The focus of this final paper is on the analysis of Martin McDonagh’s first non-Irish play called The Pillowman, as well as on the elements of crime fiction genre which are present in the play. Due to the fact that the genre of crime fiction is rather complex and vaguely defined, the emphasis of the first part of this paper is on the description of the development of the genre and its most notable elements. The most relevant elements of crime fiction genre for the play are: embedded story, anticipation, and retroversion. They are mostly used for the creation of the notion of suspense. However, the interesting aspect of this literary work lies in the fact that The Pillowman is also rich with deviations from the crime fiction genre. These deviations are most evident in the subversion of the archetypal roles of crime fiction characters. Furthermore, the treatment of the characters in the play is different from the treatment of typical crime fiction characters because there is no fair-play balance between them. Every character is morally dubious and changes his role throughout the storyline. Overall, the combination of crime fiction elements as well as their deviations is something that makes this play one of Martin McDonagh’s most interesting works.