Elements of Crime

Question 1

crime fiction

Answer 1

usually centred around a murder - considers what it is to be human and raises questions about identity

the narrative reflects the culture and values of society at the time of writing so it does not remain static

Question 2

locked room mystery

Answer 2

a seemingly impossible crime

Question 3

whodunnit

Answer 3

clues are gradually revealed until the culprit is revealed at the end

Question 4

hard boiled

Answer 4

conveyed through the detective’s inner monologue

unsentimental, cynical, dealing with society of danger , violence and organised crime

Question 5

police procedural

Answer 5

attempts to realistically depict the activities of a police force

Question 6

forensic crime

Answer 6

follows the work of medical examiner or pathologist as they use forensic evidence to solve a crime

Question 7

legal thriller

Answer 7

main characters are lawyers, the system of justice itself plays a major part

Question 8

what was thought as being one of the first detective fictions?

Answer 8

The murders in the Rue Morgue 1841 - Edgar Allen Poe

Dupin made his first appearance - not a professional detective - very observant, rigorously analytical

Question 9

what happened post WW1?

Answer 9

Saw a golden age in terms of crime fiction with writers such as Agatha Christie, people wanted to be apart of solving the mystery

‘Red Herring’ became a standard feature in such stories

Question 10

what sort of writer was Dorothy L Sayers?

Answer 10

realist - lead to more believable stories and settings, showing the seedier side of society - where detectives focused on more physical evidence

Question 11

what did Hard Boiled crime represent

Answer 11

the reality of crime in America, often violent and links to the criminal underworld of the detectives living on the edge of society