 Mystery: August 25, 2010 Issue [#3917] |
  Mystery
This week: The Craft(ing) of Detection Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream
Edgar Alan Poe
A mystery is an answer in search of a question; knowing what's been done and journey to discovering the how and why of it. It deals with something unknown to the reader, which the writer reveals in bits and pieces with both subtle and overt clues, drawing the reader into the puzzle. Welcome to this week's edition of the WDC Mystery Newletter, where we will explore some of the means by which we plot the journey to discovery for ourselves and our readers.
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Greetings, fellow sleuths. I''ve recently read several mysteries where the puzzle solvers are detectives. Each finds and follows clues, discards those which do not 'fit' the puzzle (you know, those 'fishy' ones), and ultimately solves the crime by fitting, not forcing, the pieces together. Yes, Wilkie Collins, Ed McBain, Tony Hillerman, and Carter Brown all bring to life detectives who solve crimes, each in his own melieu. Just like the real crime-solvers, the police and detectives of past and future, the writers who evoke their techniques in fiction and verse create mysteries of detection in prose or verse classic or modern, or an amalgam of both.
 Classic Detective stories are those many of us first read and quickly became engrossed in the short, tight accounts of murder investigations proffered by Agatha Christie. Classical detective stories provide all the clues (to the discerning, observant detective (and reader)). The classical detectives, be they uniformed police officers, detectives, or amateur sleuths, often inhabit somehow isolated fictional villages and provincial towns, although modern 'classics' are bringing them into the cities, albeit set at the precinct or district level, to keep the crime area, and the puzzle, tight.
Modern English Crime stories focus on solving a crime, most often by police or detectives, but with the clues intertwined in social issues and a quest for justice. Consider Wilkie Collins' Moonstone, with the depth of exploration and exposition of character revealing clues in a somewhat oblique manner at times, but there for the discerning sleuth to uncover.
Detective stories are the who-done-it's that begin in the middle, with the crime, which a detective investigates and solves. The personalities of characters can interfere with or, as uncovered by the detective, become clues (or red herrings) on the detective's path to solving the crime.
Police Procedurals focus on the relationship among people at a police station or district and how that dynamic helps or hinders the resolution of a crime, most often a murder. These often open with a violent crime that impacts the lives of the officers involved, both in their pursuit of justice and among each other. These procedurals often evolve into series. Consider Ed McBain's Precinct 87 series, where the members of the precinct have been both solvers and catalysts for the crimes they solve.
Private Detectives operate both within and on the fringes of the law. Earlier PI's, as envisioned by Raymond Chander and Dashiell Hammett often cooperated with formal law enforcement, who sought their skills in detection and their ability and willingness to engage with mobsters or others of a criminal persuasion. Today, private investigators are more likely to work parallel with or try to get or stay a step ahead of traditional law enforcement. The hard-boiled PI's past and present sought to solve the crime, using both traditional and innovative detection techniques, for the promise of financial or other gain for themselves. But they end up doing good and interacting with the law, and are changed somehow by the time they solve the crime.
I'd like to conclude this not all-inclusive exploration of detective fiction on a light note. Comic Detective stories tend to caricature procedures. The detective goes about his/her investigation in a serious manner, unaware that the situation they're in is hilarious. Consider Inspector Clouseau or the bumbling, yet successful, Columbo.
Okay, if you've a detective in your portfolio who seeks further exposure, consider these publications, which welcome stories of detection from established and emerging writers: Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine at ~
http://www.themysteryplace.com.
Until we next meet, I wish you successful sleuthing ~
Write On!
Kate
Kate~Spins Rune^s web of words (162)
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Check out the variety of detection, from classic to comical, offered for your reading (and reviewing ) pleasure
| |  | ...Of Events (E)
A police detective looks into a series of unsolved murders as a tribute to his colleague.
#1677494 by Jules Garnett  |
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#1662515 by Not Available. |
| | | Asphyxia I ()
Two detectives, Laura and Charlie, solve murders of two young men who were asphyxiated.
#1653862 by Lisa |
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#1315836 by Not Available. |
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#1137917 by Not Available. |
Now, consider adding your sleuthing skills to this intriguing mystery, submitted to our Newsletter "...twin brothers (one a police officer) on oposite sides of the law, but one opf them is framed. The question is, who did it, and why?" by alockwood
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Thanks for sharing this exploration of detection with me. I'd like to share before leaving your virtual home, some comments in response to our prior exploration of the 'cozy mystery.' I invite you to visit with the writers here and explore the mysteries they offer for your sleuthing
From: LJPC - the tortoise
Hi Kate!
Wow, what a lot of information about something I'd never heard of before -- the 'cozy' style mystery. It must have taken you quite a while to research and write all that, but it was well worth it. I believe this 'cozy mystery' thing is what most TV series mysteries are, right? Like the "Murder She Wrote" series. There are a bunch of English police shows that are like this, too, and take place in picturesque villages where everyone knows everyone else. I love those. Thanks for all the info -- I never knew it had an actual name or was an actual sub-genre. --
Laura
Thanks for writing, and yes, many of the picturesque series with engaging characters are cozies; although I don't think I'd be able to cozy up to Jessica Fletcher were she to visit my town lest I end up 'Wrote'
From: Budroe
I loved your "cozy" exposition, Kate. Very well done, and so much info! I hope this proves the fuel for many new, wonderful mystery reads!
Thank you for our constant encouragement, my mentor and friend, I look forward to a visit to your portfolio for some enticing mysteries
Until we next meet,
Write On!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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