Whodunit
Encyclopedia
A whodunit or whodunnit (for "Who done [did] it?") is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story
in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader or viewer is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final pages of the book. The investigation is usually conducted by an eccentric amateur or semi-professional detective. The locked-room mystery
is a specialized kind of a whodunit.
" of detective fiction, between 1920 and 1950, when it was the predominant mode of crime writing. Many of the best writers of whodunits in this period were British
— notably Agatha Christie
, Nicholas Blake, Christianna Brand
and Edmund Crispin
, Michael Innes
, Dorothy L. Sayers
, Josephine Tey
. Others — S. S. Van Dine
, John Dickson Carr
, and Ellery Queen
— were American
, but imitated the "English" style. Still others, such as Rex Stout
, Clayton Rawson
, and Earl Derr Biggers
, attempted a more "American" style.
Over time, certain conventions and clichés developed that limited any surprises on the part of the reader to the details of the plot and of course to the identity of the murderer. Several authors excelled, after misleading their readers successfully, in revealing to them convincingly an unlikely suspect as the real villain of the story. What is more, they had a predilection for certain casts of characters and settings, with the secluded English country house at the top of the list.
A U.S. reaction to the cozy conventionality of British murder mysteries was the American "hard-boiled
" school of crime writing of Raymond Chandler
, Dashiell Hammett
, and Mickey Spillane
, among others. Yet, more often than not, though the setting was grittier, the violence more likely to be on-stage, and the style more colloquial, the plots were, as often as not, whodunits constructed in much the same way as the "cozier
" British mysteries they were written in reaction to.
Currently popular are live "whodunit" experiences, including game form, where guests at a private party might use cards, a board, or video from a pre-packaged box, to perform the roles of the suspects and detective; and there are a number of murder mystery dinner theater
s, where either professional or community theatre performers take on those roles, and present the murder mystery to an audience, usually in conjunction with a meal. Typically before or immediately following the final course, the audience is given a chance to offer their help in solving the mystery.
Recent additions to the subgenre of the whodunit include the novels of Simon Brett
, the Thackery Phin novels of John Sladek
, Lawrence Block
's The Burglar in the Library (1997), which is a spoof
set in the present in an English-style country house, Kinky Friedman
's Road Kill (1997), Ben Elton
's Dead Famous
(2001), and Gilbert Adair
's The Act of Roger Murgatroyd
(2006).
An important variation on the whodunit is the inverted detective story
(also referred to as a "howcatchem" or "howdunnit") where the guilty party and the crime are openly revealed to the reader/audience and the story follows the investigator's efforts to find out the truth while the criminal attempts to prevent it. The Columbo TV movie series is the classic example of this kind of detective story (Law & Order: Criminal Intent
also fits into this genre). This tradition dates back to the inverted detective stories of R Austin Freeman
, and reached an apotheosis of sorts in Malice Aforethought
written by Francis Iles (a pseudonym of Anthony Berkeley). In the same vein is Iles's Before the Fact
(1932), which became the Hitchcock
movie Suspicion
. Successors of the psychological suspense novel include Patricia Highsmith
's This Sweet Sickness
(1960), Simon Brett
's A Shock to the System
(1984), and Stephen Dobyns
's The Church of Dead Girls (1997). The critically acclaimed HBO show True Blood
has featured numerous major, and minor, whodunit mysteries in its first and second seasons.
, spoof, and pastiche
have had a long tradition within the field of crime fiction. (A pastiche is a piece of writing in which the style is patterned completely upon the original work and no parody or ridicule is involved. Examples are the Sherlock Holmes stories written by John Dickson Carr, and hundreds of similar works by such authors as E. B. Greenwood.) As for parody, the first Sherlock Holmes
spoofs appeared shortly after Conan Doyle
published his first stories. Similarly, there have been innumerable Agatha Christie send-ups. The idea is to exaggerate and mock the most noticeable features of the original and, by doing so, amuse especially those readers who are also familiar with that original.
