Sherlock Holmes is one of the best-known characters in detective stories.
Short stories are fictional tales of short length. Police stories, on the other hand, are those linked to the police (the security force that must guarantee public safety).
A detective story is a narrative that revolves around a crime and the search for those responsible. These stories usually involve one or more crimes , investigated by a character who hopes to clarify the facts and find the culprit so that justice is done.
Characteristics of the detective story
In classic detective stories , a clever and prudent detective is tasked with solving the mystery of a crime , which often seems impossible to solve at first. The police investigation carried out by the protagonist is based on rational thinking, so that the unknowns are solved one by one as the pieces fit together.
On the other hand, there are the black detective stories , which, unlike the classic ones, go beyond solving the crime and their characters are more complex, without much distinction between villains and heroes. In any case, the fundamental elements or features of this type of stories are crime, mystery and pursuit.
Parts of the narrative
The detective story is divided into several parts that are especially easy to recognize and distinguish in classic stories. Everything begins with the enigma that is posed to be solved, which starts from a dilemma and leads to the development of the entire plot. There begins the investigation process , which narrates the steps and decisions that the detective takes to try to clarify the aforementioned enigma.
Broadly speaking, we can say that everything leads to the resolution of the enigma , which can take place as a result of two types of investigation: one based on the observation and analysis of facts and evidence, from which various conclusions are obtained; one based on the formulation of various hypotheses, sometimes without the need to examine the crime scene .
Among the great authors of short stories and detective novels, the British Agatha Christie stands out.
Characters and structure of the detective story
The characters in a detective story are presented in such a way that they complement each other, as if they were opposing elements, which in this case can be divided into two groups: the good and the bad . Among the most common classes are detectives, police officers, inspectors, spies and assassins. Although there are stories with female main characters, it is more normal for them all to be men, and for their characters not to develop throughout the story .
As regards the structure of a detective story, it is generally a story that is written in the opposite direction to that of traditional narrative: it begins by presenting the enigma (which arises from the past) and resolves it at the end (in the future), and as the story progresses, more and more elements of the past are revealed. This does not mean that when writing it, the author sees the elements in this same order; each person conceives his literary creations in a different way, and it may happen that they arise in chronological order and then he presents them in reverse, or that the events come to him just as he writes them in the book.
Sherlock Holmes, the most famous detective
Among the most famous detective stories are those starring Sherlock Holmes , a detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle . Holmes , with the help of Dr. John Watson , uses deductive reasoning to solve the puzzles.
One of the most popular Sherlock Holmes detective stories is “The Red-Headed League,” in which the detective uncovers a hoax set up to rob a bank.