ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the main theme of Studying Crime in Fiction: An Introduction, the intersections and overlaps between crime fiction and criminology. It suggests that reading crime fiction alongside criminological theory can enhance our understanding of both fields. On the one hand, despite its overt fictionality, crime fiction can offer insights into real-world crime and criminal behaviour, and a more culturally informed criminology can help us better understand criminal transgression, justice, and punishment. At the same time, an understanding of criminology and its development as a discipline can help us better understand works of crime fiction.
