This book explores the complex roles which this sub-genre plays in mass culture. The police procedural frequently creates an illusory social harmony, valorizing participation in a corporate structure like the police squad. However, the authors under consideration here - McClure, Freeling, Sjowall and Wahloo, van de Wetering - seek to transform the police procedural into a vehicle that foregrounds social, political and moral concerns. By examining a popular form, the authors articulate sophisticated interventions in the ideological crisis of late capitalism. This book is designed to be of interest to departments of literature and language, for students of American literature and for students of cultural studies.