Lazarus Junction: Crossing the Divide. The Influence of Crime Procedural Tropes on the Construction of Supernatural Urban Fantasy

Dobson, Darren Lee

Abstract

This thesis considers the influence of crime procedural tropes in the writing of Lazarus Junction: Crossing the Divide. It considers the intrusion of the city, and examines how Lazarus Junction seeks to portray a world threatened by a malevolent force. It delves beneath the everyday façade, and in doing so brings the principal characters, author and reader face to face with the shadowed ghosts that lie beneath.
It observes the genre of Hull Noir and examines two of its core writers Robert Edric and David Mark both of whom tap into society’s changing values and tolerances. It explores a historical personage in the shape of Harry Lazarus, his role in the late nineteenth century transmigrant business and how he became the genesis for the writing of this book.
This exegesis examines this writer’s development throughout the writing this Ph.D. set against a world beset by a global pandemic. It observes the relationships between the principal characters, Detective Inspector Jack Kane, Detective Sergeant Ashleigh Young, and Police Constable Watson - both within their inner circle, and indeed the tensions brought about with extended colleagues within Hull’s Police Divisional Head Quarters. It seeks to present Kingston Upon Hull as a principal character and explores the role grief and death have to play within the narrative instead of skirting around the subject.
The exegesis concludes with an examination of tropes hidden in plain sight. A prime example being a culture of violence against woman in crime fiction and how Lazarus Junction ultimately rejects this philosophy. It seeks to resolve the narrative and explores the role Jack and his team have to play beyond the writing of this Ph.D.

Citation

Dobson, D. L. Lazarus Junction: Crossing the Divide. The Influence of Crime Procedural Tropes on the Construction of Supernatural Urban Fantasy. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4247127

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Mar 21, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 21, 2023
• Keywords: English ; Creative writing
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4247127
• Additional Information: Department of English, The University of Hull
• Award Date: 2022-10