First published in 1990, Language in Popular Fiction was written to provide a comprehensive and illuminating look at the way language is used in thrillers and romantic fiction.

The book examines the use of language across three interrelated levels: a level of verbal organisation, a level of narrative structure, and a level at which stylistic options and devices are related to notions of gender. It introduces 'the protocol of pulchritude' and makes use of detailed stylistic and linguistic analysis to investigate a wide range of 'popfiction' and 'magfiction'. In doing so, it provokes serious reflection on popular fiction and its claims on the reader.