Mystery Fiction

1
Mystery Fiction

• The Whodunit
• Invented by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

2
Elements of Mystery Fiction / Detective Stories

• Creepy Settings
• Forests or desolate natural places
• Dark places or night-time atmospheres
• Run-down buildings

3
Elements of Mystery Fiction / Detective Stories

• Mysterious Characters
• Super detectives as protagonistscan solve crimes
  the police cant
• Detectives friend often serves as narrator
• Criminals as antagonists

4
Elements of Mystery Fiction / Detective Stories

• Suspenseful Plots
• Crime is committed (usually murder)
• Suspects are identified and investigated
• Expert detective examines evidence, deduces
  solution
• Solution is revealed to the characters and reader

5
Elements of Mystery Fiction / Detective Stories

• Specialized Themes
• Good will triumph over evil.
• The truth will always come out.
• People get their just rewards.
• Crime doesnt pay.
• Even the smallest detail is important.

6
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

• Born 1859 in Scotland
• Studied Medicine and became a doctor in 1885
• Began writing in 1887, A Study in Scarlet 1st
  Sherlock Holmes story
• Wrote dozens of Sherlock Holmes stories for the
  Strand magazine
• Killed off Sherlock Holmes in 1893 because he was
  tired of writing that kind of fiction
• Brought Holmes back ten years later due to fan
  outrage
• Knighted in 1902 by Edward VII

7
Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

• Sherlock Holmes Fiction
• A Study in Scarlet (1887)
• The Sign of Four (1890)
• Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
• Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1893)
• The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
• Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)
• The Valley of Fear (1915)
• His Last Bow Some Reminiscences of Sherlock
  Holmes (1917)
• Case-book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)

• Other Works
• Fiction
• The White Company (1891)
• The Great Shadow (1892)
• The Lost World (1912)
• The Poison Belt (1913)
• Non-Fiction
• The Great Boer War (1900)
• The War in South Africa Its Cause and Conduct
  (1902)
• The British Campaign in France and Flanders
  (1916-1920)

8
Sherlock Holmes

• Amateur Detective
• Based on Dr. Joseph Bell
• Solves crimes by using deductionlooks at clues
• Knowledgeable in Chemistry, Botany (poisons),
  Criminal cases, Anatomy
• Can tell where people are from and what their
  occupation is by looking at them

9
Sherlock Holmes

• Plays the violin badly
• Smokes pipe at times, opium
• When goes out wears hunting cap and cape
• Partner is Dr. Watson
• Some people believed he was a real person
• Chief antagonist is Dr. Moriarty
• Avoids romantic attachments
• Excerpt from A Study in Scarlet

10
Website

• http//www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk/

11
The Adventure of the Speckled Band

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

12
Terms

• Clueanything that serves to guide or direct in
  the solution of a problem, mystery, etc
• Red Herringsomething that diverts attention from
  the actual facts of a case a misleading clue
• Motivereasons to commit the crime
• Meansresources to commit the crime
• Opportunitychances to commit the crime

13
Clues from Helens Story Connection to the story / red-herring Clues from Stoke Moran Connection to the story / red-herring

Deduction (How do you think Julias murder occurred?) Deduction (How do you think Julias murder occurred?) Deduction (How do you think Julias murder occurred?) Deduction (How do you think Julias murder occurred?)
14
SUSPECT Person suspected of committing the crime MOTIVE Reason to commit the Crime MEANS Resources to commit the Crime OPPORTUNITY Chance to commit the crime





15
Stoke Moran
Wing of the house in use
Helen Stoners Room
Julia Stoners Room
Dr. Roylotts Room
16
Setting
Julia Stoners Room
Dr. Roylotts Room
17
Stoke Moran
Wing of the house in use
Dr. Roylotts Room
Helen Stoners Room
Julia Stoners Room