ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the Swedish author Kerstin Ekman's Hndelser vid vatten constitutes a classic, which has assumed an essential role for the understanding of what crime fiction can be and what role the poetics of crime can aspire to play. Some of the most interesting novels are launching advanced aesthetic strategies which appeal to readers with a strong interest in the combination of psychological, philosophical, moral and aesthetic issues, in this way investigating various options of the poetics of crime. The chapter discusses the historical crime novel mixing historical layers with a contemporary setting. It represents the literary, meta-reflective novel which involves crime and investigation in untraditional ways in which the levels of reflection form a salient part of the plot. In various ways, both contribute to highlighting the influence of fictitious modes on the way in conceptualize crime and its consequences, and thus contribute to the poetics of crime.
