Students’ murder books summarize their experience of Law & Order UK: British Murder Mysteries & Crime Dramas
Each week we discussed different topics in class–gendered geographies, feminist detective fiction, complicated women, intersections of race and gender, sexuality, the justice system in the UK, war, disability, social class, and crime & punishment. We watched British crime dramas like Line of Duty and Happy Valley. We read mystery novels, including Sarah Waters’ The Paying Guests and Belinda Bauer’s Rubbernecker. Then we visited sites in London related to the week’s topics, from Whitechapel to Old Bailey to Mayfair and the Tower of London. We visited Wales, the site of some of the UK’s best British noir, and Oxford, where one of our mysteries ended with a murder. Students’ murder books capture the themes of the semester and show how a feminist lens on British murder makes for entertaining, insightful, and profound learning.
Gender, Race, and Class in London 