History of Detective Fiction

History of Detective Fiction

When I came to your class I had little knowledge of what detective fiction was, I knew it dealt with mystery, but never knew the real meaning of it. Thanks to you and your assignment, now I know. According to Wikipedia.org detective fiction is, "A branch of crime fiction that centers upon the investigation of a crime, usually by murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur". It is closely related to mystery fiction, but it is more of puzzle that must be solved.

I got more background history of detective fiction from classiccrimefiction.com. Detective fiction began in 1841 when Edgar Allan Poe introduced Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin in the short story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Dupin leads his own investigation and succeeds, where the regular authorities failed. Dupin also encountered two other incidents within the plots that Poe created and formulated the requirements of a detective fiction story. In his stories he used brilliant detectives and baffling crimes that required superior intelligence to solve. His stories led to believe that police forces would soon be seen in the real world.

This genre reached a peak of success with the advent of "yellowbacks", which appealed to readers with more lurid instincts. This first appeared in 1856, and came to America as dime novels. Crime and mystery stories became huge which included the increase of the pulps titles. Classiccrimefiction/goldenage.com stated the golden age of mystery genre through 1920's to 1940's. Some golden age writers were Agatha Christi, Sherlock Holmes, and Anthony Berkeley. These writers usually called upon personal experience for background and settings for their plots. Quality and consistency were big parts that were essential to be in the stories. Authors had stuck to the 10 commandments, created by Ronald A. Knox, which are the mystery elements presented to the readers.

Today mystery is still one of the most read genres, and has intrigued and inspired people for many years. After reading about detective fiction I have learned about the importance and impact that mystery stories has had on many people though the years.

Cites:

www.wikipedia.org

www.classiccrimefiction.com

www.classiccrimefiction/goldenage.com