One of the earliest parodies of the whodunit genre in general is Englishman E. C. Bentley
's (1875–1956) novel Trent's Last Case
(1913), which introduced Philip Trent, a detective who gets everything wrong right from the start: assigned to investigate the murder of English millionaire Sigsbee Manderson, who is found shot in the library of his country house, Trent makes his first major mistake when he falls head over heels in love with the main suspect. In the course of his investigation he jumps at the wrong clues, in his reasoning he carefully eliminates the wrong suspects, and finally he arrives at a conclusion concerning the identity of Manderson's murderer which turns out to be completely wrong (though Trent is not presented as a bumbler at all). At the end of the novel, the real perpetrator casually informs him during dinner that he/she has shot Manderson. These are Trent's final words to the murderer:
A more recent example of a spoof, which at the same time shows that the borderline between "serious" mystery (if there is any such thing) and its parody is necessarily blurred, is U.S. mystery writer Lawrence Block
's novel The Burglar in the Library (1997). The burglar of the title is Bernie Rhodenbarr, who has booked a weekend at an English-style country house just to steal a signed, and therefore very valuable, first edition of Chandler
's The Big Sleep
, which he knows has been sitting there on one of the shelves for more than half a century. Alas, immediately after his arrival a dead body turns up in the library, the room is sealed off, and Rhodenbarr has to track down the murderer before he can enter the library again and start hunting for the precious book.
Murder by Death
is Neil Simon
's spoof of many of the best-known whodunit sleuths. In the 1976 film, Sam Spade
(from The Maltese Falcon) becomes Sam Diamond, Hercule Poirot becomes Milo Perrier, etc. The film makes particular fun of the relationship between each detective and his or her sidekick
. The characters are all gathered in a large country house, given meaningless clues, and all of them fail to solve the mystery.
Another example is the Lord Darcy
stories by Randall Garrett
. Despite their fantasy fiction setting, they are "straight" whodunits. However, the names of many of the supporting characters are pun
s, suggesting Garrett's friends, or the lead characters in other detective stories. Often, the personality of the character also reflects this.
In 2006 Gilbert Adair published the first of three novels so far which combine many aspects of the golden age of crime fiction, most notably the works of Agatha Christie.
Tom Stoppard
's The Real Inspector Hound
is a send up of crime fiction novels and features a bumbling detective.
The 2001 film Gosford Park
paid homage to the classic whodunit premise, while at the same time presenting a very original story.
"The Unicorn and the Wasp
", an episode of the revived Doctor Who
series, is a variation of the genre. The Tenth Doctor
, companion Donna Noble
and Agatha Christie
investigate a series of murders committed by an alien at a dinner party.
investigators to describe a case in which the identity of the killer is not quickly apparent. Since most homicides are committed by people with whom the victim is acquainted or related, a whodunit case is usually more difficult to solve.
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader or viewer is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final pages of the book. The investigation is usually conducted by an eccentric amateur or semi-professional detective. The locked-room mystery
Locked room mystery
The locked room mystery is a sub-genre of detective fiction in which a crime—almost always murder—is committed under apparently impossible circumstances. The crime in question typically involves a crime scene that no intruder could have entered or left, e.g., a locked room...
is a specialized kind of a whodunit.
History
The "whodunit" flourished during the so-called "Golden AgeGolden Age of Detective Fiction
The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels produced by various authors, all following similar patterns and style.-Origins:Mademoiselle de Scudéri, by E.T.A...
" of detective fiction, between 1920 and 1950, when it was the predominant mode of crime writing. Many of the best writers of whodunits in this period were British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
— notably Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
, Nicholas Blake, Christianna Brand
Christianna Brand
Christianna Brand was a British crime writer and children's author.- Background :Christianna Brand was born Mary Christianna Milne in Malaya and grew up in India. She had a number of different occupations, including model, dancer, shop assistant and governess...
and Edmund Crispin
Edmund Crispin
Edmund Crispin was the pseudonym of Robert Bruce Montgomery , an English crime writer and composer.-Life and work:Montgomery was born in Chesham Bois, Buckinghamshire...
