Readers become accustomed to different forms of narrative as they are introduced in both written works and films. Some techniques start as innovative and modern and become familiar.

Movie-goers may enjoy sitting down with David Bordwell’s recent book, Perplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and the Poetics of Murder(Columbia University Press, 2023). Similarly, devotees of the British Libraries’ Crime Classics series are likely to find Perplexing Plots a fun read. Just how might the structure of Anthony Berkeley’s The Poisoned Chocolates Case be relevant to modern movie-making?

A quick tour of the book’s index indicates an exciting scope of discussion. Yes, there are the standard “brand names” of 100 years of detective fiction – Christie, Chandler, Highsmith, Hammett, etc. – but there are also less well-known creators, such as Barbara Meredith, Richard Hull, and Frances Iles. The same is true of the films mentioned. Bordwell opens with a quick analysis of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, but also discusses directors Alfred Hitchcock and Christopher Nolan. The crossover between modern crime fiction and movie-making is analyzed by a thorough discussion of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling Gone Girl, film and novel.

There are brief obligatory references to film works by Jean Cocteau and Orson Welles, but Bordwell is primarily interested in how creators deliver meaning in the context of popular culture – think multiplex rather than art house. He monitors how creators convey the passage or shift of time, play with points of view,and juxtapose narrative blocks while delivering an immersive experience. Bordwell writes self-deprecatingly that there will be those who find his examination of narrative craftsmanship “plodding” but his prose is entirely accessible to a general readership.

This is one that is highly recommended. ( )