The author treats in historical and philosophical terms the contributions of the
traditionally marginalized genre of detective fiction to epistemology: how detective fiction
not only traces the progression of knowledge and its discovery as has been the traditional
model for understanding this genre but in fact constructs it through narrative. Particular
focus is on Colin Dexter creator of the Inspector Morse character and series. This work also
links detective fiction to more legitimate accepted realms of literature and criticism:
semiotics (the reading of clues with the body as a major one) epistolary fiction long hailed
as an early form of the modern novel and heteroglossia an important aspect of Marxist theory
here linked to the power struggles and imbalances produced by the pursuit and construction of
knowledge.
