Focusing on crime fiction, film and television that artfully combine comedy and misdeed, this comprehensive study explores the reasons why writers and filmmakers inject humor into their work and identifies the various comic techniques they use. The author covers both American and European books from the 1930s to the present, by such authors as Rex Stout, Raymond Chandler, Elmore Leonard, Donald Westlake, Sue Grafton, Carl Hiaasen and Janet Evanovich, along with film and television from The Thin Man to the BBC's Sherlock series.