Mastery of Mystery Fiction:
Is there such a thing as an unconquerable riddle?
Crime writing is a great place to test skills - both in coming up with the riddle as well as solving it.
To whet your appetites - get your brainiac caps on and try this real life example out for size.
"2 Girls went out to lunch together and ordered cool refreshing iced tea to chat over. The first girl was hot and thirsty and managed to drink 5 glasses in a row, while the second girl took her time to enjoy her beverage.
After a while the second girl gets up feeling rather dizzy - fumbles her way to the ladies - Unfortunately she collapses and dies - her drink was poisoned. The police tested and found both glasses contained traces of strychnine. - So how come the first girl who drank 5 glasses didn't die?
( Answer at the bottom of the page)
Edward Elgar wrote a message to a secret lover way back in 1897 - it was important that it couldn't be read by anyone except his love - because it would have causes an out right national scandal - the only problem - was neither his lover could understand.. Can you??
Let’s start with a spot of mystery history…
Take a guess: Who is the world's most translated author? One might assume that it's a literary titan, perhaps Shakespeare or Charles Dickens. But according to UNESCO's database of book translations, the honor goes to none other than Agatha Christie! In fact, the queen of mystery has had her books translated into a wapping 103 languages! Her 80-some works comprise a huge contribution to a genre with a long and mysterious history…
We’re not starting with Poe, as you might expect, but in 5th century BC, with Herodotus. His tale of the robber whose headless body was found in a sealed stone chamber with only one guarded exit was as mysterious as they come! Thought to be the first locked-room mystery tale, Herodotus conjures a narrative that makes the crime seem impossible until the riddle is solved at the end of the story.
Although this is a puzzle story and there were many more like it of the era, most people agree that the first modern detective story is indeed ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ by Edgar Allan Poe.
First published in 1841, the short story tells the tale of an amateur detective who sets out to solve the grisly murders of a mother and daughter within a locked room of their apartment on the Rue Morgue. Here is an excerpt from this tricksy tale:
“At such times I could not help remarking and admiring (although from his rich ideality I had been prepared to expect it) a peculiar analytic ability in Dupin. He seemed, too, to take an eager delight in its exercise—if not exactly in its display—and did not hesitate to confess the pleasure thus derived. He boasted to me, with a low chuckling laugh, that most men, in respect to himself, wore windows in their bosoms, and was wont to follow up such assertions by direct and very startling proofs of his intimate knowledge of my own. His manner at these moments was frigid and abstract; his eyes were vacant in expression; while his voice, usually a rich tenor, rose into a treble which would have sounded petulantly but for the deliberateness and entire distinctness of the enunciation. Observing him in these moods, I often dwelt meditatively upon the old philosophy of the Bi-Part Soul, and amused myself with the fancy of a double Dupin—the creative and the resolvent.”
This paragraph perfectly sets up the detective, detailing Dupin’s almost superhuman analytical abilities. The reader becomes equally as fascinated with the sleuth's intelligence and deductive powers as the first person narrator appears to be. And this was the birth of the fictional amateur detective…
⭐ NEWS FLASH ⭐
Have we inspired you yet??? Is this YOUR subject??
While it's hot in your head - why not make a few plot notes - spy a few characters and make a short detective story...
AND...that way you get two positives out of this blog not just one..
Because you just might become the overall
Winner of the Hi2020.co.uk Short Story Competition.
Unlike most competitions - we want to make a collection of short stories from 20 lucky winners - bound into a beautiful luscious coffee table style book.
Plus a professionally read podcast of the winning stories. Winners will also receive extensive coverage across our social media channels, which can boost their career as a writer.
Sounds good, doesn’t it?
Well - hurry and log onto
You story needs to be original and between 1000 and 1500 words, written in English
from among the following given topics：
Adventure/travel
Thriller/Dark
Romance
Science/Fantasy
District Categories - which means you have a better chance of getting selected:
Three County Challenge (Bucks, Herts & London)
UK Challenge (British Isles and Northern Ireland)
11yrs - 18 yrs Challenge (UK- British isles and Northern Ireland)
So what are you waiting for…??? Get writing...
We even have help at hand with a luscious
How To Write Short Stories Bookazine
...including writers’ aids - especially to help you unravel the plot intricacies and character development.
<<<Purchase your Entry Form here >>>
⭐⭐HURRY!... ENTRIES DUE BY 20TH JULY⭐⭐
Now we have had our little break - back to…
The magic of Mystery Fiction
Nearly twenty years after Poe’s story, Wilkie Collins published The Woman in White (1859), which is considered the first longer form mystery novel, and later The Moonstone (1868), generally considered the first detective novel.The Woman in White is a gripping tale of murder, madness and mistaken identity that is so beloved it has never been out of print! The Moonstone then set the standards for the detective novel formula – an enormous diamond is stolen from a Hindu temple and resurfaces at a birthday party in an English manor. With numerous narrators and numerous suspects, the story weaves its way through superstitions, romance, humour and suspicion to eventually solve the tricky puzzle for the reader.
Pioneering Authors who changed the face of Mystery Fiction
Authors such as Pauline E. Hopkins, John Edward Bruce, Rudolph Fisher, Chester Hirnes, Ishmael Reed, and Clarence Major were the first African American writers to write detective novels with black detectives, members of the police force, and amateur sleuths. These authors established a tradition of detective writing that has laid the groundwork for many new mystery fiction writers today.In 1932, Rudolph Fisher, a member of the Harlem Renaissance, published ‘The Conjure Man Dies’, which is considered to have been the first-ever black detective novel. In this mysterious story, Perry Dart works with a doctor named Archer to solve the case of the murdered conjure man, Frimbo. ‘The Conjure Man Dies’ combines elements of the classical locked room mystery with Harlem Renaissance themes.
One of our favourite parts of the text is the use of musical refrains - these give the reader very subtle clues as to what might unfold in the story through the lyrics that can be overheard on the city streets. The blues tells us:
“I’ll be glad when you’re dead, you rascal you
I’ll be glad when you’re dead and gone, you rascal you.
What is it that you’ve got
Makes my wife think you’re so hot?
Oh you dog – I’ll be glad when you’re gone.”
This song drifts in and out of the text a number of times and sounds a little hint to the reader that this complex tale might in fact play out as a story of sexual jealousy- such a clever clue!
Have you ever thought about using music in your mystery fiction? It can be the perfect device to lay a breadcrumb trail for a wise reader to follow!
Fancy yourself a detective like Perry Dart or Dupin?
Answer - The poison was frozen in the ice cubes - they didn't have time to melt with the first girl's drink.
Now it's your turn
Do you have an unconquerable riddle?
Using just 10 words - make up a riddle - (can be about anything)
Now it's your turn
Do you have an unconquerable riddle?
Using just 10 words - make up a riddle - (can be about anything)
Now post your riddle in the comments below - and share the post as many times as possible.
The riddle with the most attempts to crack your code will win the first hot off the press signed- beautiful copy hardback and jacketed copy of I'am a Gigolo - posted to your front door. (UK & USA)
(Ends Next Thursday - 11th June)
The winner and their riddle will be announced Thursday 11th June on our Instagram & Facebook: @happylondonpress
Happy riddling sleuths!
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