, Michael Innes
J. I. M. Stewart
John Innes Mackintosh Stewart was a Scottish novelist and academic. He is equally well-known for the works of literary criticism and contemporary novels published under his real name and for the crime fiction published under the pseudonym of Michael Innes...
, Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy Leigh Sayers was a renowned English crime writer, poet, playwright, essayist, translator and Christian humanist. She was also a student of classical and modern languages...
, Josephine Tey
Josephine Tey
Josephine Tey was a pseudonym used by Elizabeth Mackintosh a Scottish author best known for her mystery novels. She also wrote as Gordon Daviot, under which name she wrote plays with an historical theme....
. Others — S. S. Van Dine
S. S. Van Dine
S. S. Van Dine was the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright , a U.S art critic and author. He created the once immensely popular fictional detective Philo Vance, who first appeared in books in the 1920s, then in movies and on the radio.-Early life and career:Willard Huntington Wright was born...
, John Dickson Carr
John Dickson Carr
John Dickson Carr was an American author of detective stories, who also published under the pen names Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson and Roger Fairbairn....
, and Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen is both a fictional character and a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay and Manford Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee , to write, edit, and anthologize detective fiction.The fictional Ellery Queen created by...
— were American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but imitated the "English" style. Still others, such as Rex Stout
Rex Stout
Rex Todhunter Stout was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. Stout is best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the...
, Clayton Rawson
Clayton Rawson
Clayton Rawson was an American mystery writer, editor, and amateur magician. His four novels frequently invoke his great knowledge of stage magic and feature as their fictional detective The Great Merlini, a professional magician who runs a shop selling magic supplies...
, and Earl Derr Biggers
Earl Derr Biggers
Earl Derr Biggers was an American novelist and playwright. He is remembered primarily for adaptations of his novels, especially those featuring the Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan.-Biography:...
, attempted a more "American" style.
Over time, certain conventions and clichés developed that limited any surprises on the part of the reader to the details of the plot and of course to the identity of the murderer. Several authors excelled, after misleading their readers successfully, in revealing to them convincingly an unlikely suspect as the real villain of the story. What is more, they had a predilection for certain casts of characters and settings, with the secluded English country house at the top of the list.
A U.S. reaction to the cozy conventionality of British murder mysteries was the American "hard-boiled
Hardboiled
Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...
" school of crime writing of Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
, Dashiell Hammett
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
, and Mickey Spillane
Mickey Spillane
Frank Morrison Spillane , better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of crime novels, many featuring his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally...
, among others. Yet, more often than not, though the setting was grittier, the violence more likely to be on-stage, and the style more colloquial, the plots were, as often as not, whodunits constructed in much the same way as the "cozier
Cozy (genre)
Cozy mysteries, also referred to simply as "cozies," are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community...
" British mysteries they were written in reaction to.
Currently popular are live "whodunit" experiences, including game form, where guests at a private party might use cards, a board, or video from a pre-packaged box, to perform the roles of the suspects and detective; and there are a number of murder mystery dinner theater
Dinner theater
Dinner theater is a form of entertainment that combines a restaurant meal with a staged play or musical. Sometimes the play is incidental entertainment, secondary to the meal, in the style of a sophisticated night club, or the play may be a major production with dinner less important, or in some...
s, where either professional or community theatre performers take on those roles, and present the murder mystery to an audience, usually in conjunction with a meal. Typically before or immediately following the final course, the audience is given a chance to offer their help in solving the mystery.
Examples of whodunits
- "The Three Apples" in the One Thousand and One Nights, the earliest archetype for the whodunit murder mysteryCrime fictionCrime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
- Wilkie CollinsWilkie CollinsWilliam Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
's The MoonstoneThe MoonstoneThe Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language. The story was originally serialized in Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round. The Moonstone and The Woman in White are considered Wilkie...
