What is the difference between being entertained and being engaged? This question is explored with numerous references to some of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries’ most compelling crime fiction. Reader expectation and publishing industry positioning is explored in relation to reaction and audience scope. Violence and entertainment are also considered, and how fictionality and drama can elevate meaning and text beyond realism. Popularity is further considered in relation to the genre and bestsellers, and audience reach. Ideas around extreme and fantastical violence are looked at, along with the concept of the ‘hero serial killer’, and the appealing criminal. Empathy and sympathy are explored in the context of the chapter, along with ways of implementing desired effect. Implementation of devices such as misdirection, and aspects of humour, are practically explained and referenced. Crime sub-genres involving ‘cosy’, ‘soft’ and ‘comic’ are elaborated on, again with multiple references. The complexities and subtleties of incorporating humour into crime fiction are extensively and practically analysed. Elmore Leonard’s Get Shorty and Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister the Serial Killer are particularly cited. Thematic choices are considered along with such attributes as amateur or accidental detectives. Henry Sutton’s Hotel Inspector series is introduced and explained within context.