Sergeant Cuff In The Hound Of The Baskervilles, And Father Brown

Mysteries have always held great fascination for the human mind, not least because of the aura that surrounds them and the realm of the Unknown into which they delve. Coupled with the human propensity of being particularly curious about aspects which elude the average mind, the layer of intrigue that glosses over such puzzles makes for a heady combination of the literary and the popular. In the canon of detective fiction worldwide, no detective has tickled the curious reader’s imagination and held it in thrall as much as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. The 221-B, Baker Street, London ‘amateur’ detective combines a rare blend of intellectual prowess and sharp wit to crack a series of baffling riddles.

In Criminal Justice, there are many different detectives with many different qualities. So how do you know what it takes for a detective to be successful? What traits and qualities make a good detective? Today, two very popular detectives will be compared, Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Drew. These investigators are being “investigated” in one of their most popular novels, The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene and The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Both of these novels have very good sleuths, with many similar and contrasting qualities. Let’s follow the clues in these books to figure out the qualities of these good detectives and what qualities will take most detectives down the path of success.

Investigation: The detective upon receiving information on the events, beings his initial investigation of the crime. The detective, along with his team, collects evidence such as: video surveillance, finger prints, bullet analysis, blood pattern analysis, DNA, and interviews the witnesses. At some point in the investigation, an interview was conducted on a customer that got a full description of the suspect. The detective, upon hearing his statement, requests for a sketch artist. The sketch artist pencils up a picture of the suspect and copies are made and handed out to all patrols. The individual describes the suspect as a tall white male, with short brown hair, about 6’4, wearing glasses with a five o’ clock shadow, and about 210lbs. The suspect was described as wearing a white hoodie and blue

Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone is widely considered one of the first detective novels. Collins’s character, Sergeant Cuff, is also considered one of the first detective characters and is developed through his use of rhetoric. Cuff makes use of the three rhetorical appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos is used to establish his qualifying traits as a capable detective, logos is used to logically support his position, and pathos is used to empathetically relate to the other characters so that he can gain their trust. Sergeant Cuff uses each rhetorical appeal differently amongst various audiences and environments.

a story that showed how all five suspects knew each other. One can see how Detective

Also, as a precursor to Beatty’s increasing suspicions of Montag (and as Montag’s mind becomes increasingly unsettled with its current state of affairs) the Mechanical Hound becomes more aggressive toward Montag, signifying a realization of Beatty’s suspicions and allowing him to subvert Montag’s security about his secrecy. Bradbury hints at Beatty’s clever deduction of Montag’s activities by sending the Hound (in a wonderfully subtle, sly move) to literally “sniff around” Montag’s house: “Under the door, a slow, probing sniff, an exhalation of electric steam. […] And the smell of blue electricity blowing under the locked door” (72). While the fear of the Hound does not abolish Montag’s resolve to read the books, it does weaken it and he hastens to finish his scholarly task because he is afraid he’ll be stopped. This is one of the few instances where Beatty does not attempt to sway Montag by outmaneuvering him in a debate but is still present for (in some form) and aware of an act that goes against both the law and the firemen’s code.

The police are often characterized as foils when compared to detectives due to their analytical thinking that requires logical reasonings in order to solve a mystery, and a lack of creative thinking that detectives use to place themselves in the mind of the criminal. As well, detectives will often solve a mystery that otherwise discombobulates the police. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Purloined Letter,” It is evident that the inability for the police to solve a case efficiently through their lack of creative thinking and a scarcity of analytical thinking highlights Dupin’s superiority in solving crimes more effectively than the police. In “The Purloined Letter,” the Police effectively use clues to find the

The detective fiction genre is a wonderful conglomerate of intricate stories laid out in a well thought out manner. The methods of detection used by many of the detectives that we have read about in this class tend to work perfectly in the cases of the stories themselves. But if we were to take these detectives out of their covered stories and put them into the real world, there would be a myriad of different real world problems that they likely couldn’t solve. In this writing I will analyze a few different problems in the real world that our detectives would issues solving with their methods described in their respective texts.

