What does crime literature have to do with paranoia and the social sciences? Luc Boltanski explores this question in his highly original book. His answer: Like the social sciences, crime literature emerged around the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, a period that also saw the discovery of paranoia in psychiatry. Together, they reflect an increasingly widespread doubt about the reality of reality, which can be seen as a symptom of modernity. Boltanski reveals this fascinating connection between crime literature, paranoia, and science, particularly through striking analyses of the novels by Arthur Conan Doyle and Georges Simenon.