Detective Fiction: definition

A narrative can be qualified as detective fiction if it involves the solving of a mystery. The
investigation into the matter is usually led by one figure, the detective, who may be a
professional in the field or an amateur sleuth and who may or may not have an assistant or
sidekick. Towards the end, the reader's curiosity is sated, and the mystery is solved. The
detective explains how the crime was committed, who committed it, and what the motive of
the crime was.
Detective fiction is a kind of crime fiction that focuses on the heroic detective as much as
the crime itself. In the earliest detective fiction, the hero was typically a highly sophisticated
individual, and the stories almost always focused on the intelligence of the detective, his
cleverness, and his ability to outwit the criminal. A generally well-known example of this
kind of detective character is Sherlock Holmes.
Over time, detective fiction evolved, and the kinds of characters used became more
diverse. Popular detective novelists also brought new elements to their stories to match with
the changing times. For example, there are popular detective characters who are computer
hackers, and others who rely on advanced forensic technology. Some detective fiction even
focuses specifically on characters who are forensic technicians.
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is a literary genre covering criminal activity, its motivations and
methods, and its eventual resolution. Some works go beyond the crime and deal with the
interpersonal dynamics between criminal and fellow criminal, criminal and lawful personage,
and other significant people in the same sphere of influence. Several recurring tropes and
sub-genres exist within crime fiction, including detective stories, political thrillers, and heist
tales.
Whodunnit:
The defining sub-genre of crime fiction is the whodunit, which takes its name from
the phrase "Who done it?" As the label would suggest, these stories often dealt with a crime
and its mysterious perpetrator. Readers followed the protagonist — most often a detective —
as he attempted to identify the culprit based on a series of clues. Most whodunits dealt with
either murders or theft.
In some cases, crime fiction mysteries involved the method of the crime, rather than
the culprit. This sub-genre is often called the "locked-room" mystery, in which the
protagonist attempts to discover how an otherwise impossible crime was committed. The sub-
genre takes its name for the recurring theme in which the perpetrator of the crime was able to
commit it, with no clear way on how he was able to enter or exit the scene of the crime.
Protagonists of these tales often uncover a secret passage that allowed the crime, and the
revelation can be interspersed with whodunit elements.
Modern crime fiction has extended well beyond victim, crime, and detective
mysteries, including genres such as espionage thrillers such as Ian Fleming's "James Bond"
series and criminal-life dramas like Mario Puzo's "The Godfather." Some stories, such as
John Grisham's "The Firm," deal with the legal ramifications of criminal activity.
Noir fiction:
Noir fiction is a specific kind of crime fiction that originated in the twentieth century.
This type of writing is a part of the larger genre of “hardboiled” crime fiction. Hardboiled
fiction is so-called for its dark, gritty portrayals of urban life or criminal elements. In general,
readers associate both noir fiction and hardboiled crime fiction with the American setting, but
these genres can be set anywhere in the world. This type of crime writing often relies on
somewhat modern premises, describing the decay of modern societies.
History of Detective Fiction:
Detective fiction can be traced back to the 1800s, around the time of the Industrial
Revolution. Before this time, most people lived in smaller towns and worked and socialized
in closer circles, so people knew everyone they came into contact with for the most part. But
with the rise of industrial jobs, more people began moving to cities, which lead to interacting
with more strangers on a daily basis, a heightened sense of suspicion and uncertainty, and
more crime. It was around this time too where police forces were first established. With more
people living in cities and crime rates on the rise, the setting was right for detective genres to
flourish.
The first modern detective story is often thought to be Edgar Allan Poe’s The Murders
in the Rue Morgue, a short story published in 1841 that introduced the world to private
detective Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin. The first detective novel followed soon after with
British author Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone. This novel is significant not just because it’s
the first detective novel, but also because it established many of the classic tropes and
attributes of the detective novel.
Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular characters in fiction ever. Holmes was
inspired in part on Poe’s detective Dupin, but he was also based on a real man: Dr. Joseph
Bell. Bell was a surgeon and lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. Sherlock Holmes author
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle met Dr. Bell in 1877, and Doyle has said he modeled Holmes’s
quick wit and intelligence off of Bell. The first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet
came out in 1887, and Doyle continued to write Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories
until around 1927.
1920 to 1939 came to be known as the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. And the
queen of his age was Agatha Christie. During her lifetime, Agatha Christie wrote sixty-six
detective novels and fourteen short story collections. Her novel And Then There Were None
remains one of the best-selling books of all time, and as of 2018, the Guinness World
Records listed Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time. Christie is responsible for
creating not one but two of the most famous detectives in literary history: Hercule Poirot and
Miss Marple. These detective characters remain highly influential to contemporary crime
fiction writers.
In response to the Golden Age authors, some American writers began to examine and
reconsider the formula for detective fiction. Many people started to think of puzzle-solving
crime fiction as too unrealistic and too clean. These authors and their readers were looking
for crime novels that were more based in reality and the way real crimes happen. And so the
hardboiled detective genre was born. These stories included detectives that were dealing with
corrupt cops and organized crime. Hardboiled crime novels create a world where it’s every
man for himself, and the detective can trust no one.
While hardboiled detective fiction emerged as early as the 1920s, the detective genre
really took off in America in the 1930s-1950s. One of the most popular hardboiled detective
novels from this period is Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, the novel that introduced
readers to the detective Philip Marlowe.
contemporary crime fiction
Now, mystery and suspense fiction is more popular than ever. There are supernatural
detective stories, hardboiled detective genre, there are plenty of newer adaptations of classic
detectives with familiar and beloved detective characters

