Background
Again we ask, why detective fiction? My answer? It is informative, interesting, and provocative. "Detective novelists are a bookish lot. Aphorisms, lines from Shakespeare, the act of composing a report so that may order one's thoughts, the letter as clue, all abound ... [It] insists that there must be some explanation" (Winks Critical Essays 4-5). Such rationality is an ideal approach to problem solving, which fulfills the educational goal of fostering critical thinking.
In 1987, in their "Disorders of reasoning and problem-solving ability," Goldstein and Levin wrote, "Considered the most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as [a] higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of more routine or fundamental skills." If a sentient being does not know how to go from Point A to a more desirable Point B, going through the process of problem solving will provide the solution. This process occurs in every walk of life — running the gamut from reading, writing, and arithmetic through political, managerial, and legal to mechanical, electrical, personal, and social contexts. It is one of the key components of detective fiction. It is the solving of the problem, the puzzle.
"A mystery must have a puzzle, just as a detective story must have a detective. A spy thriller might have both . . . The mystery should involve fair play; . . . clues - a term from Greek mythology referring to the thread by which one might hope to find one's way to the surface of the earth from a dark cave - must be fairly laid down for the reader to see, though they may be . . . made to appear to have quite a different meaning than they actually do. Agatha Christie's greatest claim to fame might well be the skill with which she misdirects readers[,] entirely fairly[,] . . . to confuse innocence and guilt" (Winks, 1998 xi). However, the different approaches to presenting the crime and the process involved in solving it have raised the question of what each approach should be called. Is all of it detective fiction? Is a mystery truly different from crime fiction? What, if anything, distinguishes the murder mystery from the thriller? Many critics and the writers of the vastly varied tales in this genre insist that there is a difference and that there are, indeed, major distinctions between the subgenres. Between them they have come up with various subgenres that include but are not limited to various types of whodunits — the private eye novel, the English Golden Age detective novels, and police procedurals.
The whodunit element is indispensable to the detective novel, but in a certain tradition it is absolutely the central feature. Writers in this mode demonstrate great ingenuity in telling their tales, in giving the details of the crime (usually a murder) and the events surrounding the investigation, and in keeping the identity of the criminal secret until the very end. It is then that they surprise the reader with not only the identity of the criminal but the unlikely way in which the crime was committed. Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Mystery of Marie Roget," and "The Purloined Letter" are archetypes of this subgenre. These stories feature a complicated process involving intuition, logic and observation by an astute investigator to identify the culprit. Often, in these novels, this process takes precedence over the crime itself.
While Charles Dicken's Bleak House is another prototype of this genre, it is his protégé, Wilkie Collins, who is credited with having written the first great mystery novel — The Woman in White. And it is Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone, which is said to "have established the genre with several classic features of the twentieth-century detective story: a country house robbery, an "inside job," a celebrated investigator, bungling local constabulary, detective enquiries, false suspects, the 'least likely suspect,' a rudimentary 'locked room' murder, a reconstruction of the crime, and a final twist in the plot" (http: //en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Detective_fiction). Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a prime example of the efficacy of Wilkie Collins' formula.
In England, the conventions developed by Conan Doyle evolved in the so-called "genteel" detective novels of the early twentieth century. In these "cozies," Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple and John Rhode's Dr. Priestly reside. This branch of detective fiction has a puzzle at its center and solving this puzzle is the goal of these stories. Some of the best works were written by John Dickson Carr (Carter Dickson), known as the master of the locked room mystery, and Cecil Street (John Rhode) whose hero specialized in elaborate technical devices. Rex Stout, Ellery Queen and Erle Stanley Gardner stepped into this field to more than adequately represent America, and the works generated by these and others have ensured that this subgenre has remained extremely popular today. It is the "farfetchedness" created by a layperson solving crimes that veteran police officers cannot solve that has captured the interest of readers. This becomes even more compelling when the formal rules and conventions of the genre are flouted.
Then there is the private eye novel, which was probably begun by the British author Arthur Morrison with the creation of his private eye Martin Hewitt. This style was eagerly embraced by American writers from Dashiell Hammett through Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald (Kenneth Millar) to Michael Collins (Dennis Lynds). It was virtually an all male world until Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, and Sue Grafton were published. Today, the private eyes in these works are plentiful and diverse and the one thread that weaves through them all, binding them together, is their detective, whose life we become a part of as he/she works against time to solve the case presented.
