Inverted detective story

Last updated

An inverted detective story, also known as a "howcatchem", is a murder mystery fiction structure in which the commission of the crime is shown or described at the beginning, [1] usually including the identity of the perpetrator. [2] The story then describes the detective's attempt to solve the mystery. [1] There may also be subsidiary puzzles, such as why the crime was committed, and they are explained or resolved during the story.

Contents

This format is the opposite of the more typical "whodunit", where all of the details of the perpetrator of the crime are not revealed until the story's climax. The first such story was R. Austin Freeman's The Case of Oskar Brodski published in Pearson's Magazine in 1912. [3] The television series Columbo is one of the best-known example of this genre.

Origin

R. Austin Freeman described how he invented the inverted detective story in his 1912 collection of short stories The Singing Bone .

Some years ago I devised, as an experiment, an inverted detective story in two parts. The first part was a minute and detailed description of a crime, setting forth the antecedents, motives, and all attendant circumstances. The reader had seen the crime committed, knew all about the criminal, and was in possession of all the facts. It would have seemed that there was nothing left to tell. But I calculated that the reader would be so occupied with the crime that he would overlook the evidence. And so it turned out. The second part, which described the investigation of the crime, had to most readers the effect of new matter. [1] [4] [5] [6]

This was perhaps more common by the 1930s. Ngaio Marsh included a foreword on the subject in her 1935 novel Enter a Murderer .

When I showed this manuscript to my friend, Chief Detective-Inspector Alleyn of the Criminal Investigation Department, he said:

"It's a perfectly good account of the Unicorn case, but isn't it usual in detective stories to conceal the identity of the criminal?"

I looked at him coldly.

"Hopelessly vieux jeu, my dear Alleyn. Nowadays the identity of the criminal is always revealed in the early chapters."

"In that case," he said, "I congratulate you."

I was not altogether delighted.

Examples

One early and prominent example of this subgenre is Malice Aforethought , written in 1931 by Anthony Berkeley Cox writing as Francis Iles. Freeman Wills Crofts's The 12:30 from Croydon (1934) is another important instance.

Thriller film Dial M for Murder. Dial M For Murder.jpg
Thriller film Dial M for Murder .

The 1952 BBC television play Dial M for Murder by Frederick Knott (later adapted for the stage and then adapted again in 1954 as a theatrical film by Alfred Hitchcock) is another example. Tony Wendice outlines his plans to murder his wife Margot in the opening scenes, leaving the viewer with no questions about perpetrator or motive, only with how the situation will be resolved. In Alfred Bester's 1953 novel, The Demolished Man , the reader learns in the first chapter that Ben Reich plans to murder a man; the rest of the novel is concerned with whether he will get away with it.

The 1954 American film Dragnet uses this format as the viewer witnesses the killing of a small-time hoodlum and watches as police led by Sergeant Joe Friday work to apprehend the man's killer and the criminal leader at its heart.

The short stories written by William Edward "Roy" Vickers about the Department of Dead Ends are nearly all of the inverted type. They deal with the eccentric methods used by Inspector Rason, a detective in a fictional division of Scotland Yard assigned to investigate cold cases, to solve crimes where more conventional methods have failed.

Several of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels by Dorothy Sayers, such as Unnatural Death and Strong Poison , come near to inclusion in this category. In both books, there is from the start only one real suspect, whose guilt is more or less taken for granted by the middle of the book and who indeed turns out to be the murderer. In both books—as in some other Sayers detective novels, including her last, Busman's Honeymoon , the mystery to be solved is mainly, "why did this person have any motive to commit this murder" and "how did he or she do it" (which makes this format more similar to the majority of police investigations). Also, the short story "The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers" had the villain not only discovered, but dead at the beginning. Lord Peter explained his investigation in detail, complete to the villain's stumbling into a vat of cyanide-and-copper-sulphate electroplating solution.

The term "howcatchem" was coined much later, by Philip MacDonald in 1963. [7] It later became more widely used in the 1970s, most commonly to refer to the United States television series Columbo, perhaps the best-known example of this genre. [8]

The 1989 theatrical play Over My Dead Body , by Michael Sutton and Anthony Fingleton, depicts three elderly detective story writers committing a real-life locked room murder in Rube Goldbergian fashion. The audience is in on it every step of the way. In a variation of the typical inverted form, in this case the miscreants want to be caught and made to pay their debt to society.

In the 1990s, some episodes of Diagnosis: Murder were presented in the howcatchem format, usually when featuring a "big name" (or at least recognizable) guest star. TV shows Monk , Criminal Minds , and Law & Order: Criminal Intent have frequently featured episodes structured as howcatchems, in which the viewer typically witnesses the killer commit the crime (during which the killer's identity is revealed to the audience), and then watches as the detectives try to solve it. (In at least one Monk episode, they had to prove that a crime has been committed). The shows have also used the whodunit format at times. The British television crime series Luther also made regular use of the inverted detective story structure. [1]

The TV show Motive uses this format exclusively (hence the title). Each episode begins with scenes introducing and revealing the killer and the victim, and the rest of the episode shows the aftermath and the investigation before revealing the circumstances surrounding the murder.

