Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse: Characteristics Of The English Detective

This mystery follows the escapades of Sam Spade as he hunts for the missing Maltese Falcon, and the killer of his partner. Spade is described as a “Blond Satan” (1). This is not a rather flattering way of describing your protagonist, and Hammett knew this. He knew that when solving crimes, one must place himself into the mind of the criminals to truly understand their reasoning. To do this for a living will take its toll, as Hammett knows all too well from his life as a private detective in L.A. His private eye is gruff, cynical, and drinks far too much alcohol. Spade is known for being far too honest at times saying, “people lose teeth talking like that” (94) when trying to gain information. These are the coping mechanisms that Hammett gives Spade to show his readers the human aspects of him. Spade might not be the most enjoyable company but if you give him a case to solve he will give his all to solving it. This sounds like another brilliant detective from the past. Sir Doyle would understand why Sam Spade is an effective detective just by looking at his habits. Sherlock Holmes and Sam Spade are akin to one another in the fact that they are both fallible humans with a knack for solving mysteries. Hammett is brilliant in the way he uses the influence of perhaps the first hardboiled detective to add a human side to the private eye. This type of writing is far above the caliber expected of a pulp fiction author, and to this day literary scholars site “The Maltese Falcon was vastly ahead of any other work in its weight class.” (Smith, 178) Dashiell Hammett proved the worth of an entire subgenre, and helped the hardboiled detective become a part of American literature. To this day, when people think of the private eye they jump straight to the cliché of a tough man of few words drinking bourbon and hunting down the bad guys in a dark city street. This is

When Gayle Wald wrote, “Sayers’s career writing detective stories effectively ends with Gaudy Night” (108), she did not present a new argument, but continued the tradition that Gaudy Night does not center on the detective story.  Barbara Harrison even labeled Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter/Harriet Vane books, Strong Poison, Gaudy Night, and Busman’s Honeymoon, as “deliriously happy-ending romances” (66).  The label stretches the definition of a romance, but Gaudy Night indeed has very little to do with crime.  Sayers encrypted the real story within her detective novel.  This story behind the story narrates love and human relationships.  In fact, the crimes in Gaudy Night only supply a convenient way for

The main character in the story is Sherlock Holmes; he is the hero of the book, a very important factor in a mystery book. The Victorians would have loved this character because he was not a part of the police force; he was a character that could be relied on, when the police force was so corrupt. Holmes’s life was his job, as the reader gets further into the story; they see that Holmes works for personal satisfaction, ’my profession is its own

Throughout the study of JB Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’, it is easy to identify that there are many points in which this text both conforms and subverts to the conventions of the mystery genre. The author explores the archetypal mystery genre through firstly, the dead body and murder of Eva Smith, as well as the clues and motives that are revealed throughout the investigation. This is further followed by the series of intertwining characters, and the inquiry of their involvement in the death. However, this typical mystery text can be contradicted by the fact that this death was not a murder, but a suicide case, changing the expectations to instead of who killed her, but what were the lead up in events to result in Eva killing herself.

Nearly five decades later, Walter Mosley introduced his detective mystery, Devil in a Blue Dress, which would become a classic amongst hard-boiled literature and would also make it to the big screen. When we look at Mosley’s essay, “Poisonville,” which describes hard-boiled as “a state of being…when a man or a woman, or an entire nation of women and men, is pressed to physical, emotional, economic, and/or intellectual limits…”(Paragraph 1), it can be argued that he carried these ideas over to his novel. With a storyline full of alcohol, corruption, poverty, racial tension, sexual slavery, economic disparity, family conflict, emotional strife, and, yes, the femme fatale, Mosley manages to cover the hard-boiled life at a multitude of levels. As an African American writer, his novel is given a unique perspective and he is able to give us a convincing account of a black protagonist, nicknamed Easy, who struggles financially and evolves from a day laborer to a detective while finding himself surrounded by corrupt money and crime. Easy has settled in L.A. in hopes of pursuing the American Dream and quickly finds himself entangled in a spiraling turn of events full of mystery, deceit and murder. As Mosley’s own description of hard-boiled would have it, Easy struggles with his place in this world and no matter how well he has played the game of life, it is unpredictable and tainted and he is not safe. He is alone, black, and poor and knows that he will never be equal to the

Hard-boiled detective fiction sets the scene for a cold and harsh reality. Dashiell Hammett’s, “The Girl with The Silver Eyes” is no exception to this rule. In this short story Hammett paints a picture of a brutally realistic urban center filled with characters that not many people would want to call friends. The realistic qualities of Hammett’s story are drawn from his own life’s experience working as a Pinkerton detective. The detective in “The Girl With The Silver Eyes” works for the Continental Detective Agency and is, therefore, known simply as the Continental Op. In the beginning of the story the Op professes, “a detective, if he is wise, takes pains to make and keep as many friends as possible among transfer company, express

Readers who have never picked up on the Dashiell Hammett detective novel The Maltese Falcon 1930 or seen the classic 1941 film adaptation, which follows the novel almost verbatim, can feel a strong sense of familiarity, faced for the first time in history. In this book, Hammett invented the hard-boiled private eye genre, introducing many of the elements that readers have come to expect from detective stories: mysterious, attractive woman whose love can be a trap , search for exotic icon that people are willing to kill the detective, who plays both sides of the law, to find the truth , but it is ultimately driven by a strong moral code , and shootings and beatings enough for readers to share the feeling of danger Detective . For decades , countless writers have copied the themes and motifs Hammett may rarely come anywhere near him almost perfect blend of cynicism and excitement.

