This book originated with my PhD thesis at the University of
Manchester. So I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my PhD
supervisors, Michael Bibler and Anastasia Valassopoulos. Their rigorous
feedback and perceptive comments have helped shape many of the ideas
in this book, and I’m still grateful for their continuous support and care.
I thank the staff of the Department of English and American Studies at
the University of Manchester. I learned a lot from the talks and seminars
held here. I would like to thank my colleagues at the Psychological
Research Center and the English Department at the College of Education
for Women, University of Baghdad for their support. Thanks are due to
all the academics, scholars, and crime fiction fans, too many to name
here, to whom I talked at conferences and various events over the years.
Their interest, feedback, and enthusiasm to hear about femmes fatales
kindled new ideas and inspired further research.