Online: Dr. Mark Schenker, The British Cozy Mystery vs the American Hard-Boiled Detective Novel

A village tearoom on one side, a rain soaked city street on the other.

The final lecture in Dr. Mark Schenker's three part online series on literary detectives sets two traditions against each other: the British cozy mystery, with its closed circle of suspects and its restored order, and the American hard-boiled detective novel, which tends not to restore much of anything. Schenker, formerly of Yale College, is the sort of lecturer who makes the comparison an argument rather than a list.

No advance reading is required. A relevant title is identified for each lecture for those who want to prepare, and Schenker takes questions and comments by email after every session.

Good to know. The series runs on Zoom. Register and the link arrives in your confirmation email, then again in a reminder the day before. Each lecture takes its own registration, so this one needs booking even if you attended the first two.

Part of something bigger. This belongs to the Library's 2026 Scholarly Series, Whodunits, Locked Rooms and Amateur Sleuths: Investigating the World of Mysteries, sponsored by the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.

One thing to check. The library's page currently repeats the description and set text from the first lecture in the series, so confirm the reading for this session with the library rather than relying on the listing.

Check before you go. Ridgefield Library does not publish a price for this program. Confirm the cost and registration details on the venue's event page before you plan around it.