Edinburgh Napier University

  In recent decades gay and lesbian detectives have emerged as a growing, overt presence in crime fiction. But queer sleuths remain hard to find in historical mystery fiction, especially novels with pre-Victorian settings. Are market considerations or reader expectations a factor? Do authors self-censor themselves from including overt queer detectives in their historical crime narratives? Or is there an inherent conservatism within historical crime fiction? In this paper I will present initial findings from my investigation into the apparent absence of queer sleuths in pre-Victorian settings, and consider why characters solving crimes in the past are so rarely depicted as LGBTQ+.