1) The detective must be memorable

2) The crime must be significant

3) The criminal must be a worthy opponent

4) All suspects must be introduced early in the story

5) All clues must be made available to the reader

6) The ending must be logical

• Omniscient

• Clever against the theories of the official police

• He/She normally has a “clumpsy” assistant Sometimes he/she becomes the narrator (e.g. Watson)

• Eccentric Superiority We all need him/her to solve the case

• He/She gives the reader confidence HERO

• Ability to expose all kind of secrets and “dark stories”

• The crime is the starting point The puzzle is presented Mystery

• Lack of evidence Need of investigation

– ‘Reachable’ Clues

– ‘Unreachable’ solution

• Normally, as Cawletti proposes:

– Murder sexual or grotesque deaths

– Crimes political intrigue

• Not an emotional link with the reader

The criminal should be presented as a danger, a bad person

VILLAIN

• However, he/she is as clever

and unapproachable as the

Detective.

• Investigation Witnesses, suspects

• All may seem innocent and guilty at the same time UNTRUST

• This can manipulate our thoughts and feelings towards the suspects:

– Sympathy /Antipathy

1) Crime

2)False Clues and suspects/ Secondary crime…

3) The Criminal “leaves clues”

3)Discovery of the truth (Solution)

4)Arrest of criminal

5) Peaceful state after arrest

• We follow the same path of the detective

ACTIVE READERS

• THEREFORE, we do not learn the whole truth until the detective discovers it Limited point of view

• Manipulation can take place to promote surprise among readers

– Doyle also created the trademark element of the

enigmatic phase by which the detective hints at

the solution, toying with both the narrator and the

reader, without making the solution explicits. (182:

Werlock)

• The Code

– Detectives break the rules

– Loyalty to the client/profession BUT emotionally distant

• The ‘Femme Fatale’

– ‘Attractive woman that leads into danger’

• The imagery

– E.g. darkness = bad, danger, mystery

• ‘The secret is in the solution-and the comprehension of that solution.’ (Price-Anisman)

• The ending must also SURPRISE Climax

• The detective must explain how he got to that conclusion

• The ending must have an explanation

– Calmed detective secure and witty

– Who

– How

– Why

– Interested reader We have been part of it

• Price-Anisman, P.M. Finding the Key: Teaching Detective Fiction in the Developmental Classroom.

• Panek, L. (1987). An introduction to the detective story. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press.

• Werlock, A., & File, I. (2000). The Facts on File companion to the American short story. New York: Facts on File.

• http://www.staff.missouriwestern.edu

• http://www.crimeculture.com

• http://www.writingclasses.com/InformationPages/index.php/PageID/303

• http://www.twbooks.co.uk/crimescene/20ruleswritingdetectivenovel.html

• http://es.slideshare.net/mobile/diana.koscik/detective-elements

• http://es.slideshare.net/mobile/kbbandrowski/introduction-to-a-detective-story-2007

• http://Gaslight.mtroyal.ca/vandine.htm

• http://www.detnovel.com

• http://www.cuyamaca.edu/people/lyn-neylon/files/englishweb/engl271/271%20lectures/