Miss Seeton Essay

The detective genre is recognizable by the mystery that it represents or establishes. Every word of a fiction novel is chosen with a purpose, and that purpose on a detective novel is to create suspense. The excerpts from The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, Murder Is My Business by Lynette Prucha, and Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley, create an atmosphere of suspense and mystery. Even though they all fit into this category, there are some differences that make each novel unique. The imagery that the authors offer in the excerpts helps the reader to distinguish the similarities and the differences.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear centers on the title character Maisie Dobbs, a psychologist and private investigator. Maisie has a way of making people of all classes feel comfortable; she is extremely good at reading people and situations and has a keen eye for noticing the most miniscule of details. Maisie’s belief that truth will come if she allows it to speak to her leads to a lot of self-reflection and a personal connection to Maisie can be felt as her inner thoughts and feelings are revealed, presenting a more vulnerable depiction of a hardworking detective. Throughout the story, Maisie Dobbs uses her amiability, observance, and intuitiveness to better help people through her professional detective work.

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.

The author shows the readers that today so-called cozy mysteries has no big difference from Golden Age style mystery writing. The story occurs mainly in a small setting, such as part of a closed group, in a manor or a small village. Christie’s works still influence the readers: They still love to read Agatha Christie’s novels today.

Though set in entirely dissimilar countries at different points in history, Margaret Atwood’s ‘Alias Grace’ and Hannah Kent’s ‘Burial Rites’ possess significant comparisons. Both for instance, are fictionalized historical novels following the tribulations of a female protagonist convicted of murder and both have been widely acclaimed for their incredible literary style which merges classic poetry, epigraphs, folklore and historical articles with fiction. The most striking parallel between each novel that can be drawn, however, is the way in which authors masterfully craft the stories of untrustworthy, cunning and deceptive criminals to elicit sympathy from their audiences. Readers of the novel and secondary characters alike are gradually pulled into sympathising with ambiguous and untrustworthy female leads, Grace Marks (Alias Grace) and Agnes Magnusdottir (Burial Rites). Despite the heavy suspicions of others and a lack of evidence to support their claims of innocence, these characters present artfully manipulated features of their defence stories to provoke empathy, sympathy and trust from those within the novel, and those reading it.

“Armed and Outrageous” is the first book in the “Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mysteries” series of books by Madison Johns. A missing tourist named Jennifer Martin has something to do with a murder that happened over forty years before. Just how, no one is sure, but Agnes Barton

Lily and Miss Liberty is a story about an ambitious young girl named Lily Lafferty, who is determined to do her part to help erect a pedestal for the newly gifted Statue of Liberty. She is initially ashamed and downtrodden that she and her family don’t have enough money to donate to the cause, but she doesn’t let this stop her! As she comes to realize, almost anyone can make some sort of contribution – it only takes a bit of creativity and hard work.

He said to himself that she was too light and childish, too uncultivated and unreasoning, too provincial, to have reflected upon the ostracism or even to have perceived it. Then at other moments he believed that she carried about in her elegant and irresponsible organism a defiant, passionate, perfectly observant consciousness of the impression she produced. (43)

Mystery and thriller novels, in which Agatha Christie is often considered as the queen of, commonly present a complex and confusing cast of characters which through the efforts of the detective/narrator/reader, then become organised groups of people who are good and bad, who belong to black or white, alibis sorted into two sides of complete contrast. Generally, there are one or two criminals and numerous victims in a typical detective novel. However, in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, the cast of characters all have a similar trait: they are all part of a murder case in which the law couldn’t wholly touch. In the novel, Christie presents the central theme, justice, as an ambiguous concept.

     To be ruthless is to act with malice regardless of the consequences. In the first two acts of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is clearly more ruthless than Macbeth himself. While when both characters are faced

1. Speaks her mind- “I hate poetry,’ Ada insisted.” (15) “Go away,’ saida small but determined voice from the wicker box.”(11) “ It’s not fair that miss Coverlet had to go marry stupid Cecil.” (13) “Your IMPOSIBLE!’ yelled Ada. . .”(13) “Just soggy horse poo.” (26) “A cannon. For shooting Peebs out of.” (29) “ It’s not Mr. Peebs,’mumbled Ada. . .” (31) “ . . . ‘You can’t be serious. I don’t know you.”(32) “ Criminals Aren’t very clever,” Ada declared.” (55)

While reading part of the play in Act II, the reader takes note that Miss Warren is the only one who knows of the secret of who really is Vivie’s father. Or does she? On the other hand, Rev. Samuel reminds the reasons to Miss Warren why Vivie must not marry Frank. This helps bring up further evidence of incest within Miss Warren and Rev. Samuel, however, Miss Warren does not believe in the same ideas as Samuel. Upon realization of the incest, Rev. Samuel can be seen as the most aware of it; it appears as if Rev. Samuel was a different man before Frank came into the picture as his son. Samuel gives speculation that he and Miss Warren once had sexual relations and which provides evidence of how Miss Warren could possibly be Frank’s mother. This

The author that I chose was Margaret Walker. Born July7, 1915 – November 30, 1998. Her name now is Margaret Walker Alexander, her married name. The county that I chose her from was in Bulter County. This is where I’m from and thought it would be interesting to find someone from the same county that I didn’t know about. Margaret Walker spent most of her time in Birmingham, Alabama, then she moved to New Orleans. Walker graduated from college at University of New Orleans, then transferred to Northwestern University. She graduated here with an AB in English in 1935. Margaret Walker was an American poet and writer. She was part of the African American literary movement in Chicago. After acclaimed poet Langston Hughes recognized her talent and urged

Her second novel was The Secret Adversary featured new protagonists in the form of detective couple. She followed this with a third novel, Murder on the Links.

Agatha Christie's history is full of surprises. She has not only written detective novels, which have reached to 82 novels, but has also written many autobiographies. She also wrote six novels under a pseudonym called Mary Westmacott. Agatha Christie also wrote 19 plays Including the play "The Trap" which was known in London as the longest play at that time.