The detective's life is also important in the hardboiled novels that are one version of the private eye formula. These stories are directly related to the socio-economic circumstances of the times they depict. The characters find themselves in a world gone awry, where the law is being manipulated for profit and power. This world seems bereft of light and darkness now that night is the norm. A traumatic event has occurred and the world, as the characters know it, is changed. This world becomes unpredictable and chaotic. Mores and norms are altered and morality is at a minimum. Disaster looms. Into this mix, a detective appears who seeks to return the world to normalcy, to stop the burgeoning crime and restore balance to a world shadowed in disillusionment, where economics and politics have contrived together to deprive the populace of control over their own lives. There is little hope and the weaknesses of the characters either lead them to become criminals or make them victims. The detective, bearing (if sublimating) the traits of the criminals, uses those traits to bring about the solution to the problem, many times allowing the criminals to defeat each other and themselves. This subgenre is characterized by graphic violence and the darker side of human nature (http://www. crimeculture. com/Contents/ Hard-Boiled.html).
The next subgenre to which we are introduced is the police procedural. In this type of detective fiction, the author attempts to depict the routine of the police officer. Typical features are a squad detective who arrives after the uniformed officers, the emergency personnel and the public, and the investigator's wait for the forensic reports of the crime. Another familiar aspect is the glimpse the reader is given of the rules and regulations the detective is expected to follow. We are introduced to suspects who are arrested and kept in custody, even if some of them are innocent, and there is usually pressure from senior officers to solve the crime quickly or to show progress in the investigation. An investigative team to which the detective and his superiors give orders is another basic. And, in the effort to gather information to facilitate the gathering of evidence the detective will often visit bars or some other favorite haunt to discuss or think about the case and will "lean on" informants. Political pressure will be brought to bear if the primary suspect is a prominent figure; or, if a police officer is a suspect, internal hostility will run rampant. To round out all of this, there will be media coverage increasing the pressure the detective is under to come up with an answer. This subgenre, with all its formulaic appeal, has become a staple of American television and is, possibly, the one most likely to be used by a student in the writing of a screenplay. This type of whodunit, like all of the others mentioned, is dependent on one basic element — suspense, the core precept of detective fiction. Suspense is what ensures that readers are always titillated and come back for more. Suspense is the main ingredient.
Suspense, the core tenet of detective fiction (also called tension), is the uncertainty and interest aroused in the reader as he/she contemplates the outcome of certain actions. It depends on the audience's perception of the events in the work and is one of the most important building blocks in drama. Suspense consists of real danger, but real danger accompanied by hope. The two most common outcomes are the anxiety experienced by the audience when the danger arises, followed by joy and satisfaction when their hope is realized. "If there is no hope, the audience will feel despair" (http:// en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Suspense). This outcome is to be avoided if the author truly wants his work to be appreciated. Though an audience can handle tension, despair is untenable. When the audience seeks to escape through reading, despair is not the refuge sought — especially today, when the audience seeks the thrill of realism but wants fantasy as the end result.
This leads, at last, to the thriller. One of the most popular suspense genres today, the thriller is "characterized by investigation, fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains . . . [Here] suspense, red herrings, and cliffhangers are" used extensively. Also in these works, there usually exists an exotic setting and a hero who is, more than likely, a "hard man;" however, women are becoming increasingly common as the protagonists (http:// en.wikipedia.org /wiki/ Suspense). And, in more recent works, an ordinary citizen accidentally thrown into the mix is likely to become our hero.
Though the hero may be ordinary, the thriller generally occurs on a grand scale. It is not mere murder but mass murder or, possibly, a serial killer on the loose. We won't find simple bungled burglaries but terrorism, political assassination, or governmental coup d'état attempts. "Jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements [and,] while a mystery climaxes when the mystery is solved, a thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeats the villain, saving . . . the lives of others" and, maybe, his own. In the process, it is interesting to note, "Thrillers are defined not by their subject matter but by their approach to it" (http: //en. wikipedia .org/wiki/Thriller_%28genre%29). This is a point to be emphasized in our discussions with our students, who might feel that if there is a crime, it is automatically a detective story and, if there is a vast scale involved, the story is automatically a thriller. Though relatively "loose" in the scope encompassed, the thriller must meet one very specific criterion.
The thriller, a very broad field, is defined by the mood it evokes, i.e. the aura associated with the thrill. It includes spy and political thrillers, military and conspiracy thrillers, techno- and eco-thrillers, legal and forensic thrillers, psychological and horror thrillers, disaster and action thrillers, romantic and supernatural thrillers, and the much depicted (by television and the big screen alike) crime thriller. And though all of these are thrillers and some of all of them qualify as detective novels, not all of them involve the detective as a feature. The crime thriller is the exception and has particular appeal to the student because of "its focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman . . . [the emphasis on] action over psychological . . . and central topics . . . [which include] murders, robberies, chases, shootouts and double-crosses" (http: //en. wikipedia .org/wiki/Thriller _%28genre%29). All of these are elements commonly found in the modes of entertainment enjoyed by our students, which are offered extensively today. Therefore, the various combinations found in detection fiction should make this genre appealing, simplifying our task as teachers.
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