The Technique of the Mystery Story

The Technique of the Mystery
Story
by Carolyn Wells

AUTHOR OF "THE CLUE," "A CHAIN OF EVIDENCE," "THE
MAXWELL MYSTERY," ETC.
Copyright, 1913
THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
PUBLISHERS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Table of Contents:
CHAPTER I
-- THE ETERNAL CURIOUS 1. The Inquisition into the Curious is
Universal 2. Early Riddles 3. The Passion for Solving Mysteries
CHAPTER 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
CHAPTER III

-- THE HISTORY OF MYSTERY 1. Ancient Mystery Tales
CHAPTER IV
-- GHOST STORIES 1. A Working Classification 2. The Ghost Story 3.
Famous Ghost Stories 4. The Humorous Ghost Story
CHAPTER V
-- RIDDLE STORIES 1. Some Notable Riddle Stories 2. The Nature of
the Riddle Story and Its Types
CHAPTER 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
CHAPTER 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
CHAPTER VIII
-- DEDUCTION 1. Ratiocination in Early Detective Stories 2.
Deduction Used in Every-day Life 3. The Analytical Element in the
Detective Story 4. Poe's Detective -- The Prototype 5. The Detective in
the Novel
CHAPTER IX
-- APPLIED PRINCIPLES 1. The Detectives of Poe, Doyle, and
Gaboriau 2. Individuality of these Detectives 3. The Real Sherlock
Holmes
CHAPTER 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
CHAPTER XI
-- CLOSE OBSERVATION 1. The Search for Clues 2. The Bizarre in
Crime 3. The Value of the Trivial 4. The Tricks of Imitation
CHAPTER XII
-- OTHER DETECTIVES OF FICTION 1. Some Original Traits 2.
Two Unique Detectives
CHAPTER 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
CHAPTER XIV
-- DEVIOUS DEVICES 1. Snow and Rain 2. Some Particularly
Hackneyed Devices 3. Devices Which Are Not Plausible
CHAPTER XV
-- FOOTPRINTS AND FINGERPRINTS 1. The Omnipresence of
Footprints 2. Other Miraculous Discoveries 3. Remarkable Deductions
from Footprints 4. Fingerprints and Teeth-marks
CHAPTER XVI
-- MORE DEVICES 1. Tabulated Clues 2. Worn-out Devices 3. The
Use of Disguise 4. Other "Properties"
CHAPTER XVII

-- FAKE 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
CHAPTER XV
-- 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
CHAPTER 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
CHAPTER XX
-- THE HANDLING OF THE CRIME
CHAPTER XXI
-- THE MOTIVE
CHAPTER 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
CHAPTER 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

CHAPTER 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
CHAPTER 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
CHAPTER XXVI
-- FINAL ADVICES 1. General Qualities of the Detective Story 2.
Correctness 3. Names 4. Titles
CHAPTER I
THE ETERNAL CURIOUS
The Inquisition into the Curious is Universal
Early Riddles
The Passion for Solving Mysteries
Why is the detective story? To entertain, to interest, to amuse. It has no
deeper intent, no more subtle raison d'être than to give pleasure to its
readers.
It has been argued that its "awful examples" (sometimes very awful!),
are meant as cautionary pictures to restrain a possible bent toward the
commission of crime.