As we head into the long weekend celebrating Victoria Day, it appears that spring has finally arrived after weeks of flirting.

In 2009’s Talking About Detective Fiction, famed novelist P.D. James takes readers back to the early days of the genre and attempts to pinpoint the very first detective fiction novel ever published.

Talking About Detective Fiction holds many insights into the history of the near 150 year old genre, as well as the influences that have made P.D. James one of the most popular detective fiction authors around today. Yet it is the importance of setting in James’ work that may be the most revealing aspect of this title.