Mysteries &Detective Fiction

Elements of mystery are found in great literary works of the past (Bible, Shakespeare)

Elements of mystery may be main plot or subplot [we find mystery in romance and science fiction]

Detective fiction is a subgenre of mystery

It’s a mystery?

When Detective Fiction Appears

Poe: the founder of the genre The Murders In The Rue Morgue (1841) The Mystery Of Marie Roget - A Sequel

To "The Murder In The Rue Morgue" (1850)

The Purloined Letter (1845)

Historical Factors that led to the genre development

First modern police forces organized in late 1700s, early 1800s “responsible only to the law” and not to some wealthy patron

The rise of democracy [esp. in America] gives rise to the belief that law/the police are on the side of the people

Changes from past genres Before, the criminal could be seen as

heroic, like Robin Hood, but not in this genre

While some characters might question the efficacy of justice, or even the possibility of justice through the law—ultimately, the authors of this genre always side with the ideal of law and order

Development of Detective Fiction

An increasing emphasis is placed on Science In its classic form, it is a fictional

celebration of scientific method – Think CSI 19th c. conception of Science included

the natural sciences, but also philosophy,ethics & law as well as a reliance on observable fact and logical processes.

Both deductive and inductive reasoning are required of the detective

Science and Detective Fiction

There is a strong connection between detective fiction and science fiction: both feature a man of science using his reasoning skills to produce a solution to a pressing social problem.

The “Double Contest”

At the heart of detective fiction is both the contest of wits between the detective and the villain, but also between the writer and reader.

In good fiction, the writer must “play fair” with the reader [that is, there must be enough reasonable clues in the story for the reader to figure out who done it]

Detective Fiction as Game of Wits

Detective fiction developed as a highly structured, formal art with rules:

(1) Evidence must be available to the reader(2) The solution must be reasonable (not

impossible)(3) No surprises at the end; ex. the number of

suspects must be finite(4) Crime should be significant(5) There must be detection

not simply a solution.

Detective Fiction as Discipline

Because of these “rules,” there’s a sense in which writers don’t have the same kind of freedom that writers of other kinds of stories have. it’s similar to a poet choosing to work within

the conventions of the sonnet