list of features of the different types

8/2/2019 List of Features of the Different Types

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AMIR SUFYAN BIN ZAINALWAN HAKIMI BIN WAN HAMZAH

MUHAMMAD FARID AKMAL BIN ADAM


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Structure and Sources: Mainly keep in mindthat the plot comes first and that the actions ofthe characters are 'retrofitted' into it, which is

how a detective story differs from a crimenovel where of course the charactersthemselves drive the plot. Any central pivot,such as an expertise about some unusual

subject, is up to the author -- as long as it isaccurate.


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The Need for Unity: In other words, make thestory fit the devised crime. A person --detective, suspect, witness -- should not act out

of 'character' just because the plot demands it.In that case, it is better just to redesign thecharacter.


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The Detective: This is almost axiomatic -- onemust have a detective who is distinctivelydefined, preferably a series detective (whichsaves having to create a new one for each book-- easier that way both for the writer and thereader and engenders a familiarity that ensurescomfort and a market for new books). Initiallydefining a detective whom readers can

'identify' with as a familiar friend is one of thehardest things, apart from plotting, for adetective novelist to do, but once done removesthe burden of re-explication.


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Viewpoint: Standard literary practice,whatever the genre. There has to be aconsistency of delivery for the story, no matter

what technique is used (first person,omniscient, point-of-view, whatever).


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The Crime: There really must be a murder, orat least a major felony -- otherwise, what's thepoint? Who's ripping off the hand towels at the

Dorchester Hotel is hardly the business of amystery novel.


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The Title: "The best advice to the author facedwith the selection of a title is not to worryabout it." Having a good title and basing the

book on it is like the tail wagging the dog.'Nuff said.


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The Plot: Keep it flowing from one thing toanother and don't get side tracked into dead-ends. Well, that's common sense for all fiction.

Emotion and Drama: Of course for dramaticreasons there has to be some of this for the sakeof interesting the reader, but for the most partremember that this is a novel of detection, not alove story.


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The Puzzle Element: Don't make that thewhole story; this is not a crossword puzzle.

Background and Setting: Basically, the authorshould be familiar personally with the location.If you were in Aruba for three hours on a cruiseship trip, don't set your novel in Aruba based

on that. Use real settings when possible, forverisimilitude, and be accurate. And, PS, don'tborrow somebody else's setting, such asWuthering Heights.


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Characters and Characterization: Not all of theplayers need to be fully defined -- puppet rolesare fine (cops, servants, etc.) -- but at least the

detective, the murderer, and preferably thevictim should be convincingly realized. Is thisobvious or what? But a lot of formula mysteriestotally ignore this precept.

Style: Avoid corniness, pretentiousness, andoverwriting. (Duh...)


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The Devices of Detection: Don't be soelaborate as to makethe dnouement incomprehensible. Beware of

ignorance of the simple rules of evidence andforensics. (Then follows a whole list of things toavoid, like tobacco ashes, locked rooms,footprints, etc., but that is just HH's judgment

based on what were clichs then. If it works,then it's OK, right?)


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Physical Boundaries: This is basically adviceon how long a mystery novel or story shouldbe. Times change -- sometimes very lengthy,

sometimes very short, now lengthy again(because of the high cover cost of a book thesedays -- padding out an extra couple hundredpages, which isn't that more expensive

production-wise, makes the reader think it'sworth the money).


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Some General Considerations: Basically extolsthe existence of bodies like The Detection Clubin England, which encouraged new ventures in

this genre, and was a professional forum forboth established and hopeful writers. MWAencourages this now in the US (but not somuch back then).


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The criminal must be somebody mentioned inthe story.

Supernatural elements are allowable for

atmospheric or plot reasons Secret passages or hidden rooms are all right

Avoid unknown Amazonian arrow poisons or

newly invented Death-Ray machines


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Do not use 'foreigners' or other aliens as major

characters unless you have some realunderstanding of their culture and mind-set

Avoid accidental solutions, as they are hardly

fair in a story of deduction and thepresentation of real clues.

The criminal should not be someone you haveintentionally presented as totally trustworthy.

All clues must be revealed, although it isperfectly legitimate to disguise them.


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There should but doesn't have to be a 'Watson'or some observing point of view that sees butmisinterprets the events under investigation.

Do not try to fool the reader with improbableimpersonations, such as a woman posing as aman or vice versa


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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collectionof twelve stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuringhis famous detective and illustrated by SidneyPaget.

These are the first of the Sherlock Holmes shortstories, originally published as single stories in theStrand Magazine from July 1891 to June 1892.

