FRAN MASON Lecturer in Film and American Studies at the University of Winchester, UK, where he teaches in Film Studies and American Studies. He teaches and researches in film and culture with particular interests in Classical Hollywood Cinema, Crime Films and Postmodernism, and is currently researching Assassin Films and representations of the city on film.

• Preface Exploring Detective Films in the 1930s and 1940s: Genre, Society and Hollywood 'Such Lovely Friends': Class and Crime in 'The Thin Man' Series Between Law and Crime: The Chivalric 'Criminal' Detective Englishness and America: Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes Ordering the World: The Uncompromising Logic of Charlie Chan and Mr Moto The Rise of the Hard-boiled Detective Conclusion: Noir Detectives, Rogue Cops, Undercover Men and Police Procedurals Notes Bibliography Index