And nothing but a truth: documentary crime fiction and authenticating the fictional

Abstract

While much critical attention has been afforded both to crime and epistolary fiction separately, the use of epistolarity in crime novels has received significantly less consideration, despite the mode’s employment in the earliest examples of the genre and its subsequent re-emergence over the past decade. In examining the tidal fortunes of epistolary crime novels, through the work of Adams, Collins, Sayers, Wheatley and others, this thesis posits that the mode is used by crime writers not to exploit the intimacy and reflexivity more typical of traditional epistolary novels but rather to confer a degree of authenticity on their fictional work, thereby grounding its more sensationalist aspects. As a result, and cognizant of the ongoing influence of true crime on the genre, I suggest “documentary crime fiction” as a more appropriate label for works fully composed of seemingly real evidentiary artifacts.

My creative piece, And Nothing But A Truth illustrates this idea. Told entirely through documents, this metafictional work reflects a central contention of my thesis that the documentary form carries inherent limitations for the crime novelist, including silencing key voices to maintain tension, challenging the narrative plurality inherent in crime writing and complicating the concept of definitive solution.

In combination with learning the lessons of the documentary form’s fortunes over the past century, I suggest a way in which modern documentary crime fiction can embrace the limitations of epistolarity, developing it beyond being merely a gimmick, and so say something valuable about our continued fascination with crime, both true and fictional.

Thesis is embargoed until 31 December 2030.

Date of Award	Dec 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Sponsors	AHRC Northern Bridge Consortium
Supervisor	Andrew Pepper (Supervisor) & Dominique Jeannerod (Supervisor)