Mystery Fiction

The Whodunit
Invented by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

Elements of Mystery Fiction /

Detective Stories
Creepy Settings
Forests or desolate
natural places
Dark places or nighttime atmospheres
Run-down buildings

Elements of Mystery Fiction /

Detective Stories
Mysterious Characters
Super detectives as
protagonistscan
solve crimes the
police cant
Detectives friend often
serves as narrator
Criminals as
antagonists

Elements of Mystery Fiction /

Detective Stories

Suspenseful Plots
Crime is committed (usually murder)
Suspects are identified and investigated
Expert detective examines evidence,
deduces solution
Solution is revealed to the characters
and reader

Elements of Mystery Fiction /

Detective Stories

Specialized Themes
Good will triumph over evil.
The truth will always come
out.
People get their just rewards.
Crime doesnt pay.
Even the smallest detail is
important.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Born 1859 in Scotland
Studied Medicine and became a
doctor in 1885
Began writing in 1887, A Study in
Scarlet 1st Sherlock Holmes story
Wrote dozens of Sherlock Holmes
stories for the Strand magazine
Killed off Sherlock Holmes in 1893
because he was tired of writing
that kind of fiction
Brought Holmes back ten years
later due to fan outrage
Knighted in 1902 by Edward VII

Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes Fiction
A Study in Scarlet (1887)
The Sign of Four (1890)
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1893)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)
The Valley of Fear (1915)
His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of
Sherlock Holmes (1917)
Case-book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)

Other Works
Fiction
The White Company (1891)
The Great Shadow (1892)
The Lost World (1912)
The Poison Belt (1913)
Non-Fiction
The Great Boer War (1900)
The War in South Africa: Its
Cause and Conduct (1902)
The British Campaign in France
and Flanders (1916-1920)

Sherlock Holmes
Amateur Detective
Based on Dr. Joseph Bell
Solves crimes by using
deductionlooks at clues
Knowledgeable in Chemistry,
Botany (poisons), Criminal
cases, Anatomy
Can tell where people are from
and what their occupation is by
looking at them

Sherlock Holmes
Plays the violin badly
Smokes pipe & at times, opium
When goes out wears a
deerstalking cap and cape
Partner is Dr. Watson, also
believed to be a real person
Chief antagonist is Dr. Moriarty
Avoids romantic attachments
Excerpt from A Study in Scarlet

Website

http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk/

The Hound of the

Baskervilles
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Terms
Clueanything that serves to guide or
direct in the solution of a problem, mystery,
etc
Red Herringsomething that diverts
attention from the actual facts of a case; a
misleading clue
Motivereasons to commit the crime
Meansresources to commit the crime
Opportunitychances to commit the crime

The Hound of the Baskervilles:

anatomy of a best-seller
It combines a detective novel with a horror story, bounding along with a
ferocious beast, an escaped convict, a villain, even a damsel in distress.
It contrasts reality with the supernatural, pitting good against the forces of evil
The story was conceived in April 1901 while Conan Doyle was on a golfing
holiday with his friend Robinson in Dartmoor.
It was based on an ancient folk tale concerning
It combines a savage dog stalking the
countryside. Robinsons family home was on the southern edge of Dartmoor,
where legends involving black dogs abound, and so one of english literatures
classic stories was born, with a demon beast seemingly pursuing a personal

vendetta against successive owners of Baskerville Hall.

Dartmoor was a wild, primitive, prehistoric landscape where thick mist
descended. There was even a rocky granite outcrop named Hound Tor,
all perfect material for a tale involving a vast and mysterious place.
The story speeds up towards a dramatic climax with Watsons vivid
account of the appearance of the hound in pursuit of Sir Henry
Baskerville.