The first two seasons of the TV show The Sinner can be considered a howcatchem. In each case there are either multiple witnesses or incontrovertible physical evidence that the suspect committed the crime. Instead, the investigation involves teasing out the complicated backstory and motives for the crime.

Both Poker Face and Elsbeth are modern takes on the genre. [9]

In the film Sheriff (2024), directed by Syafiq Yusof, the howcatchem concept is used instead of the usual "on his first try"[ clarification needed ] by revealing the Meth Killer (portrayed by Syafiq Kyle) right away in the trailer. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detective fiction</span> Subgenre of crime and mystery fiction

Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, Kogoro Akechi, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whodunit</span> Type of detective story

A whodunit is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the clues to the case, from which the identity of the perpetrator may be deduced before the story provides the revelation itself at its climax. The investigation is usually conducted by an eccentric, amateur, or semi-professional detective.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime fiction</span> Genre of fiction focusing on crime

Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, often a murder. Most crime drama focuses on criminal investigation and does not feature the courtroom. Suspense and mystery are key elements that are nearly ubiquitous to the genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Locked-room mystery</span> Subgenre of detective fiction

The "locked-room" or "impossible crime" mystery is a type of crime seen in crime and detective fiction. The crime in question, typically murder, is committed in circumstances under which it appeared impossible for the perpetrator to enter the crime scene, commit the crime, and leave undetected. The crime in question typically involves a situation whereby an intruder could not have left; for example the original literal "locked room": a murder victim found in a windowless room locked from the inside at the time of discovery. Following other conventions of classic detective fiction, the reader is normally presented with the puzzle and all of the clues, and is encouraged to solve the mystery before the solution is revealed in a dramatic climax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mystery fiction</span> Fiction genre involving characters investigating and solving a mystery

Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime. The central character is often a detective, who eventually solves the mystery by logical deduction from facts presented to the reader. Some mystery books are non-fiction. Mystery fiction can be detective stories in which the emphasis is on the puzzle or suspense element and its logical solution such as a whodunit. Mystery fiction can be contrasted with hardboiled detective stories, which focus on action and gritty realism.

<i>Columbo</i> American crime drama television film series

Columbo is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC from 1971 to 1978 as one of the rotating programs of The NBC Mystery Movie. Columbo then aired on ABC as a rotating program on The ABC Mystery Movie from 1989 to 1990, and on a less frequent basis from 1990 to 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of crime fiction</span>

Crime fiction is a typically 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century genre, dominated by British and American writers. This article explores its historical development as a genre.

<i>The 12.30 from Croydon</i> 1934 novel by Freeman Wills Crofts

The 12.30 from Croydon is a detective novel by Freeman Wills Crofts first published in 1934. It is about a murder which is committed during a flight over the English Channel. The identity of the killer is revealed quite early in the book, and the reader can watch the preparations for the crime and how the murderer tries to cover up his tracks. The final chapters of the novel are set in a courtroom and during a private function at a hotel, where a résumé of the whole case is given in front of a small group of police detectives, solicitors, and barristers.

<i>The Judge and His Hangman</i> 1950 novel by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

The Judge and His Hangman is a 1950 novel by the Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt. It was first published in English in 1954 in a translation by Cyrus Brooks, and later in a translation by Therese Pol. A new translation by Joel Agee appeared in 2006, published together with the book's sequel, Suspicion, as The Inspector Bärlach Mysteries, with a foreword by Sven Birkerts. Together with Dürrenmatt's The Pledge: Requiem for the Detective Novel, these stories are considered classics of crime fiction, fusing existential philosophy and the detective genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Age of Detective Fiction</span> Era of murder mystery novels

The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s. The Golden Age proper is in practice usually taken to refer to a type of fiction which was predominant in the 1920s and 1930s but had been written since at least 1911 and is still being written today.

Roderick Alleyn is a fictional character who first appeared in 1934. He is the policeman hero of the 32 detective novels of Ngaio Marsh. Marsh and her gentleman detective belong firmly in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, although the last Alleyn novel, Light Thickens, was published in 1982.

<i>The Pledge: Requiem for the Detective Novel</i>

The Pledge is a crime novella by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt, published in 1958, after Dürrenmatt thought that his previous movie script, Es geschah am hellichten Tag did not have a realistic ending. The film's star, the popular actor Heinz Rühmann, had insisted that Dürrenmatt collaborate with the screenwriter Hans Jacoby, and the story had an ending in line with that of a typical detective story. Dürrenmatt, however, was a critic of that genre of literature, and thus he set out to write Das Versprechen as an expression of that criticism. Although it has been absent from some subsequent editions of the novella, the title of the original edition included the telling subtitle Requiem for the Detective Novel.

