FutureLearn

Classic Detective Fiction (FutureLearn)

Offered by The University of Newcastle, Australia,

Develop detailed knowledge of one of the most popular and widely read literary sub-genres of crime fiction. Are you the next Hercule Poirot? A budding Sherlock Holmes? Embrace your inner Dick Tracy and dive into the world of detective fiction! Explore the back-stories of some of the earliest examples of crime fiction. This course delves deep into the evolution of the crime fiction genre from the early nineteenth century to the present day with a focus on detective novels. Many of these novels shaped the way we think about reading, and have engaged generations of readers from childhood through to our twilight years.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Did you know that over 2 billion copies of Agatha Christie’s detective novels are estimated to have been sold?
On this course you will develop advanced skills in analysing and contextualising crime fiction texts from the UK, the US, Australia and beyond.
Join us and embark on the fascinating tale behind the twist.

What topics will you cover?

The early history of detective fiction
Detective fiction sub-genres
Reading detective fiction
Plots and narrative structures
Classic detective fiction devices

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Discuss the history of crime fiction and some of the key crime fiction subgenres.
Explore the key formal, thematic and contextual characteristic of individual crime fiction texts.
Investigate crime fiction texts in relation to their genre and the idea of genre evolution.

Go to Class

MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

FutureLearn

King's College London

Shakespeare: Context and Stagecraft (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Explore Shakespeare’s stagecraft through three of his most well-known plays: Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth. Study fascinating theatrical and social contexts that shaped Shakespeare’s plays. On this course, you’ll explore the language, themes, and contexts of three of Shakespeare’s most widely studied and frequently performed plays.

Self Paced

2 Weeks

Literature William Shakespeare Shakespeare

The American Renaissance: Classic Literature of the 19th Century (edX)

EdX

DartmouthX

The American Renaissance: Classic Literature of the 19th Century (edX)

Humanities Languages & Literature

Explore the writings of famous American authors from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Harriet Beecher Stowe to Mark Twain, and examine the historic role Dartmouth College played in their formation. What is the American Renaissance? How did Dartmouth help foster the formation of the American Renaissance and its reevaluation and reinvention in the twentieth? Why should we, as twenty-first century readers, concern ourselves with this literature?

Self Paced

4 Weeks

Literature American Renaissance Literacy

FutureLearn

University of Basel

Literature in the Digital Age: from Close Reading to Distant Reading (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Learn new ways of interpreting literary texts, from time-tested methods to computer-assisted practices such as distant reading. As we make sense of what we read, we construe meaning using the ancient cultural technique of interpretation. Only rarely do we actually reflect this process: what are the means that help us to understand literary texts? How does interpretation work? And how has our increasing use of e-books and tablets changed the way we read and interpret literature?

Available now

5-12 Weeks

Literature Digital Age Interpretation

Coursera

National Taiwan University

東坡詞 (Ci Poetry of Su Dong Po) (Coursera)

Humanities

東坡詞如秋夜的星光、月色，既遙遠又親近。我們以愉悅的心情展讀《東坡詞》，徜徉於〈水調歌頭〉、〈江城子〉、〈定風波〉與〈念奴嬌〉等作品裡，如晤故人，自能心領神會，除了可以看見天才駕馭技巧的藝術表現，更可貼近東坡的內在世界，親切感受一個偉大心靈的躍動，以豐富我們的生命境界，讓我們知曉如何在人情世界中尋得心靈的安頓。

Oct 19th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Literature Dongpo

EdX

HarvardX,Harvard University

Masterpieces of World Literature (edX)

Languages & Literature History

Embark on a global journey to explore the past, present, and future of World Literature. This literature course explores how great writers refract their world and how their works are transformed when they intervene in our global cultural landscape today. No national literature has ever grown up in isolation from the cultures around it; from the earliest periods, great works of literature have probed the tensions, conflicts, and connections among neighboring cultures and often more distant regions as well.

Self Paced

Self-Paced

Literature Homer World Literature

Coursera

Wesleyan University

Writing Stories About Ourselves (Coursera)

Art and Culture

In this course, creative nonfiction writers will explore traditional storytelling methods, especially those which overlap between fiction and memoir. By looking at examples from a wide range of genres, including film, song, painting—even the theme music for Jaws!—we’ll practice exercising the creative muscle that sees ourselves as characters and the experiences we’ve had as tales.

Oct 12th 2026

4 Weeks

Writing Fiction Storytelling

FutureLearn

Lancaster University

Penshurst Place and the Sidney Family of Writers (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Uncover the literary history of Penshurst Place, the 16th-century home of the Sidney family of writers and poets. Learn how Lady Mary Wroth and the Sidney family shaped the English Renaissance. In the 16th century, Penshurst Place was the home to the Sidney family, renowned for their literary works in the age of Shakespeare. The family, including Lady Mary Wroth and her uncle Sir Philip Sidney, wrote poetry and prose that still appeal to audiences today.

No sessions available

4 Weeks

Literature Poets Writer

FutureLearn

The University of Newcastle, Australia

Fairy Tales: Meanings, Messages, and Morals (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Build your skills in literary analysis and creative writing by exploring the meaning of fairy tales. Discover the fascinating circumstances and meanings behind fairy tales. On this course, you will look deeper into the enchanting and surprisingly dark themes of several well-known European fairy tales. What were the authors thinking? What were the cultural and personal concerns that have shaped these stories? What are the readers being asked to believe?

No sessions available

3 Weeks

Literature Literary Fairy Tales

FutureLearn

The University of Warwick

Shakespeare and his World (FutureLearn)

Humanities Languages & Literature

Together with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Professor Jonathan Bate explores Shakespeare, his works and the world he lived in. William Shakespeare is one of the most famous authors of all time. 2014 marks the 450th anniversary of his birth. His words have inspired and moved people from around the globe for centuries.

No sessions available

5-12 Weeks

Literature William Shakespeare Shakespeare

FutureLearn

Universidad de los Andes

Reading Macondo: the Works of Gabriel García Márquez (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Explore why the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the 20th century’s leading writers in this free online course. Gabriel García Márquez is a Colombian writer, who won the Literature Nobel Prize in 1982. He has been recognised as one of the world’s leading writers in the second half of the 20th century. His works have been translated into many languages, been adapted for TV and film, and inspired many subsequent works of art.

No sessions available

5-12 Weeks

Literature Colombia Gabriel García Márquez

FutureLearn

The University of Sheffield

Literature of the English Country House (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Take a journey through the literature of English country houses from the time of Thomas More to Oscar Wilde. Trace the history and context of country house literature. Through the course you will investigate and discuss the role and representation of the English country house in literature, and learn how to build your own authoritative interpretation of these texts.

Feb 8th 2021

5-12 Weeks

Literature Drama Poetry

FutureLearn

University of York

Reading James Joyce: Life, Place, Fiction (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Explore the works of acclaimed 20th-century writer, James Joyce, his life, contexts, and his place in modern culture.

Self Paced

3 Weeks

Literature James Joyce