Sex, drugs, and divided identities: the detective fiction of James Crumley

This essay examines the divided identity of the detective hero in James Crumley’s crime fiction. This examination begins with a consideration of the theme of missing persons in Crumley’s crime fiction, and identifies the detective hero as a kind of missing person located outside the normal socio-economic order. The narrative inversion and role-reversal suggested by this identification of the detective as a missing person is then employed to map out the division of identity experienced by the detective.