White three times into contemporary fiction. This text explores how the formal dialogue between Collins and Caspary has linked sensation fiction with noir thrillers and film noir.
About the Author:
A.B. Emrys is professor emeritus of English at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. She lives in Winter Park, Florida.
Press Reviews:
Finalist, Agatha Award—Malice Domestic Mystery Convention. Finalist, Macavity Award—Mystery Readers International
"A clearly written scholarly trek over fresh critical ground…this is one of the year’s best books of mystery scholarship and deserves strong Edgar consideration"—Mystery Scene Magazine
See the publisher website: McFarland & Co
> On a related topic:
Thrillers, Chillers, and Killers (2025)
Radio and Film Noir
American Noir Film (2024)
From The Maltese Falcon to Gone Girl
Through a Noir Lens (2024)
Adapting Film Noir Visual Style
The Dark Interval (2023)
Film Noir, Iconography, and Affect
Film Noir and Los Angeles (2022)
Urban History and the Dark Imaginary