Jennie Washington, age 14, of Monroe, La., for her question:
WHO WROTE THE FIRST DETECTIVE STORY?
A detective story is a work of fiction about a puzzling crime, a number of clues and a detective who solves the mystery. In most detective stories, the crime is murder and the clues lead to or away from the solution.
Credit for writing the first detective story goes to Edgar Allan Poe who wrote "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" in 1841. With this story and "The Mystery of Marie Roget" and "The Purloined Letter," Poe single handedl y created the literary tradition of detective fiction. Poe's detective was C. Auguste Dupin, a brilliant amateur who uses logic to solve mysteries.
Next to try the new writing form was Charles Dickens who wrote "Bleak House" in 1852. He also used the, format in his unfinished novel, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood."
Sherlock Holmes and his friend, Dr. John Watson, turned up in "A Study in Scarlet" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887. Holmes turned out to be the most famous character in detective fiction, and perhaps in all fiction.
Detective fiction gained in popularity during the early 1900s. In "The Singing Bone" in 1912, the English author R. Austin Freeman introduced the inverted detective story in which the criminal is known from the beginning. The mystery is whether, and how, he will be uncovered.
The period from 1925 to 1935 brought the publication of the first or major works by such masters as Dame Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, Dashiell Hammett, Msg. Ronald Knox, N.gaio Marsh, Ellery Queen, Georges Simenon, Rex Stout and S.S. Van Dine.
The pattern in most detective stories is the same, whether the tale is a novel, a novelette or a short story. The author presents the crime, the detective and several clues and suspects. The detective then follows the clues and the climax of the story comes when he solves the mystery. ,
Certain conventions have developed from the detective story pattern. The author is expected to "play fair" with the reader. That is, he should give the reader exactly the same information that the detective uses to solve the crime by finding the criminal. The reader can treat the story as a battle of wits between himself and the detective.
The detective in many of the stories is not a professional policeman but a private consultant. As an example, G.R. Chesterton's Father Brown is a priest, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe is a gourmet and intellectual, and S.S. Van Dine's Philo Vance is a sophisticated socialite.
Romantic or financial gain may be a factor in the detective story, but the main theme is always the mystery and its solution.
Because of many uninspired writers, the detective story has suffered from its own popularity. Such writers have brought to bookstores many stories featuring illogical motives, lifeless characters, needless sex and violence and dull investigations.
But detective fiction at its best has an appeal that continues to grow.