How the bodies of six male crime fiction detectives are made to mean as gendered bodies within the sphere of detectiveness, traditionally defined in terms of the male virtues of heroism and rationality, is discussed in this book. The book shows how embodiment, through reiteration, becomes constructive of the detectives' masculinities. The analysis focuses on the involvement of the penis, body form, ageing, eating, as well as the 'significant others' in the processes of masculinisation and shows how the blurring of hard & soft can lead to development, and how a crisis of masculinity can become a strategy of self-creation. In this book, crime fiction is treated as a technology of gender with the capacity to produce and reproduce discourses of masculinity. The comparative approach sheds light on the differences and the similarities in these discourses in the cultural contexts of Sweden, Finland, Scotland, Spain and Italy.