When the detective story migrated from Great Britain to America, a metamorphosis occurred. Drawing on native folk traditions, including the frontiersman, the cowboy, and the Indian fighter of folklore and pop culture, American crime and detection novelists fashioned an indigenous hero, the tough guy who relies on grit and tenacity more than on cerebral virtuosity. But with the advent of the tough guy as hero in fiction and film (especially film noir), the roles of women were limited to a series of stereotypes: the dedicated (and adoring) helper, the temptress, and the femme fatale. Readers may recall the denouements of novels by Dashiell Hamlett, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald – all influenced directly or indirectly by the macho …
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Citation: Dougherty, David C.. "Sue Grafton". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 April 2018 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14039, accessed 23 November 2024.]
