"Now Begin the Mistakes and the Literary Fallacies That Spoil a Crime Story"

"Frenzied Fiction — First Lecture: Murder at $2.50 a Crime."
By Stephen Leacock (1869-1944).
First appearance: Here Are My Lectures! (1938; HERE).
Reprinted in The Book Digest of Best Sellers, May 1938.
Article (21 pages in original text).
Online at Fadedpage (HERE; select file type; then go to page 133).

"I propose to-night, ladies and gentlemen, to deal with murder."

The same sort of defective higher criticism that plagued scriptural studies seems to have eluded our author; indeed, every word that droppeth from his pen seemeth true to fact—or, rather, true to fiction (crime fiction, that is). We wouldn't dream of stealing any of Leacock's thunder; just follow the link and be prepared to smile—who knows, at times you might even feel like laughing out loud . . .

Sample:
  "There are only two subjects that appeal nowadays to the general public, murder and sex; and, for people of culture, sex-murder. Leaving out sex for the minute—if you can—I propose to-night to talk about murder as carried
on openly and daily at two dollars and fifty cents a crime."

Resources:
- Wikipedia has a substantial article about Leacock (HERE); follow other links from there.

Editor's note: This marks our 1100th posting. Thanks to you all for spending some time with us.