<i>A Mysterious Affair of Style</i> 2007 novel by Gilbert Adair

A Mysterious Affair of Style is a whodunit mystery novel by British writer Gilbert Adair, first published in 2007. A homage to the Golden Age of Detective Fiction in general and Agatha Christie in particular, the novel is a sequel to Adair's 2006 book, The Act of Roger Murgatroyd.

<i>A Man Lay Dead</i> 1934 detective novel by Ngaio Marsh

A Man Lay Dead is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh; it is the first novel to feature Roderick Alleyn, and was first published in 1934. The plot concerns a murder committed during a detective game of murder at a weekend party in a country house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gong'an fiction</span> Chinese crime fiction subgenre

Gong'an or crime-case fiction is a subgenre of Chinese crime fiction involving government magistrates who solve criminal cases. Gong'an fiction first appeared in the colloquial stories of Song dynasty. Gong'an fiction was then developed and become one of the most popular fiction styles in Ming and Qing dynasties. The Judge Dee and Judge Bao stories are the best known examples of the genre.

<i>Armchair Detectives</i> 2017 British TV series or programme

Armchair Detectives is a British gameshow whodunnit series that debuted in 2017. The show was commissioned for BBC One Daytime and is produced by Tiger Aspect Productions. Hosted by Susan Calman, the series is produced by Carly Brooks and Daniel Twist executive produced by Andy Brereton. The show follows in the footsteps of other similar shows, including Whodunnit? (1972–78), Cluedo (1990–93) and Sleuth 101 (2010). In November 2018, the series won a BAFTA Scotland award for Best Entertainment series.

<i>Antidote to Venom</i> 1938 novel

Antidote to Venom is a 1938 detective novel by the Irish-born novelist Freeman Wills Crofts. It is the eighteenth in his series of novels featuring Inspector French, a Scotland Yard detective known for his methodical technique. It was reissued in 2015 by the British Library Publishing as part of a group of crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

<i>Death at the Club</i> 1937 novel

Death at the Club is a 1937 detective novel by the British writer Cecil Street, writing under the pen name of Miles Burton. It is the fifteenth in a series of books featuring the amateur detective Desmond Merrion and Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard. It was published in the United States by Doubleday the same year under the alternative title The Clue of the Fourteen Keys. It takes the form of both a locked room mystery and a closed circle of suspects, both popular branches of the genre during the decade.

<i>The Losing Game</i> 1941 novel

The Losing Game is a 1941 detective novel by the Anglo-Irish writer Freeman Wills Crofts. It is the twenty second in his series of novels featuring the Golden Age detective Inspector French of Scotland Yard. It was published in the United States by Dodd, Mead under the alternative title A Losing Game.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Orlebar, Jeremy (2013). The Television Handbook. Routledge. p. 216. ISBN   9781136655555 . Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  2. ↑ Seigneuret, Jean-Charles (1988). Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs . Greenwood Publishing Group. p.  381. ISBN   9780313263965 . Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Kemp, Sandra; Mitchell, Charlotte; Trotter, David (1997). "Freeman Richard Austin (1862-1943)". Edwardian Fiction: An Oxford Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 142. ISBN   978-0-19-811760-5 . Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  4. ↑ This is a quote from an essay by Freeman entitled "The Art of the Detective Story Archived 2007-07-07 at the Wayback Machine ", which appeared e.g. in Dr. Thorndyke's Crime File (1941).
  5. ↑ Shead, Jackie (2015). Margaret Atwood: Crime Fiction Writer: The Reworking of a Popular Genre. Ashgate Publishing. p. 7. ISBN   9781472450630.
  6. ↑ Queen, Ellery (1951). Queen's Quorum: A History of the Detective-crime Short Story as Revealed in the 106 Most Important Books Published in this Field Since 1845. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. pp. 62–63. ISBN   9780819602299.
  7. ↑ MacDonald, Philip (1963). Three for Midnight. Crime Club. Murder Gone Mad as a tale of mass-murder, half Whodunit and half (to use a label of my own coining) Howcatchem.
  8. ↑ Jones, Paul Anthony (2021-05-18). "Howcatchem". Haggard Hawks. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  9. ↑ Bianculli, David (2024-02-28). "In the mood for a sweet, off-beat murder mystery? Elsbeth is on the case". NPR. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  10. ↑ Yusof, Syafiq [@syafiqyusof] (2024-03-24). "Filem ini tidak menggunakan konsep "Whodunnit" yg selalu kita tonton dalam filem genre misteri. Filem ini berkonsepkan "Reverse Whodunnit" atau lebih dikenali sebagai "Howcatchem" Penonton sudah tahu siapa pembunuh, tapi bagaimana dia akan ditangkap?" (Tweet) (in Malay). Retrieved 2024-04-28– via Twitter.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.