There are a few subgenres that detective stories may fall under:

1. Police-department procedurals. These focus on police work and often feature homicide
investigators and other departments of a local police force.

2. Cozy mysteries. These have a lighter tone than traditional detective fiction and avoid
explicit depictions of the murder. They are often set in a small town and focus on puzzle-
solving rather than suspense.

3. Hardboiled detective stories. These stories are usually dark and explicit, featuring a
veteran detective who treats violent crimes matter-of-factly.

4. Thrillers. These emphasize suspenseful storytelling, often featuring chase scenes or

murder sprees that the detective must stop before times runs out.

5. Locked-room mysteries. These feature crimes that, at the outset, appear impossible—for
instance, a murder taking place in a seemingly locked room with no other way in or out.

The 5 Basic Elements of a Detective Story

1. A detective. Every good detective storyline will have a detective, usually featured
as the protagonist. But putting a private investigator in your story isn’t as easy as it
sounds—you’ll need to develop a character that readers will enjoy following during
an entire novel (or even a series). You should spend time thinking about your
detective’s personality, their motivations, their background, their strengths, and their
weaknesses. You’ll want your detective to be unique among the other detectives out
there.

2. A crime. Most detective stories revolve around a central crime or string of related
crimes. Since the crime will be the catalyst of your short story or novel, it should be
interesting, memorable, and seemingly unsolvable—that way, readers will be so
tantalized by the mystery of it that they’ll need to keep reading. A dead body is a
very common crime in detective fiction, but there are plenty of other options—from
robberies to disappearances.

3. Suspects. Many detective stories include an array of suspects that could have
committed the crime (either they have weak alibis or have a history of lying). Your
 suspects are a vital part of your detective story because they serve as red herrings
(or distractions) that will direct readers’ attention away from the true culprit. Some
mystery novels, however, don’t have any suspects—this is a deliberate choice by
crime writers that serves to heighten the tension in the story, but if your story
doesn’t have any suspects, you’ll have to find creative ways to keep the case from
going cold.

4. An antagonist. Every good detective story—and every good story in general—has

an antagonist or the person whose goals are in direct conflict with the antagonist’s.
Traditionally, the antagonist is the true culprit for the story’s crime (or crimes), but
that’s not who your antagonist has to be; the antagonist of your story could be a
police officer who wants to solve the crime first or someone who knows the identity
of the culprit and is trying to cover it up.

5. A setting. The setting is a very important part of any detective story because the
action in most detective stories takes place on the streets of its location, and
therefore the stories are inextricably linked to the time and place they are set in and
are memorable because of those details.

