Genres
Police procedural
Detective fiction that emphasizes accurate depiction of how police and law enforcement actually investigate, with officials as protagonists.
The police procedural is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes accurate depiction of the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives or law enforcement agencies as protagonists. Forensics, autopsies, evidence gathering, search warrants, interrogation and adherence to legal restrictions are its furniture, and the story can be a whodunit or an inverted mystery with the culprit revealed early. Simenon's Maigret novels and Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series anchor the form.
Procedure is the genre's promise: readers expect the paperwork to be right, so the case file, who knows what and which evidence exists, becomes the serial's knowledge-tracking backbone. The contrast with the amateur sleuth of the cozy mystery is the clearest way to place a story on the shelf.