(1868), widely regarded as one of the first true whodunits - Anna Katharine GreenAnna Katharine GreenAnna Katharine Green was an American poet and novelist. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories.-Life and work:...
's Initials Only (1911) - E. C. BentleyEdmund Clerihew BentleyE. C. Bentley was a popular English novelist and humorist of the early twentieth century, and the inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse on biographical topics...
's Trent's Last CaseTrent's Last CaseTrent's Last Case is a detective novel written by E.C. Bentley and first published in 1913. Its central character reappeared subsequently in the novel Trent's Own Case and the short-story collection Trent Intervenes .-Plot summary:...
(1913) - Agatha ChristieAgatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's The Mysterious Affair at StylesThe Mysterious Affair at StylesThe Mysterious Affair at Styles is a detective novel by Agatha Christie. It was written in 1916 and was first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920 and in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head on January 21, 1921. The U.S...
(1920) introduces Hercule PoirotHercule PoirotHercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era.Poirot has been portrayed on...
. - A. A. MilneA. A. MilneAlan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.-Biography:A. A...
's The Red House MysteryThe Red House MysteryThe Red House Mystery is a "locked room" whodunnit by A. A. Milne, published in 1922. It was Milne's only mystery novel; he is better known for his humorous writing, children's stories, and poems.-Plot introduction:...
(1922), by the author of the Winnie the Pooh books. - Agatha ChristieAgatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's The Murder of Roger AckroydThe Murder of Roger AckroydThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons in June 1926 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company on the 19th of the same month. It features Hercule Poirot as the lead detective...
(1926), featuring Belgian sleuth Hercule PoirotHercule PoirotHercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era.Poirot has been portrayed on...
in one of Christie's best-known works - Dorothy L. SayersDorothy L. SayersDorothy Leigh Sayers was a renowned English crime writer, poet, playwright, essayist, translator and Christian humanist. She was also a student of classical and modern languages...
's Unnatural DeathUnnatural DeathUnnatural Death is a 1927 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her third featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. It has also been published in the United States as The Dawson Pedigree.-Plot introduction:...
(1927), one of the first Lord Peter WimseyLord Peter WimseyLord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is a bon vivant amateur sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, in which he solves mysteries; usually, but not always, murders...
novels - S. S. Van DineS. S. Van DineS. S. Van Dine was the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright , a U.S art critic and author. He created the once immensely popular fictional detective Philo Vance, who first appeared in books in the 1920s, then in movies and on the radio.-Early life and career:Willard Huntington Wright was born...
's The Greene Murder CaseThe Greene Murder CaseThe Greene Murder Case is a 1928 mystery novel by S. S. Van Dine. It focuses on the murders one by one, of the Greene family: "The holocaust that consumed the Greene family", as detective Philo Vance memorably puts it...
(1928) - Ronald KnoxRonald KnoxRonald Arbuthnott Knox was an English priest, theologian and writer.-Life:Ronald Knox was born in Kibworth, Leicestershire, England into an Anglican family and was educated at Eton College, where he took the first scholarship in 1900 and Balliol College, Oxford, where again...
's The Footsteps at the Lock (1928) — though Knox is better remembered as the author of ten commandments for writing whodunits and for his short story "Solved by Inspection" - Anthony Berkeley's The Poisoned Chocolates CaseThe Poisoned Chocolates CaseThe Poisoned Chocolates Case is a detective novel by Anthony Berkeley set in 1920s London in which a group of armchair detectives, who have founded the "Crimes Circle", formulate theories on a recent murder case Scotland Yard has been unable to solve...
(1929) features six different solutions to the murder (and is an expansion of Berkeley's classic short story, "The Avenging Chance") - Ellery QueenEllery QueenEllery Queen is both a fictional character and a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay and Manford Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee , to write, edit, and anthologize detective fiction.The fictional Ellery Queen created by...
's The Greek Coffin MysteryThe Greek Coffin MysteryThe Greek Coffin Mystery is a novel that was written in 1932 by Ellery Queen. It is the fourth of the Ellery Queen mysteries.-Plot summary:...
(1932), regarded by some as the best of his early novels in the Golden Age style - C. P. SnowC. P. SnowCharles Percy Snow, Baron Snow of the City of Leicester CBE was an English physicist and novelist who also served in several important positions with the UK government...
's Death Under Sail (1932) — his first novel, after which he turned to mainstreamMainstreamMainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
fiction; it features unusually complex characters for a mystery of this period - Rex StoutRex StoutRex Todhunter Stout was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. Stout is best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the...
's The League of Frightened MenThe League of Frightened MenThe League of Frightened Men is the second Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout. The story was serialized in six issues of The Saturday Evening Post under the title The Frightened Men. The novel was published in 1935 by Farrar & Rinehart, Inc...
(1935), the second Nero WolfeNero WolfeNero Wolfe is a fictional detective, created in 1934 by the American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe's confidential assistant Archie Goodwin narrates the cases of the detective genius. Stout wrote 33 novels and 39 short stories from 1934 to 1974, with most of them set in New York City. Wolfe's...
novel - John Dickson CarrJohn Dickson CarrJohn Dickson Carr was an American author of detective stories, who also published under the pen names Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson and Roger Fairbairn....
's The Hollow ManThe Hollow Man (1935 novel)The Hollow Man is a famous locked room mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr , published in 1935. It was published in the US under the title The Three Coffins, and in 1981 was selected as the best locked room mystery of all time by a panel of 17 mystery authors and reviewers.-Plot...
(1935, U.S. title The Three Coffins) — usually considered the quintessential locked-room mystery, replete with a tongue-in-cheek philosophical disquisition on the subject by the detective, Dr. Gideon FellGideon FellDoctor Gideon Fell is a fictional character created by John Dickson Carr. He is the protagonist of 23 novels from 1933 through 1967 as well as a few short stories. Carr was an American who lived most of his adult life in England; Dr. Fell is an Englishman who lives in the London suburbs.Dr... - Nicholas Blake's Thou Shell of Death (1935), a locked-room mystery
- Josephine TeyJosephine TeyJosephine Tey was a pseudonym used by Elizabeth Mackintosh a Scottish author best known for her mystery novels. She also wrote as Gordon Daviot, under which name she wrote plays with an historical theme....
's A Shilling for Candles (1936) — which became the basis for Alfred HitchcockAlfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's film Young and Innocent (1937) - Ethel Lina WhiteEthel Lina WhiteEthel Lina White was a British crime writer, best known for her novel, The Wheel Spins , on which the Alfred Hitchcock film, The Lady Vanishes , was based.-Early years:...
's The Wheel Spins (1936) — which was filmed by Hitchcock as The Lady VanishesThe Lady Vanishes (1938 film)The Lady Vanishes is a 1938 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and adapted by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder from the 1936 novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White...
(1938) (with a changed ending) - Clayton RawsonClayton RawsonClayton Rawson was an American mystery writer, editor, and amateur magician. His four novels frequently invoke his great knowledge of stage magic and feature as their fictional detective The Great Merlini, a professional magician who runs a shop selling magic supplies...
's Death from a Top HatDeath from a Top HatDeath from a Top Hat is a locked-room mystery novel written by Clayton Rawson.It is the first of four mysteries featuring The Great Merlini, a stage magician and Rawson's favorite protagonist....
, a locked-room mystery - Michael Innes's Lament for a Maker
- Cyril HareCyril HareCyril Hare, the pseudonym of Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark was an English judge and crime writer.- Life and work :...
's Tragedy at Law (1942) - Helen McCloyHelen McCloyHelen McCloy , pseudonym Helen Clarkson, was an American mystery writer, whose series character Dr. Basil Willing debuted in Dance of Death . Willing believes, that "every criminal leaves psychic fingerprints, and he can't wear gloves to hide them." He appeared in 13 of McCloy's novels and in...
