Page "Detective fiction" Paragraph 41

The most widespread subgenre of the detective novel became the whodunit ( or whodunnit, short for " who done it?

"), where great ingenuity may be exercised in narrating the events of the crime, usually a homicide, and of the subsequent investigation in such a manner as to conceal the identity of the criminal from the reader until the end of the book, when the method and culprit are revealed.

According to scholars Carole Kismaric and Marvi Heiferman, " The golden age of detective fiction began with high-class amateur detectives sniffing out murderers lurking in rose gardens, down country lanes, and in picturesque villages.

Many conventions of the detective-fiction genre evolved in this era, as numerous writers — from populist entertainers to respected poets — tried their hands at mystery stories.