Harrison Pauer

Professor Linda Haas

Writing 39B
8 June 2014
What makes the Detective Genre Unique?
What elements have made the Detective Genre one of the most successful genres
for over a century and half? Is it the action, adventure, comedy, and mystery? These
elements are very common in the detective genre, but these elements are not unique to the
detective genre. Readers can find these elements in any genre. If a reader were to pick
up a book that followed the action genre, the reader would find action, adventure,
mystery, and the occasional humor. The action genre may not enforce some of these
elements as much as the detective genre, but the action genre will still have these
elements as part of its story. These elements are just associated with good fiction, but the
detective genre is fundamentally different from every other genre in its ability to connect
and affect the reader.
The detective genre is able to connect to the reader in a numerous ways, but the
most fundamental way the detective genre connects to reader is through the puzzle that
the detective genre creates. George Dove, a literary scholar, explains the unique
interaction between the detective genre and the reader in his book, The Reader and The
Detective Story. In Doves first Chapter, The Different Story, Dove begins by discussing
other scholars opinions on the detective genre starting with the puzzle. Dove states that
Howard Haycraft, a literary scholar, recognized that the reader cannot be excluded from
the definition of the tale of detection. (1). Later in the chapter, Dove uses R. Austin
Freeman, writer of the Dr. Thorndyke stories, as evidence to prove that the detective
genre [is]. . . an exhibition of mental gymnastics, in which the reader is invited to take
part, (2). Dove goes deeper into explanation of puzzle by using ideas from literary
scholar Hans-Georg Gadamer. Dove paraphrases Gadamaer and states, Play [in the
detective genre] is, moreover, free of stress; it may involve considerable effort, but it is
what would in the 1990s be called a no sweat experience. (17). Literary scholar,
Maria Konnikova, agrees with Dove that the detective genre is designed to act as a puzzle
for the reader, but Konnikova says the effects from reading a novel from the detective
genre has a much more profound effect on the reader. Konnikova discusses the detective
genre in her book Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes. Konnikova
suggests that people get stuck in daily routines and no longer reflect on actions they
make, and people get caught in an escapable cycle, where it is almost impossible to
deviate from. (4). According to Konnikova, All too often, when it comes to our minds,
we are surprisingly mindless. We sail on, blithely unaware of how much we are missing,
of how little we grasp of our own thought processand how much better we could be if
only wed taken the time to understand and reflect. (Konnikova 4) Konnikova believes
that the puzzle gives the reader mental relief. However, Dove believes the reader gets a
sense of mental relief not from doing the puzzle, but the readers gain mental relief from
the structure of the detective genre.
Later in Doves chapter, A Different Story, Dove forms his own thesis about
the uniqueness of the detective genre, which is the structure set by the detective genre. In
one of Doves main points, he states, the reading of detective fiction is governed by the
hermeneutic structure to a greater degree than are the other genres. (18). Dove states
that other genres have gaps called blanks to create interest for the reader, but sometimes
these blanks lead to nowhere. However, in the detective genre, every blank serves a
purpose that will later be exposed at some point in the novel. (7). Dove states, What we
retain from these repetitions, of course, is a structure for future thematic developments.
Thus, for the reader experienced in the genre, no reading is completely "new," and in this
sense, every reading is a rereading. (6). Dove believes that the reliable structure allows
the reader to face a challenge without acquiring any stress any stress because the reader
already knows what is going to happen. (7). Panek also agrees that the structure of the
detective genre has a great impact on the reader, but Panek believes that the structure of
the detective and the detectives ability to solve the unsolvable has a more profound
impact on the reader than the plot structure of the detective genre. Panek discusses the
conventions of the detective genre and the success of the detective genre in the Victorian
Era in his book An Introduction to the Detective Genre. In one of Paneks chapters
titled Doyle, Panek states Doyle makes a great deal out of Holmes as a thinking
machine and puts particular stress on the detectives employment of strict
methodology, (91). Panek states that Holmess overwhelming ability to use
rationalism and science to solve crimes despite how impossible they may seem, the
detective ought really to depend for his success on something in his own mind and
not on merely adventitious circumstances which do not, by any means, always occur
in real life. (Panek 77) Despite how impossible a crime may seem, the detective
will be able to solve it, and this idea is exactly what every reader believes when they
read a novel from the detective genre. The ability of the detective to solve the
unsolvable can be seen in several novels; for example, in the short story, The Man
With the Twisted Lip, Conan Doyle writes about Sherlock Holmes using his detective
tools to find where the blackmail against the King of Bohemia is located. According to
Conan Doyle, . . . [Sherlock hopes] to find a clue in the incoherent ramblings of these
sots, as I have before now. (1). However, Konnikova believes the most important part
of the detective genre structure is the lesson it can teach.
Christopher Keep, literary scholar, writes in his book, Addiction, Empire, and
Narrative in Arthur Conan Doyles The Sign of Four, that addiction, racial stereotypes,
and the British Empire are represented in The Sign of the Four. Keep that Holmes is a
representation of the British Empire during the peak of its power. (211). Konnikova
agrees with Panek in that the detective will always solve the crime somehow in the end,
and she believes that Holmes is much more than just a character. However, Konnikova
wants to expand on the structure of Holmes even further; Konnikova wants the reader
learn from the detective and try to solve the crime before the detective. Konnikova
believes that we follow the Watson system of thinking, and she believes that we should
strive for the Holmes style of thinking. (18). Konnikova states, By observing Holmes
in action, we will become better at observing our own minds. (22). Konnikova believes
that if readers try to think like Sherlock Holmes on a daily basis, they will be able to
think like Sherlock Holmes. Konnikova states, with practice your mind will see that the
constant observation and never-ending scrutiny will become easier. . . . It will become, as
it is to Sherlock Holmes, second nature. Konnikova believes that the reader will not
only enjoy reading a Sherlock Holmes book, but Konnikova believes that the reader can
learn from Sherlock Holmes. Christopher Keep, literary scholar, writes in his book,
Addiction, Empire, and Narrative in Arthur Conan Doyles The Sign of Four. that
Holmes is a representation of the British Empire during the peak of its power.
(211).
There several parts of the detective genre that makes it unique. However, one of
the most distinguishable characteristics of the detective genre is its ability to connect to
the reader. The detective genre is able to present a puzzle to its readers that will not only
challenge the reader and give the reader mental relief from solving the puzzle. Also, the
structure of the detective genre is universally the same, so the reader will always get a
chance to try to solve the crime before the detective. The structure of the detective gives
the reader the idea that no matter how impossible a situation looks, it can still be solved
using observation and deduction. There is no other fiction that can teach a lesson like the
detective genre.












Works Cited
Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Man with the Twisted Lip. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 June 2014.
Dove, George N. The Reader and the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling
Green State University Popular Press, 1997. Print.
Keep, Christopher and Don Randall. Addiction, Empire, and Narrative in Arthur
Conan Doyles The Sign of Four. NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction 32:2 (1999):
207-221. JSTOR. Web. 01/15/2014.
Konnikova, Maria. Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes. New York:
Viking, 2013. Print.
Panek, Leroy. An Introduction to the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling
Green State University Popular Press, 1987. Print.