's Cue for Murder (1942) — set in the Broadway district and featuring Dr. Basil Willing - Christianna BrandChristianna BrandChristianna Brand was a British crime writer and children's author.- Background :Christianna Brand was born Mary Christianna Milne in Malaya and grew up in India. She had a number of different occupations, including model, dancer, shop assistant and governess...
's Green for DangerGreen for DangerGreen for Danger is a popular 1944 detective novel by Christianna Brand, praised for its clever plot, interesting characters, and wartime hospital setting. It was made into a 1946 film which is regarded by film historians as one of the greatest screen adaptations of a Golden Age mystery...
(1944) — which was made into a celebrated film in (1946) - Edmund CrispinEdmund CrispinEdmund Crispin was the pseudonym of Robert Bruce Montgomery , an English crime writer and composer.-Life and work:Montgomery was born in Chesham Bois, Buckinghamshire...
's The Moving ToyshopThe Moving ToyshopThe Moving Toyshop is a comic crime novel by Edmund Crispin, published in 1946. The novel features the detective and Oxford don, Gervase Fen.It is dedicated to the poet Philip Larkin, Crispin's contemporary at St. John's College, Oxford...
(1946), a Golden Age mystery which also parodies certain conventions of the genre - Shear MadnessShear MadnessShear Madness is one of the longest-running nonmusical plays in the world, owned by Marilyn Abrams and Bruce Jordan.-Creation:David Eastwood and Bruce Jordan acquired rights for a murder mystery originally titled "Scherenschnitt," written by German playwright Paul Pörtner , and made it into "Shear...
, a very long running play, which opened in 1980. - Case ClosedCase ClosedCase Closed, known as in Japan, is a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. The series is serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday since February 2, 1994, and has been collected in 73 tankōbon volumes as of September 2011...
, a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho AoyamaGosho Aoyama, born on June 21, 1963 in Hokuei, Tottori Prefecture, Japan is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the creator of the manga series Detective Conan .-Educational background:Aoyama was talented in drawing even at an early age... - Kindaichi Case FilesKindaichi Case Filesis a serialized Japanese mystery manga series based on the crime solving adventures of a high school student, Hajime Kindaichi, the supposed grandson of the famous private detective Kosuke Kindaichi. They are written by Yōzaburō Kanari or Seimaru Amagi and illustrated by Fumiya Satō...
, another Japanese detective manga series written by Yōzaburō KanariYōzaburō Kanariis a Japanese manga story writer, best known for creating the Kindaichi Case Files series.He made his debut in 1991 with manga Chōzunō Silver Wolf .- Works :...
, later by Seimaru Amagi, and illustrated by Fumiya SatōFumiya Satois a female Japanese manga artist. She is best known for the manga series Kinda'ichi Case Files and Detective School Q. In 1995, she received the Kodansha Manga Award for her work on Kinda'ichi Case Files.-External links:*...
. - The British soap operaSoap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
HollyoaksHollyoaksHollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
has had one whodunit, Who Killed Calvin? with Theresa McQueen shooting Calvin Valentine on his and Theresa's cousin Carmel's wedding day. - In March 2001, EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
character Phil MitchellPhil MitchellPhilip James "Phil" Mitchell is a long-running fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Steve McFadden.Phil first arrived in Albert Square on 20 February 1990, and was soon joined by his brother, Grant, sister Sam and mother Peggy...
(Steve McFaddenSteve McFaddenSteve McFadden is an English actor, known for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, which he has played since1990.-Early life:...
) was gunned down outside his home in Albert Square, after earning himself a endless list of enemies. The whodunit was EastEnders biggest storyline ever; 22 million viewers tuned in on 5 April 2001, to find out that Lisa FowlerLisa FowlerLisa Deborah Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lucy Benjamin from 1998 to 2003 and in 2010. Lisa was instrumental in one of EastEnders most highly publicised and anticipated storylines, dubbed Who Shot Phil? in 2001, where she gunned down her former...
