Epistemology and Secrecy in John Banville’s Crime Fiction

This book is a phenomenological study of the crime fiction of Benjamin Black and John Banville, including novels published between 2006 and 2024. The analysis seeks to situate this author’s crime works in relation to the genre more broadly. Additionally, the readings pick up on idiosyncrasies of these narratives and trace themes inherited from Banville’s earlier prose fiction oeuvre, which in turn highlights the interrelation between art and science, as well as the concepts of epistemology, ontology and affectivity. By means of the dynamics of the concept of epistemological Desire—which denotes the autonomous will-to-know as the central conceptualisation of the genre of crime fiction—the study scrutinises epistemology more broadly in relation to what goes on in the narratives. The book is of interest for Banville scholars as well as crime fiction scholars and it is also aimed towards more advanced students who seek to engage with crime fiction on a more elaborate analytic level.