Most detectives incorporate the following traits:

 Can be compared to mythological heroes (e.g., Odysseus) because they face

challenges, temptations, danger, and usually have loyalty to a higher power (usually
Truth)
 Known as “private eyes” which refers to their ability to be “all-seeing”
 Usually well-educated and sophisticated, sometimes wealthy, too
 Have physical strength and prowess
 Tend to have a quick wit and/or sarcasm, and have superior abilities to the average
citizen in things like card playing, shooting, car racing, etc.
 Often defeat their opponents with language rather than simple brute strength
 Usually asked to restore something: an object, a person, or peace of mind

The Detective’s Code

All detectives are expected to have a higher moral code to guide his or her behavior. It
typically leads him or her to make choices in the name of doing “the right thing.” Some
aspects of this code include:

 Closed-mouthed and anonymous; secretive and avoids publicity or fame

 Loyalty to partner and profession
 Dedication to the client
 Economical with the client’s money
 Cooperates to some degree with the police, but his or her investigation supersedes the
law (dedication to the client comes first)
 Avoids being tricked by examining all possibilities
 Common Themes in Detective Fiction

Some common and revealed themes that are typical in most detective fiction stories include:

 A search for an apparently valuable, but really worthless item

 Apparent crime that is revealed to be a repetition of an earlier crime
 A wealthy family with a problem or a secret
 The cleaning up of a corrupt town or system
 The antagonist who is the double of the detective

Detective Fiction - Key takeaways

Detective fiction is a fictional narrative featuring a professional or amateur sleuth who solves
a crime or mystery and typically reveals the culprit at the end.
Detective fiction is often blended with other genres such as supernatural, fantasy, romance,
and historical fiction, among others.
Types of detective fiction include whodunits, police procedurals, serial killer thrillers,
child(ren) detectives, and cosy mysteries.
Some of the most influential fictional detectives are Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and
Miss Marple.

Detective Fiction genre and types

Over the years, detective fiction as a genre evolved and became an umbrella genre for
numerous types of detective fiction, such as 'whodunits', police procedurals, serial killer
thrillers, child(ren) detectives, cosy mysteries, and Sherlock Holmes narratives.
'Whodunits'
Whodunits or whodunnits are a type of detective fiction wherein the detective leads the
investigation, collecting evidence, examining clues, and, most importantly, questioning
witnesses. While the reader knows about the crime from the beginning, the detective
uncovers a hidden narrative throughout the investigation that, in the end, helps the detective
and the reader to identify the perpetrator of the crime.
For this reason, whodunits are said to have a double narrative, with one being the narrative
that the reader is given from the beginning of the crime committed, and the other which is
gradually uncovered as the perpetrator and their crime is revealed and explained.
Police procedurals
Police procedural detective fiction, as the title suggests, features one or more detectives who
are employed in the police force and are solving an investigation in an official capacity.
Typically, detectives tend to break into crime scenes or bend rules to get ahead in the
investigation, but police detectives are inclined to be on the right side of the law during their
investigations.
Serial killer thriller
Usually, serial killers are investigated by law enforcement agents, making these types of
narratives closely related to the police procedural detective fiction. In a serial killer thriller, a
perpetrator commits multiple murders, usually forming a pattern that the detective deciphers
to catch the murderer.
Child(ren) detectives
Child or Children detectives are often featured in children's mystery novels. As the title
suggests, these detectives are children, often a group of them, who band together to solve a
mystery. In television cartoons, The Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated (2010) belongs to
this genre.
Cosy mysteries
Cosy mysteries almost always guarantee a happy ending where everything is set right and the
criminal apprehended. They serve as a light read in the sense that they do not emphasise
violence, gore, or abuse. Instead, they drive the plot forward through character interactions
that are often characterised by humour and wit.
Sherlock Holmes
Although detective fiction is a treasure trove of bestsellers and prize-winning narratives,
Arthur Conan Doyle's consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, continues to remain a favourite
across the globe. Inspired by Doyle's mentor at the University of Edinburg School of
Medicine, Joseph Bell, Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in A Study in Scarlet in
1887. The character continues to be adapted in television shows and films and is a fan-
favourite for cosplay, role-play and fan fiction.
Detective Fiction today
Detective fiction remains a widely-read genre today, and it has become increasingly
sophisticated, evolving into long-standing bestseller series and prize-winning stand-alone
novels. They provide the chance for justice to be served, and they engage with social
commentary, often commenting on the state of society and law enforcement. Detective fiction
invites audiences to solve crimes by piecing together clues of puzzles and offering them the
thrill of decoding a mystery from their armchairs.