The first ever detective novel was written by Edgar Allan Poe, and it was called The Murders in the Rue Morgue. This story describes the extraordinary “analytical power” to solve a series of murders. The narrator of this story was also the detectives roomate. The novel includes several features of the typical modern mystery, including red fairings, false alibis, and climatic scenes. Edgar Allan Poe was the undisputed “Father” of detective stories. He created so much that his importance in the field--literally creating the template for all detective fiction to follow. “Other Poe stories, although embracing crime and mystery, are not true detective stories because they don’t introduce all the clues until after the denouement” (Drew R. Thomas. Genesis: 1841. 2003-2018). Denouement also means the final

Comparing the fictitious Sherlock Holmes to the mid-20th century retelling the famous Christie serial murders, there is a shift on how evidence is collected and impacts a criminal investigation. Sherlock Holmes, although not apart of commissioned law enforcement, is very generalized in investigation. His minute level of training in the criminal justice field, demonstrated that the best detectives are not found within any state institution in the 19th century. In the eyes of the reader, any citizen could be a detective with little training if you were smart enough. He not only examines background information, but collects evidence, interprets it, and takes justice into his own hands. With little help from Watson, Sherlock Holmes epitomizes the

As a young child, I fantasized about one day becoming a detective as I was passionate about investigating, interrogating, and crime solving in general. This one dream consumed every aspect of my life for much of my childhood. So much so that catching me without my tan double-breasted trench coat, better known as my "detective coat" was not an option. With its deep rectangular front pockets, it was quite convenient for carrying my magnifying glass that I used for exploring. Even while wearing my detective coat, I discovered my favorite animated television show about four meddling teenagers and their talking canine who had a niche for solving mysteries. But the one item from my past that I cherish the most is my stuffed Scooby Doo. Although there have been a number of mishaps to his appearance, the memories and adventures we share will never be erased and live on to this day.

Taking the work of Walter Mosley and Sir Conan Doyle, we can see that the protagonists live in distinct worlds. We have Easy Rawlins from “Devil in a Blue Dress” by Mosley. Easy is a former veteran of The Second World War, he lives in the segregated part of L.A where he struggles to pay off his house mortgage. He takes on a job offered by Mr. Albright to look for a woman, turning his peaceful life upside down. We also have Sherlock Holmes from “The Sign of Four” by Doyle. Holmes is an exceptional detective who can notice little details that can get him a big win for his case. In crime fiction, we have a perfect world, where the detective, in this case Holmes, has the power to access any resources needed and the imperfect world in which the

Sherlock Holmes is, without any doubt one of the most famous fictional detective characters the world has ever known. Director Paul McGuigan has been doing an amazing job in portraying Sherlock as a hero who not only transformed the world of fiction, but also influenced the real world in more ways than we would realize (RILEY, 2009). Holmes was a scientist who used bloodstains, fingerprints, chemistry and other old school ways to catch offenders. The show portrays an era where eyewitness reports and solid material evidence were required to arrest or convict any sort criminals. The amazing character of Sherlock has helped shape up the portrayals of modern detectives, in modern TV shows and movies (Bickford,

Asides from the way investigation was done, detectives during this century were seen as something provocative and spy like (Emsley and Shpayer-Makov, 136). The job of a detective just like those who worked among the dead, was not always viewed as something pleasant. But as technology advanced, so did the way detectives approached their work. Detectives finally started to integrate science with their work. They started to use the methods of fingerprinting and ballistics (148). It was hard for the police to truly identify what detective work consisted of. Therefore, detectives worked along with police, but police had more detailed work. Fingerprinting became such an important method for the detectives, that according to Emsley and Shpayer-Makov

When someone mentions the occupation of detective, a single image usually comes to mind, a man wearing a cape and deerstalker, holding a magnifying glass and smoking a pipe. This entire image can be contributed to one character: Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is considered by many to be the greatest detective to ever exist, even if he only exists in the pages of books and on movie and television screens. It is impossible to escape the influence of Holmes. Countless references are made to him in all types of media and he is used as an inspiration to may more fictional characters we have all grown to love. The cultural impact of Sherlock Holmes has spread to more than just fiction; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s