, Phil's former girlfriend, was the culprit. - EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
character Archie MitchellArchie MitchellArchibald Lionel "Archie" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Larry Lamb.The character of Archie is the father of already established characters Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell , and a member of the Mitchell family, who have appeared in the soap since 1990...
(Larry LambLarry Lamb (actor)Lawrence Douglas "Larry" Lamb is an English actor who has worked frequently in television. He is best known for playing one of the greatest villains of British soap Archie Mitchell in the BBC television soap EastEnders, Michael Shipman in the BBC television show Gavin & Stacey and Mischievous...
) was killed when the Queen Victoria Bust was pushed from the bar of the Queen Vic. 18 million viewers tuned in on the live episode in February 2010 to find out that Stacey SlaterStacey SlaterStacey Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lacey Turner. She made her first appearance on 1 November 2004. The character was introduced as a feisty and troublesome teenager, an extension of the already established Slater clan...
(Lacey TurnerLacey TurnerLacey Amelia Turner is an award-winning English actress. She is best known for portraying the role of Stacey Slater on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, a role for which she has won 33 awards...
), Archie's rape victim, was the killer. - In December 2010, Coronation StreetCoronation StreetCoronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
character Tracy BarlowTracy BarlowTracy Lynette Barlow is a fictional character in the British television soap opera Coronation Street. She is currently portrayed, since 2002, by Kate Ford, the latest in a series of actresses who have played Tracy at various ages...
(Kate FordKate FordKate Connerty is a British actress best known for playing the role of Tracy Barlow in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street from 2002 to 2007. Kate returned to Coronation Street on Christmas Eve 2010....
) was attacked in her back yard after insulting a number of residents in the Rovers Return InnRovers Return InnThe Rovers Return Inn is a fictional public house on the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street. The Rovers Return occupies the corner of Coronation Street and Rosamund Street. Since the first episode it has been the principal setting in the show and many of its most memorable moments...
. Claire PeacockClaire PeacockClaire Peacock , is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Julia Haworth, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 9 April 2003, as the new nanny of established character Ashley Peacock's son Joshua...
confessed to the attack and reasoned that Tracy insulted her dead husband.
Recent additions to the subgenre of the whodunit include the novels of Simon Brett
Simon Brett
Simon Brett is a prolific writer of whodunnits. The son of a chartered surveyor, he was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first-class honours degree in English...
, the Thackery Phin novels of John Sladek
John Sladek
John Thomas Sladek was an American science fiction author, known for his satirical and surreal novels.- Life and work :...
, Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block is an acclaimed contemporary American crime writer best known for two long-running New York–set series, about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, respectively...
's The Burglar in the Library (1997), which is a spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
set in the present in an English-style country house, Kinky Friedman
Kinky Friedman
Richard S. "Kinky" Friedman is an American Texas Country singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician and former columnist for Texas Monthly who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain. He was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 election...
's Road Kill (1997), Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
's Dead Famous
Dead Famous (novel)
Dead Famous is a comedy/whodunit novel by Ben Elton in which ratings for a reality TV show, very similar to Big Brother, rocket when a housemate is murdered...
(2001), and Gilbert Adair
Gilbert Adair
Gilbert Adair is a Scottish author, film critic and journalist. He won the Author's Club First Novel Award in 1988 for his novel The Holy Innocents. In 1995 he won the Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize for his book A Void, which is a translation of the French book La Disparition by Georges Perec...
's The Act of Roger Murgatroyd
The Act of Roger Murgatroyd
The Act of Roger Murgatroyd: An Entertainment is a whodunit by Gilbert Adair first published in 2006. Set in the 1930s and written in the vein of an Agatha Christie novel, it has all the classic ingredients of a 1930s mystery and is, according to the author, "at one and the same time, a...
