The Technique of the Mystery Story by Carolyn Wells -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title Page Copyright Contents I. The Eternal Curious

1. Inquisition into the Curious is Universal 2. Early Riddles 3. The Passion for Solving Mysteries

II. The Literature of Mystery

1. The Rightful Place of the Mystery Story in Fiction 2. The Mystery Story Considered as Art 3. The Claims of Antagonists and Protagonists

III. The History of Mystery

1. Ancient Mystery Tales

IV. Ghost Stories

1. A Working Classification 2. The Ghost Story 3. Famous Ghost Stories 4. The Humorous Ghost Story

V. Riddle Stories

1. Some Notable Riddle Stories 2. The Nature of the Riddle Story and its Types

VI. Detective Stories

1. What is a Detective Story? 2. Rise of the Detective Story 3. The Detective-Fictive and Real 4. Fiction versus Fact 5. The Interest of the Detective Story 6. A Summing Up

VII. The Detective

1. The Real Detective and His Work 2. Fictive Detective Material 3. The Transcendent Detective 4. Pioneer Detectives of Fiction 5. Recent Detectives of Fiction 6. The Scientific Detective of Fiction 7. The New Psychology in Detective Stories 8. Other Types

VIII. Deduction

1. Ratiocination in Early Detective Stories 2. Deduction Used in Everyday Life 3. The Analytical Element in the Detective Story 4. Poe’s Detective—The Prototype 5. The Detective in the Novel

IX. Applied Principles

1. The Detectives of Poe, Doyle, and Gaboriau 2. Individuality of these Detectives 3. The Real Sherlock Holmes

X. The Rationale of Ratiocination

1. Sherlock Holmes’ Method 2. Lecoq’s Method 3. Other Methods 4. Holmes’ Method Evaluated 5. The Inductive and the Deductive Methods 6. Two Striking Examples

XI. Close Observation

1. The Search for Clues 2. The Bizarre in Crime 3. The Value of the Trivial 4. The Tricks of Imitation

XII. Other Detectives of Fiction

1. Some Original Traits 2. Two Unique Detectives

XIII. Portraits

1. Some Early Detective Portraits 2. Some More Modern Portraits 3. Some Less Known Portraits 4. Idiosyncrasies of Fictional Detectives 5. Favorite Phrases of Detectives

XIV. Devious Devices

1. Snow and Rain 2. Some Particularly Hackneyed Devices 3. Devices Which Are Not Plausible

XV. Footprints and Fingerprints

1. The Omnipresence of Footprints 2. Other Miraculous Discoveries 3. Remarkable Deductions from Footprints 4. Fingerprints and Teethmarks

XVI. More Devices

1. Tabulated Clues 2. Worn-out Devices 3. The Use of Disguise 4. Other “Properties”

XVII. False Devices

1. The “Trace” Fallacy 2. The Destruction of Evidence 3. False Hypotheses 4. Errors of Fact and of Inference 5. The Use of Illustrative Plans 6. The Locked and Barred Room

XVIII. Murder in General

1. Murder Considered in the Abstract 2. Murder as a Fine Art 3. The Murder Theme 4. The Robbery Theme 5. The Mysterious Disappearance

XIX. Persons in the Story

1. The Victim 2. The Criminal 3. Faulty Portrayal of the Criminal 4. The Secondary Detective 5. The Suspects 6. The Heroine and the Element of Romance 7. The Police 8. The Supernumeraries

XX. The Handling of the Crime XXI. The Motive XXII. Evidence

1. The Coroner 2. The Inquest 3. The Witnesses 4. Presentation of the Evidence 5. Circumstantial Evidence 6. Deductions from Evidence 7. Deductions from Clues 8. Evidence by Applied Psychology 9. Direct Observation 10. Exactness of Detail 11. Theories of Evidence

XXIII. Structure

1. Length 2. The Short-Story and the Novel 3. Singleness of Plot in the Detective Story 4. The Question of Length 5. The Narrator in the Detective Story 6. The Setting

XXIV. Plots

1. The Plot is the Story 2. Constructing the Plot 3. Maintaining Suspense 4. Planning the Story 5. The Question of Humor 6. Some Unique Devices

XXV. Further Advices

1. The Use of Coincidences 2. The Use of Melodrama 3. Dullness 4. Unique Plots and Their Solubility 5. Women as Writers of Detective Stories

XXVI. Final Advices

1. General Qualities of the Detective Story 2. Correctness 3. Names 4. Titles

A Note About the Author A Note from the Publisher

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