Murder in the Stacks: A Short History of the Mystery: An Outline

Murder in the Stacks

A short history of the mystery

Beginnings: 1841 - 1918

Edgar Allan Poe: Father of the Detective Story (Dupin in Murders in the Rue Morgue; 1841)

Eccentric detective and sidekick (Dupin and his assistant/narrator)
The least likely suspect
Locked room mystery
Codes and cyphers (The Gold Bug)
Armchair detection
Fictional investigation of true crime (The Mystery of Marie Roget)
'Ratiocination': intellect rather than brute strength
Hide in plain sight The Purloined Letter)

Emile Gaboriau: First detective novel (Lecoq and L'Affaire Lerouge, 1866; The Crime of Orcival, 1866)

Arthur Conan Doyle: Creator of The Great Detective (Holmes & Watson in A Study in Scarlet; 1887)

Anna Katharine Green: Mother of the American Detective Story (Ebenezer Gryce in The Leavenworth Case; 1878)

Wilkie Collins: The professional police detective (Sgt. Cuff in The Moonstone; 1868)

E. C. Bentley: Reaction against the infallible detective (Trent's Last Case; 1913) and beginnings of the Golden Age of classic British detective fiction

Important points:

Development of the sensational (Gothic) novels of the 19th century
Golden Age of the short story
Professional police and detective forces had strong influence
Beginnings of formal detective story:
- The detective as outsider
- The Watson as stand-in for reader; match wits with the detective
- Ratiocination (Poe) and intuition (Holmes, et al.)
- Scientific investigation (R. Austin Freeman)
- Two strands: sensation (thriller) and detection (pure puzzle)

Gaslight lamp post Note: Gaslight era stories are still quite popular. For more information, and online e-texts of tales of adventure, mystery and the weird, visit Gaslight, home of the Gaslight listserv.

For online sources on the history of detective and crime fiction, visit the following sites:

A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection by Michael E. Grost: An extensive series of connected essays on classic mystery writers, from E.A. Poe through the Golden Age. An indispensable introduction to the genre.
Mystery Greats Time Line, a production of MysteryNet.com.: An abbreviated list of classic writers, including Poe, Doyle, Sayers, Queen, Hammett and McBain.
The Thrill of the Chase by Mike Ashley: A survey of collectible crime and detective fiction by classic writers, from the Crime Time Online site.

Donna L. Goldthwaite
[email protected] This page last updated 8/5/00

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