Detective Fiction Flashcards

Flashcards for key vocabulary and concepts related to detective fiction, covering its origins, subgenres, key figures, and influential works.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue

The first official fictional detective story, published in 1841 by Edgar Allan Poe.

The Moonstone

Considered the first true detective novel written by Wilkie Collins and published in 1868.

Detective Novel

A work of fiction in which a detective investigates and solves a crime or series of crimes.

Hardboiled

A subgenre of detective fiction with a strong tradition in America; arose in the first decades of the 20th century.

Dashiell Hammett

Credited with the invention of hard-boiled detective fiction, with his famous sleuth Sam Spade.

Sam Spade

Dashiell Hammett's most famous hard-boiled detective character.

Raymond Chandler

An important and influential American crime writer known for his private detective character Philip Marlowe.

Philip Marlowe

Raymond Chandler's private detective character introduced in The Big Sleep.

Film Noir

Inherently linked to novels of hard-boiled fiction and characterized by its criminal plots, morality ambiguity and the lack of “good” individuals.

The Maltese Falcon

A novel by Dashiell Hammett (1930) generally considered his finest work.

The Big Sleep

A novel by Raymond Chandler (1939) where he introduced his character of private detective Philip Marlowe.

Sherlock Holmes

A fictional character created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Considered one of the most influential examples of the English detective novel.

P. D. James

Also known as Phyllis Dorothy James White, was a British mystery novelist best known for her fictional detective Adam Dalgliesh.

Adam Dalgliesh

Fictional detective of Scotland Yard created by P. D. James.

Agatha Christie

An influential writer in the English detective novel genre who created iconic characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.