--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In many cases, the line between a…" description: "\"In many cases, the line between a thriller and a crime novel has become too blurred to be useful.\" — Susie Dent" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/937/susie-dent-8218_between_in-many-cases-the-line-between-a-thrille_2475559.jpg" --- # In many cases, the line between a thriller and a crime… ![“In many cases, the line between a thriller and a crime novel has become too blurred to be useful.” quote by Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/937/susie-dent-8218_between_in-many-cases-the-line-between-a-thrille_2475559.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/937/susie-dent-8218_between_in-many-cases-the-line-between-a-thrille_2475559.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/937/susie-dent-8218_between_in-many-cases-the-line-between-a-thrille_2475559.jpg) > “In many cases, the line between a thriller and a crime novel has become too blurred to be useful.” [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The distinction between thriller and crime novel has eroded, making categorization less useful. **In simple terms:** Genre lines blurred. Key Takeaway Accept fluid genre boundaries. Themes literature genre classification Mood analytical critical Type literary observational When to use this quote - book clubs - library cataloging - marketing - academic study Key Concepts genre theory reader expectations Questions to Reflect On - How does this blur affect readers' expectations? - Should publishers maintain strict genre labels? A Different Perspective Genres still guide marketing and awards. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Thriller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thriller/) ## Related quotes > [I am a master of fiction. I am also the greatest crime novelist who ever lived. I am to the crime novel in specific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ellroy/i-am-a-master-of-fiction-i-am-also-the-greatest-crime-novelist-who/) [James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ellroy/) > [The wildest ride in modern crime novel exoticum. A novel so steeped in milieu that it feels as if you've blasted to mars in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ellroy/the-wildest-ride-in-modern-crime-novel-exoticum-a-novel-so-steeped-in/) [James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ellroy/) > [The crime novel has always been my favourite genre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/the-crime-novel-has-always-been-my-favourite-genre/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > ['The Turnaround' isn't even really a crime novel. But you need conflict to make a novel, any kind of novel, and I don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-pelecanos/the-turnaround-isn-t-even-really-a-crime-novel-but-you-need-conflict/) [George Pelecanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-pelecanos/) > [I decided to write a crime novel. That genre was at the height of its popularity in Poland, so I thought it might earn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olga-tokarczuk/i-decided-to-write-a-crime-novel-that-genre-was-at-the-height-of-its/) [Olga Tokarczuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olga-tokarczuk/) > [Don't Shoot is a work of moral philosophy that reads like a crime novel - Immanuel Kant meets Joseph Wambaugh. It's a fascinating, inspiring,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-seabrook/don-t-shoot-is-a-work-of-moral-philosophy-that-reads-like-a-crime/) [John Seabrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-seabrook/) > [I think the "crime novel" has replaced the sociological novel of the 1930s. I think the progenitor of that tradition is James M. Cain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lee-burke/i-think-the-crime-novel-has-replaced-the-sociological-novel-of-the/) [James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lee-burke/) > [My first crime novel, "Wild Horses," sold at auction, and that changed my life at an ideal time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-hodge/my-first-crime-novel-wild-horses-sold-at-auction-and-that-changed-my/) [Brian Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-hodge/) > [The most difficult part of any crime novel is the plotting. It all begins simply enough, but soon you're dealing with a multitude of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/the-most-difficult-part-of-any-crime-novel-is-the-plotting-it-all/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [The first time I read a crime novel - I think it may have been an Elmore Leonard book - it took some time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reynolds/the-first-time-i-read-a-crime-novel-i-think-it-may-have-been-an/) [Alastair Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-reynolds/) > [Horror and supernatural novels give you a lot of what you look for in a crime novel, just with a twist that was very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-koryta/horror-and-supernatural-novels-give-you-a-lot-of-what-you-look-for-in/) [Michael Koryta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-koryta/) > [In a crime novel, if you are going to have a big revelation in chapter 30, you have to plant the information in chapters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/in-a-crime-novel-if-you-are-going-to-have-a-big-revelation-in-chapter/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [Five years before 'Kitchen Confidential' - and before then, the 'New Yorker' essay that led to the book - Bourdain published 'A Bone in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-weinman/five-years-before-kitchen-confidential-and-before-then-the-new-yorker/) [Sarah Weinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-weinman/) > [I'm a big fan of Elmore Leonard, and I've read Ian Rankin, Christopher Brookmyre and so on. But I'd never read a crime novel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gordon-sinclair/i-m-a-big-fan-of-elmore-leonard-and-i-ve-read-ian-rankin-christopher/) [John Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gordon-sinclair/) > [I couldn't ever write a straight crime novel: there'd be an intrusion of weirdness at some point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reynolds/i-couldn-t-ever-write-a-straight-crime-novel-there-d-be-an-intrusion/) [Alastair Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-reynolds/) ## More by Susie Dent > [According to my parents, I've always liked to tune into the conversations of others. But rather than hope for a snippet of salacious gossip,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/according-to-my-parents-i-ve-always-liked-to-tune-into-the/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [As dialect began to be collected in the late 19th century, such words as Yorkshire's 'gobslotch' emerged, revealing the burgeoning association between gluttony and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/as-dialect-began-to-be-collected-in-the-late-19th-century-such-words/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [In the earliest days, make-up and moralising were intertwined. The 'cosmetic slops and washes' of the 17th and 18th centuries aimed to smooth complexions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/in-the-earliest-days-make-up-and-moralising-were-intertwined-the/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [I don't intentionally eavesdrop. I'm not looking for salacious gossip, I'm just looking for vocabulary items.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/i-don-t-intentionally-eavesdrop-i-m-not-looking-for-salacious-gossip/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [Above all, Jane Goodall continues to teach us that, as humans, we are no more entitled to our glorious planet than the chimps she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/above-all-jane-goodall-continues-to-teach-us-that-as-humans-we-are-no/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [The notion of 'Queen's English' is usually applied to our pronunciation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/the-notion-of-queen-s-english-is-usually-applied-to-our-pronunciation/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [Slang has different functions: many of the words we use are playful and a lot are tribal - we speak the same way as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/slang-has-different-functions-many-of-the-words-we-use-are-playful/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [English has always been a mongrel tongue, snapping up words from every continent its speakers encountered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/english-has-always-been-a-mongrel-tongue-snapping-up-words-from-every/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [As a nation we love our dialects, and there is a lot of regional variance in the names for different foods - barmcake, bap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/as-a-nation-we-love-our-dialects-and-there-is-a-lot-of-regional/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [The one thing - apart from assumptions about German - that I have to challenge frequently is people assuming that lexicographers are fierce protectors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/the-one-thing-apart-from-assumptions-about-german-that-i-have-to/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [The character of our language defines us, and dictionaries say as much about us as about the way we speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/the-character-of-our-language-defines-us-and-dictionaries-say-as-much/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [Almost half the adult population finds discussing the subject of money difficult. Slang words help us to navigate these conversations by making us feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/almost-half-the-adult-population-finds-discussing-the-subject-of/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [Youthquake' wasn't an entirely predictable choice for Oxford's Word of 2017. It hasn't been on the lips of an entire nation, nor is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/youthquake-wasn-t-an-entirely-predictable-choice-for-oxford-s-word-of/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [We are surrounded by hundreds of 'tribes,' each speaking their own distinct slanguage of colourful words, jokes and phrases that together form an idiosyncratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/we-are-surrounded-by-hundreds-of-tribes-each-speaking-their-own/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) > [Language is essentially tribal, so jargon can actually be a really good thing because it unites people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-dent/language-is-essentially-tribal-so-jargon-can-actually-be-a-really/) [Susie Dent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) [Explore all 83 Susie Dent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-dent/) ## More Between quotes > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. 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Really painful for me. But that's also a big part of why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banks/my-parents-are-divorced-and-seeing-that-was-really-painful-for-me/) [Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banks/) > [Hebron is a bone of contention between Israeli settlers and the Palestinians in part because Abraham is buried there, in the Tomb of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-korda/hebron-is-a-bone-of-contention-between-israeli-settlers-and-the/) [Michael Korda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-korda/) > [There's overwhelming evidence... circumstantial and otherwise, to suggest a connection between Iraq and al Qaeda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pence/there-s-overwhelming-evidence-circumstantial-and-otherwise-to-suggest/) [Mike Pence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pence/) > [I really think there's no difference between an art piece made by a man and one made by a woman. Is it a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-abramovic/i-really-think-there-s-no-difference-between-an-art-piece-made-by-a/) [Marina Abramovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-abramovic/) > [On the stage, the characters express themselves more through words than images. 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