This question is tough, because "Lamb to the Slaughter" probably fits into a few genres. It also depends on how specific the genre category is. In the broadest sense, the genre of this story is fiction. But my guess is that is way too broad for what the question is really asking.
I believe that the story crosses over into crime fiction, suspense/thriller fiction, and even a bit of dark comedy fiction. First and...
This question is tough, because "Lamb to the Slaughter" probably fits into a few genres. It also depends on how specific the genre category is. In the broadest sense, the genre of this story is fiction. But my guess is that is way too broad for what the question is really asking.
I believe that the story crosses over into crime fiction, suspense/thriller fiction, and even a bit of dark comedy fiction. First and foremost, I support the suspense fiction. Even though I know that Mary is guilty of killing her husband and trying to get away with it, I just can't help but root for her. I sympathize with her way more than I sympathize with Patrick. I want to see if she can get away with her crime. For that reason, the story is quite suspenseful, because a reader is always on the edge of his/her seat wondering if she really will be able to pull it off.
Crime fiction fits as well, because the final third of the story is essentially a detective story. The police go about making calls, having whispered conversations, interviewing Mary multiple times, and searching for a murder weapon. Most of the members of my family are law enforcement, so deep down I also want to see the police be successful in this story.
Finally, dark comedy is present in the story because of the final lines. The police are literally eating the murder weapon and make the comment that it is probably right under their noses. Then . . . Mary giggles. That's dark. She just killed her husband and is feeding the weapon of choice to the police officers in her own home. And she laughs about it.
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