Does the crime fiction genre have a deeper side?

[carole gill]

I posed this question yesterday in Daniel Hatadi's discussion discussing the differences between literary and crime fiction.
I'd like to pose it here.
Can a story that falls within the crime fiction genre, have within it some other factors--perhaps more crucial insight into some of the characters?
In other words, can it be, in your opinion hard-hitting and be intellectual without in any way slowing the pace or lessening the punch?
Is that possible do you think?
I have the U.S. market in mind here, by the way.
Would love to hear from readers, writers, and innocent bystanders (as well as not such innocent bystanders)!

[sue neale]

An intersting post. Yes, the French are immensely interested in what they call Anglo-Saxon crime fiction. They sadly often lump the UK and US together and sometimes are confused about a writer's actual geographical location and the area he/she is writing about. The French have some amazing bookshops with wonderful crime sections, though the tendency is to have them shelved by publisher (in alphabetical order) and series, rather than as in the UK and US just alphabetically. It therefore requires the casual buyer to either know the author they seek and their publisher/s, or to interact with the shop staff!

Re Vargas, I agree she is an acquired taste in terms of her style and her enthusiasm for word play etc. However, I would suggest that she does deal with reality but subtly and tangentially rather than directly (she has said this in interviews). If you think about a book like Seeking whom he may devour, she tackles issues like racism (with Soliman), people who don't fit in (various characters that the community shuns). She also has positive female characters such as Retancourt the policewoman, and some very evil ones, though she prefers not to put women in a position to take lives with guns (legally if working for the police).

Have you read all her books, as I think some of the later ones are better translated than the earlier ones.