A Violent Conscience

<p> Mysteries and detective stories are among the most popular of books but the writers of such genre fiction suffer from a perception that their work is to be taken less seriously than so-called literary fiction. The novels of James Lee Burke, one of the most distinguished writers of crime novels, challenge that notion, as do the 12 essays in this collection.</p><p> This work examines Burke as a writer who has expanded the mystery-detective genre with an astonishing diversity