Just a quick overview in relation to the genre as a whole, i have found that The Skull Beneath the Skin shows that in a modern society, as we value intellect, challenges and essentially "non-conformity", we cannot value a text which sticks so closely to the old conventions of the genre. When you first read the text you may like it, but then upon multiple perusals you will find that all you do is sit there and pick out flaws; thus, in modern society a text which sticks so closely to the genre cannot be valued.
The Real Inspector Hound is the epitome of modern texts; it allows us to be challenged by both conforming to the conventions of the genre but at the same time satirising these conventions. Shows that modern audiences need to be intellectual, as Stoppards audience was one that needed intellect to decipher things such as the denouement which isnt really what you could call a denouement, and it also shows that his audience is one that already has knowledge of the crime conventions, thus if he simply stuck to them as does The SKull Beneath the Skin, he would not have gotten the reaction he did.
And lastly the Big Sleep is a text which both conforms to the genre but also extends it. It conforms to the basic hard boiled detective convetnions, but introduces women into both detective fiction and organised crime. By doing this and introducing women into crime fiction the text essentially paves the way for the modern detectives who are women.
Well anyways, those are a few of my thoughts, im sure the notes already posted on this website will be more help to you. Hope that i have helped anyway, as i am currently studying the course and trying to make my way through, as are you.
