London Calling: Murder, Mystery, and the City

Class Description

London has long been the world’s greatest city for mystery fiction—a place of fog-shrouded alleys, hidden rivers, aristocratic clubs, crowded markets, wartime theaters, and modern streets filled with secrets. In "London Calling: Murder, Mystery, and the City," we will explore six remarkable mystery novels that reveal the many Londons that exist beneath the surface of the city.

From the gaslit investigations of Sherlock Holmes to the hidden magical geography of contemporary London noir, this course examines how crime fiction reflects the fears, tensions, and transformations of one of the world’s most fascinating cities. Along the way, we will explore Victorian London, Golden Age mysteries between the wars, wartime and postwar London, class divisions, gender roles, policing, urban mythology, and the evolution of detective fiction itself.

Part literary discussion, part cultural history, this class is designed for mystery lovers, readers interested in London, and anyone fascinated by how cities shape stories—and how stories shape cities.

Tom Irvine is Chief Information Officer for a manufacturing company. He has taught over a dozen classes at the Newberry on mysteries, spy novels, and history.

What to Expect

Format: In Person 

Class Capacity: 18

Class Style: Mix of lecture and discussion; participation encouraged 

Materials List

Required

• Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of the Four. Penguin Classics, 2001. ISBN: 9780140439073 (Available through Project Gutenberg)

• Anne Perry, The Cater Street Hangman. Ballantine Books, 1980. ISBN: 9870345514018

• Agatha Christie, The Seven Dials Mystery. William Morrow, 2011. ISBN: 9780062073904

• Christopher Fowler, Full Dark House. Bantam, 2004. ISBN: 9780553815518

• Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London. Del Rey, 2011. ISBN: 9780345524253

• Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo's Calling. Mulholland Books, 2013. ISBN: 9780316206843

First Assignment

• Please read the book The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle for our first class.

A Brief Syllabus

1. Victorian London and the Birth of the Detective
2. Domestic Fear and Social Class in Victorian London
3. Golden Age Mysteries and Interwar London
4. Wartime London and the Hidden City
5. Supernatural and Multicultural London
6. Modern Noir and Celebrity London

Cost and Registration

6 Sessions, $245 ($220.50 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($245), Community Supported ($225), and Sponsor ($265). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.

To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.

Having trouble signing up? Take a look at our step-by-step guide to registration by clicking here.

The views and opinions expressed in this class and/or by the instructor are not necessarily representative of the Newberry. We aim to ensure that in our classes, participants can have respectful disagreement to foster critical thinking. This is a space to challenge and expand our own worldviews to work towards better understanding and appreciating humanity.

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