Today, in honor of the contest below, my TT is all about mysteries and mystery writing.
Thirteen Things About The Mystery Genre
1. Mysteries as we know them, weren’t available to the reading public until Edgar Allen Poe introduced his fictional detective, Auguste C. Dupin in 1841.
2. His book, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, is an example of a locked room mystery. This is where the murder victim is discovered inside a sealed enclosure of some description.
3. Katherine Anne Green became the first woman to write and publish a detective mystery in 1878. Her book featured a detective who investigated a murder that occurred within a small group of people.
4. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduced Sherlock Holmes and his friend Doctor Watson in 1887.
5. The golden age of mystery fiction arrived in the 1920s.
6. Agatha Christie is probably the most famous mystery writer with 50 plus books to her name.
7. Police procedurals entered the market in the 1940s.
8. Some of the most popular mysteries have been written for children such as the Nancy Drew Mysteries, the Hardy Boys, Famous Five and Secret Seven.
9. The mystery genre is a popular one, and there are many subgenres including cozy mysteries, hard-boiled detective, police procedural, whodunits, capers and some mysteries drift toward thrillers.
10. It’s said that the lack of mystery fiction before the 1800s occurred because there was no organized police force.
11. Fictional detectives usually fall into four categories: amateur, private investigator, police detective and forensic specialists.
12. Sherlock Holmes is very popular at present with two television series featuring modern retellings. There is Sherlock and Elementary. Other detectives such as Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Miss Marple have also made our screen.
13. My favorite on screen mystery show is Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries featuring Phryne Fisher. It’s set in the late 1920s and is based on Australian Kerry Greenwood’s books.
Are you a mystery reader, and if so, which type do you prefer? Do you have a favorite series?
Sources: http://kids.mysterynet.com
CONTEST: Whether you’re a mystery reader or not, I hope you’ll enter the Not Your Usual Suspects mystery contest below. Complete the rafflecopter below to enter the draw to win a mystery.