The book was published in England on October 141892 by George Newnes Ltd and in a US Edition

on October 15 by Harper. The initial combined print run was 14,500 copies. The book was banned in the Soviet Union in 1929

for occultism, although the book shows few to nosigns of such material. However, later the embargowas lifted.


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The 12 stories in this collection are:

"A Scandal in Bohemia"

"The Red-Headed League"

"A Case of Identity"

"The Boscombe Valley Mystery"

"The Five Orange Pips" "The Man with the Twisted Lip"

"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle"

"The Adventure of the Speckled Band"

"The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb"

"The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor"

"The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet"

"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"


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After our narrator Dr. John Watson gets married (to MaryMorstan, in Conan Doyle's second Sherlock Holmes novel,The Sign of Four) he doesn't see Holmes quite as often as heused to. As Watson sets up a happy home with his wife,Holmes remains as weird as ever, hanging around their oldplace in Baker Street and alternating between cocaine and

criminal cases.

Watson happens to be passing his former apartment on thewalk back from his medical practice one evening, anddecides to stop in to see his old pal Holmes. The two bat

jokes back and forth about Holmes's deductive ability.Holmes finally comes out and asks if Watson can evenrecall the number of stairs that lead up to the 221B BakerStreet apartment, and Watson admits that he cannot. "Ahha!" crows Holmes: proof that, while Watson sees the samethings that Holmes does, he fails to observe them.


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A new client arrives to meet Holmes and, after tryingto hide his identity for about two seconds, comes clean:he is Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein,Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein and hereditary King of

Bohemia (whoa, that's a lot of letters for one name!Bohemia, by the way, is now part of the modern-dayCzech Republic). His problem is that he's about tomarry the daughter of the King of Scandinavia. Thething is, though, she's from a family with very strict

morals, and she wouldn't be pleased to know that hehad a serious affair with another woman before theirengagement.

This woman is Irene Adler who lives on in Holmes's

memory as the woman. She's a singer who met theKing in Warsaw, where they subsequently had a bit ofa fling. Unfortunately, the King allowed himself to bephotographed with Adler, and she has the picture. TheKing wants Holmes to recover the incriminating photo.

Holmes agrees.


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Holmes then puts on a disguise and goes to Irene Adler's current housein London to stake it out. He finds out that she gets frequent calls from alawyer, Godfrey Norton. Holmes even happens to be on the site whenAdler rushes out of her house to meet Norton at a small church and get this our detective is actually called upon (still in disguise) to be the

witness for her marriage to the guy. After their surprise elopement,Adler goes back to her house, and Holmes realizes he has to hurry toget the photo back before she has a chance to leave with her newhusband.

Holmes comes up with the perfect plan for finding the photo: hedisguises himself as a clergyman, stages a riot outside her house,pretends to be injured, and is carried into her living room for medicaltreatment. Meanwhile, Watson, waiting outside, throws a smoke bombinto her house through the open living room window. In a moment'spanic, Adler runs for a small hidden compartment in the wall, where,Holmes guesses, she keeps the photograph. At this discovery, andamidst the confusion, Holmes takes off with Watson in tow. The two

wind up back at Holmes's apartment building. As Holmes is looking forhis key, a young man walks by and greets him by name, with a cheery"Good evening."

The next morning, the King of Bohemia arrives at Holmes's apartment,where Holmes and Watson are waiting. All three head off to Adler'shouse. To Holmes's surprise, an elderly woman is expecting them. She

hands Holmes a letter signed by Irene Adler and addressed to Holmeshimself.


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Adler's letter tells Holmes that she had been warned that hewas on her trail. Even so, she didn't recognize himimmediately when she saw him disguised as such a kindly-looking old priest. But she guessed that it was Holmes

when she realized the smoke bomb was a fake fire alarm.Adler then confirmed Holmes's identity by putting onmen's clothes (she was once an actress), following him tohis home, and greeting him by name. Adler tells Holmesshe's keeping the photos as collateral against the Kingshould he ever decide to ruin her reputation. But for now,

she's content to live with her new, much worthier husband,and she considers the matter finished.

The King is satisfied with this news, even though Holmesapologizes for failing to recover the photo. Holmes then

asks the King if he can keep the photograph of Adler alonethat accompanied the letter. The King, surprised, agrees.Watson finishes the story by adding that, while Holmesused to joke about women's intelligence, he hasn't beencracking wise lately: Adler will always be, for Holmes, theultimate woman.

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