At once disturbing and perversely comforting, the crime novel has historically been used to curtail social anxieties through the ‘open and shut case’ of its narrative form. But what happens to that form in a world where guilt and innocence cannot be so easily assigned?

Return to the Scene of the Crime takes on the trope of the investigator who returns to the postcolony on a quest for knowledge. In tandem with solving the case, they must also grapple with the complexities of their own origins. Kamil Naicker shows how five authors defy generic expectation in order to illustrate the complexity of personal identity, transitional justice and civil violence in the postcolonial world.

Bringing together novels set in South Africa, China, Guatemala, Sri Lanka and Somalia, this book makes a marked intervention in the field of literary studies, by both bringing to light the trend of the returnee figure and exploring the possibilities of world-making through the explosion of a familiar form.

A crime novel, at once disturbing and perversely comforting, factually has been known to curtail social anxieties through the ‘open and shut case’ of its narrative form. But what happens to that form in a world where guilt and innocence are not easily assigned? Return to the Scene of the Crime takes place on the trope of an investigator returning to the post-colony on a quest for knowledge. In tandem with solving the case, they must also grapple with the complexities of their origins. Kamil Naicker shows how five authors defy generic expectations to illustrate the complexities of personal identity, transitional justice, and civil violence in the post-colonial world. Congregating novels set in South Africa, China, Guatemala, Sri Lanka and Somalia, this book intervenes in literary studies by bringing the trend of the returnee figure and exploring the possibilities of world-making through the explosion of a familiar form. Print edition not for sale in Sub Saharan Africa.