Mystery Elements and Story Approaches

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing key definitions, historical figures, narrative conventions, and subgenres of mystery fiction.

Mystery

Something secret or unknown that appeals to one's curiosity.

Suspense

Fear and hope that happens simultaneously and causes tension in the reader.

Sleuth

A detective; derived from the word 'sleuthhound,' a dog that tracked by scent.

Edgar Allan Poe

Author (1809–1849) central to Romanticism and American Literature who wrote 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' (1841), considered possibly the first modern detective story.

Auguste C. Dupin

The detective character created by Edgar Allan Poe in 1841 for his story 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue.'

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Master of mystery (1859–1930) and author of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Agatha Christie

Master of mystery (1890–1976) and author of works such as And Then There Were None; the best-selling author ever, outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible.

Alibi

A word meaning 'elsewhere' in Latin; a claim or evidence that someone was elsewhere during a crime, suggesting innocence.

Red Herring

A clue introduced into a narrative specifically designed to mislead or distract the reader or audience.

Chekhov's Gun

A principle introduced by Russian writer Anton Chekhov asserting that all story elements and objects must have a purpose; if a rifle is on the wall in Chapter 1, it must be used later.

Plot Twist

An unexpected turn of events in a narrative story.

Locked Room Approach

A mystery scenario where a dead person is discovered inside a locked room and the killer could not have escaped.

SACMMG

An acronym outlining core mystery tropes: Smart detective, Assistant of lesser intelligence, Cop of lesser intelligence/effectiveness, Many Misleading and helpful clues, and Detective Gathers clues and suspects.

Cozy

A mystery type typified by Agatha Christie featuring a bloodless crime, a victim who won't be missed, and a solution deduced through emotional or logical reasoning.

Amateur Sleuth

A mystery subgenre in which a non-professional investigates the death of someone close after police fail or misread the incident as an accident or suicide.

Caper

A comic crime story focused on the exploits of a lovable bungler who thinks either grandly or ridiculously small.

Hardboiled P.I.

A mystery subgenre featuring a private investigator who is invariably a loner pursuing justice within a corrupt world.

Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

A mystery subgenre where otherworldly elements are integrated into the story's universe.

Noir

A gritty, bleak, and unforgiving mystery mood emerging in the 1930s, characterized by brutality, moral ambiguity, and a pessimistic view of the world.

History of Mysteries

mystery stories began in the mid nineteenth century and Edgar Allen Poe created the first detective character

Three masters of mystery

Edgar Allan Poe, Aurthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie