Patreon Post: Sinister Staplers, Calculating Calculators, and Insidious Ink: The Role of Stationery in Classic Crime Fiction

Pens, pencils, rulers. All small, everyday items we have lying around our homes, bags and desks. Even in the age of iPads and iPhones, stationery has not been made obsolete. Papyrophilia, a strong love for paper-based products and stationery, is not dead, and I hope I am not the only who has far more notebooks than they need, because they just had to have that extra one with the cool design on the cover. Whilst stationery can demonstrate our personal style or make a statement, it is also inherently practical and functional, happy to work quietly in the background, getting the job done. And that is what I think it does in classic crime fiction. It isn’t trying to hog the limelight with the bottle of cyanide or argue that it is as important as the theme of justice. But nevertheless, it is present and perhaps doing more than we think.