55 pages 1 hour read

Stephen King

Mr. Mercedes

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Further Reading & Resources

Further Reading: Fiction/Genre

King has written several hard-boiled detective novels, some of which are realistic and some that contain supernatural elements.

  • The Mr. Mercedes series (2015) King considers his first hard-boiled detective series. The supernatural element appears in the third book of the series, End of Watch.

  • The Outsider (2019), is less hard-boiled crime than it is a detective story, but it features Holly Gibney, one of the major characters from the Mr. Mercedes series.

  • Joyland (2014), Hard-Case Crime, contains minor elements of the supernatural. The author plays with some of the conventions of the genre but is for the most part typical of the hard-boiled genre. King turns the Joyland amusement park into a self-contained urban environment, and the focus is on human corruption rather than Evil on a grand scale.

Further Reading: Well-Known Hard-Boiled Detective Fiction

The hard-boiled detective story has retained its appeal since its emergence in the 1930s. The following is a list of some of the best-known examples:

  • The Maltese Falcon (1930) Dashiell Hammett—featuring Sam Spade, possibly the quintessential hard-boiled detective played in the movie by Humphrey Bogart. Hammett is considered one of the most influential crime writers of the 20th century.

Related Titles

By Stephen King

Plot Summary

logo

Bag of Bones

Stephen King

Bag of Bones

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Billy Summers

Stephen King

Billy Summers

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Children of the Corn

Stephen King

Children of the Corn

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Different Seasons

Stephen King

Different Seasons

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Doctor Sleep

Stephen King

Doctor Sleep

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Dolores Claiborne

Stephen King

Dolores Claiborne

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Elevation

Stephen King

Elevation: A Novel

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

End of Watch

Stephen King

End of Watch

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Fairy Tale

Stephen King

Fairy Tale

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Finders Keepers

Stephen King

Finders Keepers

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Firestarter

Stephen King

Firestarter

Stephen King

Plot Summary

logo

From a Buick 8

Stephen King

From a Buick 8

Stephen King

Plot Summary

logo

Full Dark, No Stars

Stephen King

Full Dark, No Stars

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Gerald's Game

Stephen King

Gerald's Game

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Gwendy's Button Box

Stephen King, Richard Chizmar

Gwendy's Button Box

Stephen King, Richard Chizmar