Introduction

This book is the product of an odd confluence of events: a secret predilection for lurid crime fiction that unexpectedly collided with readings from a graduate seminar in evolutionary biology many years ago. In a rational world, these divergent realms would not intersect. The reason I started reading lowbrow crime novels in the first place was to escape the highbrow tedium that characterized my anthropology graduate seminars. (There are only so many long-winded discussions of Gramsci and Bourdieu one can endure.) Late-night infusions of lean, minimalist crime fiction offered a compelling antidote to the rhetorical excesses of postmodern theory. But evolutionary biology turned out to be anything but tedious. It was quite enthralling, and over time the class readings began to compete with my stash of pulp fiction until I became equally immersed in both genres. At some point, cognitive wires crossed, and evolutionary theory suddenly sparked a whole new way of thinking about organized crime.