C. Hugh Holman’s A
Handbook to Literature defines a detective story as “a novel or
short story in which a crime, usually a murder – the
identity of the perpetrator unknown –
is solved by a detective through a logical assembling and
interpretation of palpable
evidence, known as clues.”
The first
detective stories were written by Edgar Allan Poe, and Conan Doyle acknowledged
their influence on his writing. A good
detective story generally follows six “unwritten rules.”
First, the crime
must be significant, worthy of the attention it receives. Most stories involve murder, though Conan Doyle
tied the majority of his crimes to greed and theft.
Second, the
detective must be in some way a memorable character. He or she must be very intelligent, of
course, unusually clever and observant, but also quirky, possessing perhaps
some odd idiosyncrasies that distinguish him or her. Kojak’s lollipop, Columbo’s crumpled
raincoat, James Bond’s unruffled cool and high-tech gadgets, all of these
things make the hero somehow distinct.
Third, along with
an exceptional detective, there must be an outstanding opponent, a criminal
clever enough to be a match for the hero.
Solving the crime can’t be too easy.
Fourth, because a
large part of the attraction of a detective story is the opportunity for the
reader to try to figure out the solution along with the detective, all suspects
of the crime must be introduced early in the story, and
Fifth, all clues
the detective discovers must be made available to the reader also.
Finally, at the
end of the story, the solution must seem obvious, logical, possible. The crime must not have resulted from
accident or supernatural intervention, and the detective must be able to
explain all aspects of the case in a reasonable way. A fine detective story should meet each one
of these standards.
