Masterworks of Detective Fiction: Lecture #3

Tuesday, April 5 from 5:30 – 7:00pm via Zoom

Green Mountain Academy for Lifelong Learning (GMALL) is thrilled to welcome back Williams College Professor Julie Cassiday for the final session of this three-part series on masterworks of detective fiction. Before Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, or Philip Marlowe captured the world’s imagination, writers had to invent the literary detective, whose eccentric personality and unpredictable actions have led to the genre’s remarkable popularity, adaptability, and longevity. In this course we explore the origins of detective fiction by examining three masterworks of the genre from the mid nineteenth century. For our final class, we will read Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone (1868), whose Victorian-era plot and amateur detective Franklin Blake traverse not only the British Empire, but also the many paths that detective fiction has taken in years since. Students are encouraged to read each masterwork of detective fiction ahead of time, so that they can participate actively in discussion after a short lecture at the start of class. Registration is $18 in advance. For more information or to register, please call our office at 802-867-0111 or visit www.greenmtnacademy.org.