A sea of islands, a sea of crime: island crime fiction in the Aegean Sea

Abstract

Crime fiction frequently takes the real and imaginary geography of islands as its setting and subject. Through a reading of selected novels by Anne Zouroudi, Jeffrey Siger, and Paul Johnston, this article looks at ways in which ideas about ‘islandness’ operate in contemporary English-language crime fiction set in the Aegean Sea. Specifically, it uses geocriticism and spatial literary studies to explore the ways non-textual paratext—in particular covers and maps—work alongside a text, or narrative, to capitalize on the lure of islands.

Keywords

• aegean sea
• book covers
• crime fiction
• islands
• literary and narrative maps