History of crime fiction

Sherlock Holmes, third from left, hero of crime fiction, oversees the arrest of a criminal; the character of Holmes popularized the crime fiction genre. The Adventure of the Empty House, 1903
Arsène Lupin in The Crystal Stopper (1912)

Crime fiction is a typically 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century genre, dominated by British and American writers. This article explores its historical development as a genre.