Fashions of story genre come and go, from Science Fiction to Fantasy to Thrillers to Gastronomy to Horror to Adventure. One category which has been popular for ages, for decades and centuries and even millennia, is the Mystery Story. More specific to current times is the mystery story as defined here
Most commonly acknowledged as the first modern mystery story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe and published in the April 1841 issue of Graham’s Magazine, was a class 'locked room' mystery. Wilkie Collins followed with The Woman in White (1859), regarded as the first mystery novel, and then, the famous The Moonstone (1868), which many regard as the very first 'detective Novel'.In a mystery novel, a crime is committed. The crime is commonly a murder, but thefts or kidnappings are also popular. The action of the story revolves around the solution of that crime – determining who did it and why, and ideally achieving some form of justice.
There are many specific subtypes within the mystery genre: police procedurals, hard-boiled detective stories, espionage thrillers, medical or forensic mysteries, cozy mysteries, closed-room mysteries, and courtroom dramas, to name a few. As myriad as they sound, they all sprouted from the same authors and history.
Picture shows a man, wearing a suit, sitting with his legs crossed in what appears to be a comfortably used chair which is part of a plush, richly furnished room. He is smiling and slouched in the chair, casual, flipping a coin in his fingers of his right hand, as he intently watches whatever is going on in front of him (apparently a bit of a distance away). A piano is to the man's immediate left.
In May we celebrate the Mystery Story. You will have the opportunity to discuss your favourite detective or favourite author or even favourite story. You'll also get to speculate upon the different kinds of mysteries there are -- the 'Cosy Crime' locked door mystery (like The Murders in the Rue Morgue) or the Amateur Sleuth.
The different parts of this activity may be found here --
Book Teasers - Mystery Story Mix & Match
Book Teasers - Mystery Story Discussions
Book Teasers - Mystery Story Research
If you have any questions, please write them below or send me a HOL forum PM.
If, in participating in these topics, you find yourself speculating about the different aspects of mystery stories, and wish to do more, please feel free to visit fan fiction, poetry, stories or fan art and share your enthusiasms in them.
Please remember to keep your posts HOL appropriate -- use books which could be within the guidelines (such as the Harry Potter books) and would be good reading for those of us here at HOL Hogwarts.
