Publisher's Synopsis
A complete practical guide for detective and mystery story writers of today. How to arrange, invent, plot out, develop and narrate ingenious, convincing, and baffling stories of crime.CONTENTS: CHAPTER I-THE ETERNAL CURIOUS1. The Inquisition into the Curious is Universal2. Early Riddles3. The Passion for Solving MysteriesCHAPTER II-THE LITERATURE OF MYSTERY1. The Rightful Place of the Mystery Story in Fiction2. The Mystery Story Considered as Art3. The Claims of Antagonists and ProtagonistsCHAPTER III-THE HISTORY OF MYSTERY1. Ancient Mystery TalesCHAPTER IV-GHOST STORIES1. A Working Classification2. The Ghost Story3. Famous Ghost Stories4. The Humorous Ghost StoryCHAPTER V-RIDDLE STORIES1. Some Notable Riddle Stories2. The Nature of the Riddle Story and Its TypesCHAPTER VI-DETECTIVE STORIES1. What Is a Detective Story2. Rise of the Detective Story3. The Detective-Fictive and Real4. Fiction versus Fact5. The Interest of the Detective Story6. A Summing UpCHAPTER VII-THE DETECTIVE1. The Real Detective and His Work2. Fictive Detective Material3. The Transcendent Detective4. Pioneer Detectives of Fiction5. Recent Detectives of Fiction6. The Scientific Detective of Fiction7. The New Psychology in Detective Stories8. Other TypesCHAPTER VIII-DEDUCTION1. Ratiocination in Early Detective Stories2. Deduction Used in Every-day Life3. The Analytical Element in the Detective Story4. Poe's Detective-The Prototype5. The Detective in the NovelCHAPTER IX-APPLIED PRINCIPLES1. The Detectives of Poe, Doyle, and Gaboriau2. Individuality of these Detectives3. The Real Sherlock HolmesCHAPTER X-THE RATIONALE OF RATIOCINATION1. Sherlock Holmes' Method2. Lecoq's Method3. Other Methods4. Holmes' Method Evaluated5. The Inductive and the Deductive Methods6. Two Striking ExamplesCHAPTER XI-CLOSE OBSERVATION1. The Search for Clues2. The Bizarre in Crime3. The Value of the Trivial4. The Tricks of ImitationCHAPTER XII-OTHER DETECTIVES OF FICTION1. Some Original Traits2. Two Unique DetectivesCHAPTER XIII-PORTRAITS1. Some Early Detective Portraits2. Some More Modern Portraits3. Some Less Known Portraits4. Idiosyncrasies of Fictional Detectives5. Favorite Phrases of DetectivesCHAPTER XIV-DEVIOUS DEVICES1. Snow and Rain2. Some Particularly Hackneyed Devices3. Devices Which Are Not PlausibleCHAPTER XV-FOOTPRINTS AND FINGERPRINTS1. The Omnipresence of Footprints2. Other Miraculous Discoveries3. Remarkable Deductions from Footprints4. Fingerprints and Teeth-marksCHAPTER XVI-MORE DEVICES1. Tabulated Clues2. Worn-out Devices3. The Use of Disguise4. Other "Properties"CHAPTER XVII-FAKE DEVICES1. The "Trace" Fallacy2. The Destruction of Evidence3. False Hypotheses4. Errors of Fact and of Inference5. The Use of Illustrative Plans6. The Locked and Barred RoomCHAPTER XV-MURDER IN GENERAL1. Murder Considered in the Abstract2. Murder as a Fine Art3. The Murder Theme4. The Robbery Theme5. The Mysterious DisappearanceCHAPTER XIX-PERSONS IN THE STORY1. The Victim2. The Criminal3. Faulty Portrayal of the Criminal4. The Secondary Detective5. The Suspects6. The Heroine and the Element of Romance7. The Police 8. The SupernumerariesCHAPTER XX-THE HANDLING OF THE CRIMECHAPTER XXI-THE MOTIVECHAPTER XXII-EVIDENCE1. The Coroner2. The Inquest3. The Witnesses4. Presentation of the Evidence5. Circumstantial Evidence6. Deductions from Evidence7. Deductions from Clues8. Evidence by Applied Psychology9. Direct Observation10. Exactness of Detail11. Theories of EvidenceCHAPTER XXIII-STRUCTURE1. Length2. The Short-Story and the Novel3. Singleness of Plot in the Detective Story4. The Question of Length5. The Narrator in the Detective Story6. The Settin