EPUBBING with NICOLA FURLONG

In previous posts, we’ve discussed the history of the mystery novel and are now identifying the FOUR ELEMENTARY clues that help us understand this genre’s perennial popularity.

We’ve already put the magnifying glass over our first two clues:

Clue 1: The Shocking Out of Place Body, and
Clue 2: The Challenge of the Puzzle.

Now, it’s time to examine the final pair:

CLUE 3: The Affirmation of the Sanctity of Human Life

Each of us believes that our life is important and that no one has the right to end it before time…and rightly so. It’s comforting to know that crime fiction confirms our belief in the sanctity of human life.

In a detective novel, it doesn’t matter if the murder victim was a queen or a prostitute; if her death is suspicious, it is thoroughly investigated by the police, the amateur dick or the avenging angel.

Of course, the goal is to catch and punish the guilty and to restore justice.

At least, it is for most crime writers. There are some, however, who challenge this tenet, like Minette Walters and Walter Mosley.


Even some of the oldies, like Conan Doyle and Christie, offered a storyline or two where the ‘guilty party’ wasn’t brought officially to book. I believe the very fact that these ‘other suitable endings’ exist strengthens the whole concept of moral rightness.





CLUE 4: The Return to Order from Disorder

By the end of a mystery novel, the world which had suddenly gone mad almost returns to normal and right is restored.

This is important for as we know, life goes on. But it’s not the same as it was before the horrific crime. How can it be? Someone’s been murdered and the killer has been captured and punished.



So, with the puzzle solved, the murderer revealed and paying a penalty, the natural balance of life is restored and our dear reader closes the book with a satisfied thump.



Given all this, the real mystery is why we wondered about the popularity of crime / detective fiction in the first place?

In our previous posts we’ve investigated the ‘mystery novel’ crime scene. What evidence have we uncovered to help us discover the perennial popularity of this type of genre fiction?

Ah, here are the FOUR elemetary clues:

CLUE 1: The Shocking Out of Place Body

W.H. Auden was first on the scene by observing that there is potential for more horror in one single body on the drawing room floor, than in a dozen, bullet-riddled bodies down a large city’s mean streets.

That’s because it’s personal. We know the individual sprawled on the carpet.

The impact is always greater when it’s brought home to your own doorstep.

Why do you think the suspect in Murder She Wrote is always related to the main character, Jessica Fletcher?

Or why the serial killer, in any number of books like Dexter, Silence of the Lambs or The Bone Collector, always taunts and targets the protagonist or their family and friends?

If the writer has been successful, the reader cares deeply for and is emotionally connected to the protag, so any attack that hurts the main character is felt vicerally by the audience (at least, that’s the goal!).

CLUE 2: The Challenge of the Puzzle

Everyone loves a mystery, right? We all delight in being puzzled, challenged, intrigued and sometimes even friggin’ scared.

That’s because of the enduring allure of the unknown and our unending desire to know it. It’s just our basic human curiosity.

Okay. You’re in the interview room, the big light’s in your eyes and the detective’s questions keep on coming.

It’s confession time.

Admit it: you delight in trying to outwit the gumshoe and discover whodunit first. Some of you can’t stand the suspense and even read the ending first (horrors!), just to get the anguish over with!

After all, bragging rights are on the line!

So, the mystery of the perennial popularity of crime fiction is partially solved.

Two clues down, a pair to go. What might they be…

Guess you’ll just have to wait for the final post in this series.

Better yet, why not offer your suggestions?

Though its origins seem to be the British Isles, the mystery scene hopped across the Pacific into the US in the thirties and forties and was embraced by tough-talking private dicks.

Since then, the mystery scene has gone global and the plot just keeps getting thicker.



There are sleuths of all descriptions—even cats, quadriplegics, and Queen Elizabeth the second—and enough DNA and forensic evidence to choke a morgue full of coroners.

In today’s crime novels, however, the detective is explored as much as the crime. His or her personal life comes into play, colouring, sometimes muddying, the murder investigation. And the ultimate crime takes a serious toll on everyone affected.





In other words, it’s lot more like real life.



Not only are mysteries being written all over the world, they now explore an amazing variety of themes. And the writing styles range from crisp and hard as a revolver’s butt, to lyrical and smooth as a black mask.


If you want humour, nature, excitement or romance, there’s a whodunit for you. Seeking tragedy, passion, or insight into the human condition? Grab a good crime story and fill your gumshoes.





So, we’ve investigated the crime scene. What evidence have we uncovered to help us understand its perennial popularity?

The answer’s elementary, my dear Watson, as you’ll see in the next post.

(And thanks to my fellow Canadian crime writers for their cover pics.)

So, we know mysteries and mystery writing is incredibly popular. We also know that the first crime fiction originated and prospered in the UK in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The British whodunits had a charming ‘stiff upper lip’ genteel style where, on the surface at least, everyone had lovely manners and no blood or violence ever marred the pages.

But that was about to change when detective fiction went global, starting with a new wave across the pond, along the mean streets of America.

The Private Dick

Post World War II introduced a new character from the United States, the private dick, a hard-boiled, smart-talking fallen angel from the Underwood typewriters of giants like Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and James M Cain.

These tough-guy outcasts—and they were always guys—gave as good as they got, skirting the lines of morality while usually solving the mystery at their personal expense.

The dialogue was snappy, the women voluptuous and the whiskey sour.

But that was just the start of the explosive global growth in the interest in murder, crime writing and detective fiction. C.S.I., anyone?

We’ll leave that for our next posting.

(And thanks to Islander Books for the vintage cover pic.)