Murder on the Orient Express is more than just a murder mystery. It is a novel that utilizes a great deal of existing social issues of the era in which it was written and formed a commentary on those issues while giving the reader an intriguing yet approachable narrative. Through this approach, Agatha Christie has given the reader an opportunity to see the world through the eyes of the seasoned private investigator Hercule Poirot. In this world, nothing is at it seems and apparent coincidence belies a hidden truth, a world in which the geographical connections created by passenger railways allowed people of different nationalities and classes to rub elbows.

The movie The Maltese Falcon is about a private investigator who is striving to unravel the mystery surrounding a black enamelled bird known as the Maltese Falcon. Samuel Spade, the protagonist of the story, is what was known as a “hard-boiled” detective. Men such as that rarely show a tender side (if they have one). Likewise, they are physically tough, frequently resorting to guns or fists to get what they want. In addition, they tend to be amoral, yet with an inflexible code of honour of their own.

While American and British authors developed the two distinct schools of detective fiction, known as “hard-boiled and “golden age,” simultaneously, the British works served to continue traditions established by earlier authors while American works formed their own distinct identity. Though a niche category, detective works reflect the morality and culture of the societies their authors lived in. Written in the time period after World War I, Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon and “The Gutting of Couffignal”, and Raymond Chandler’s “Trouble Is My Business” adapt their detectives to a new harsh reality of urban life. In “hard-boiled” works, the detective is more realistic than the detective in “golden age” works according to the

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle utilizes many detail-oriented literary elements to develop the many adventures of the famous fictional British detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner, John Watson. Long winded description and complex vocabulary are infused into Doyle’s writing to accentuate Holmes’s great intelligence. By incorporating such a heavy, educated tone upon the mysteries, the tales of Sherlock Holmes are expressed as very complicated stories that challenge readers in comprehension as well as encourage curiosity through puzzling cases.

Arthur Conan Doyle’s legacy rests heavily on one Victorian creation: the character of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes's attitude of intelligence and originality continues to keep fans inclined and fascinated ever since the Victorian era. Holmes persists as remakes and reincarnations of the Sherlock character keep the mastermind relevant. While the modernization of Sherlock creates a personal connection between the reader and Sherlock in “A Scandal in Belgravia,” the BBC adaptation dilutes Sherlock’s character from a distinguished genius to a mere detective.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle utilizes many detail-oriented literary elements to develop the many adventures of the famous fictional British detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner, John Watson. Long winded description and complex vocabulary are infused into Doyle’s writing to accentuate Holmes’s great intelligence. By incorporating such a heavy, educated tone upon the mysteries, the tales of Sherlock Holmes are expressed as very complicated stories that challenge readers in comprehension as well as encourage curiosity through puzzling cases.

1A. A good detective is a very smart person who is able to use evidence and to detect lies and truth. And is also able to think things in a logic and quicker way as well as understanding criminal's movements. For example, detective Dupin in the "Murders of the Rue Morgue" from how the bones were broken and how a lot of hair was pulled out, he figured out that the criminal was not a human, but rather an criminal(Orangutan). "I proceeded to think thus—à posteriori. The murderers did escape from one of these windows. This being so, they could not have refastened the sashes from the inside, as they were found fastened; — the consideration which put a stop, through its obviousness, to the scrutiny of the police in this quarter. Yet the sashes were fastened. They must, then, have the power of fastening themselves. There was no escape from this conclusion." I have seen the character of detectives evolve from one author to the next by having a brilliant life in Doyle's novel "The Sign of the four" to love as in Rampo's "Beast in the Shadows. In "The Sign of the Four" it said, "I cannot live without brain-work. What else is there to live for?" In the "Beast in the Shadows" it said, "Thus, I fell for her completely, sending her meaningless on a frequent basis." Doyle's, Rampo's, Gaboriau's, Christie's, and Borges's fiction character and plot were similar as Poe's detective and plot. Therefore, they do depend on earlier models. In respect, Gaboriau aims to glorify or support the French police while it said, “Well done, Goulard!" quoth the commissary, approvingl;” Poe has a contemptuous attitude towards the agency. I believe that Gaboriau got the idea from Poe, but did the opposite from what I see, I could definitely tell that Poe deserves the title "One of American Greatest Storyteller" because so many authors followed his example of how to write a detective novel. Which shows that his writing impact others to write detective novels.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle utilizes many/several detail-oriented literary elements to develop the many adventures of the famous fictional British detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner, John Watson. Long winded description and complex vocabulary are infused into Doyle’s writing to accentuate Holmes’s great intelligence. By incorporating such a heavy, educated tone upon the mysteries, the tales of Sherlock Holmes are expressed as very complicated stories that challenge readers in comprehension as well as encourage curiosity through puzzling cases.