(2006).
An important variation on the whodunit is the inverted detective story
Inverted detective story
An inverted detective story, also known as a "howdhecatchem", is a murder mystery fiction structure in which the commission of the crime is shown or described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator. The story then describes the detective's attempt to solve the mystery...
(also referred to as a "howcatchem" or "howdunnit") where the guilty party and the crime are openly revealed to the reader/audience and the story follows the investigator's efforts to find out the truth while the criminal attempts to prevent it. The Columbo TV movie series is the classic example of this kind of detective story (Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
also fits into this genre). This tradition dates back to the inverted detective stories of R Austin Freeman
R Austin Freeman
Richard Austin Freeman — known as R. Austin Freeman — was a British writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr Thorndyke...
, and reached an apotheosis of sorts in Malice Aforethought
Malice Aforethought
Malice Aforethought is a murder mystery novel written by Anthony Berkeley Cox, using the pen name Francis Iles. It involves a Devon physician who slowly poisons his domineering wife so that he may be with the woman he loves. It is an early and prominent example of the "inverted detective story",...
written by Francis Iles (a pseudonym of Anthony Berkeley). In the same vein is Iles's Before the Fact
Before the Fact
Before the Fact is a novel by Anthony Berkeley writing under the pen name "Francis Iles".Iles' novel is experimental in that it is not a whodunit: It does not take long to determine the identity of the villain and his motives...
(1932), which became the Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
movie Suspicion
Suspicion (film)
Suspicion is a romantic psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine as a married couple. It also stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, Isabel Jeans, Heather Angel, and Leo G...
. Successors of the psychological suspense novel include Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short-story writer most widely known for her psychological thrillers, which led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times, notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951...
's This Sweet Sickness
This Sweet Sickness
This Sweet Sickness is a psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith, about an insane young man who is obsessed with his ex-lover.-Synopsis:...
(1960), Simon Brett
Simon Brett
Simon Brett is a prolific writer of whodunnits. The son of a chartered surveyor, he was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first-class honours degree in English...
's A Shock to the System
A Shock to the System
A Shock to the System is a U.S. comedy crime thriller film directed by Jan Egleson, starring Michael Caine, Swoosie Kurtz, Elizabeth McGovern, and Peter Riegert...
(1984), and Stephen Dobyns
Stephen Dobyns
Stephen J. Dobyns is an American poet and novelist born in Orange, New Jersey, and residing in Westerly, RI.-Life:Was born on February 19, 1941 in Orange, New Jersey to Lester L., a minister, and Barbara Johnston...
's The Church of Dead Girls (1997). The critically acclaimed HBO show True Blood
True Blood
True Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...
has featured numerous major, and minor, whodunit mysteries in its first and second seasons.
Parody and spoof
In addition to standard humor, parodyParody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
, spoof, and pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
have had a long tradition within the field of crime fiction. (A pastiche is a piece of writing in which the style is patterned completely upon the original work and no parody or ridicule is involved. Examples are the Sherlock Holmes stories written by John Dickson Carr, and hundreds of similar works by such authors as E. B. Greenwood.) As for parody, the first Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
spoofs appeared shortly after Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
published his first stories. Similarly, there have been innumerable Agatha Christie send-ups. The idea is to exaggerate and mock the most noticeable features of the original and, by doing so, amuse especially those readers who are also familiar with that original.
One of the earliest parodies of the whodunit genre in general is Englishman E. C. Bentley
Edmund Clerihew Bentley
E. C. Bentley was a popular English novelist and humorist of the early twentieth century, and the inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse on biographical topics...
's (1875–1956) novel Trent's Last Case
Trent's Last Case
Trent's Last Case is a detective novel written by E.C. Bentley and first published in 1913. Its central character reappeared subsequently in the novel Trent's Own Case and the short-story collection Trent Intervenes .-Plot summary:...
(1913), which introduced Philip Trent, a detective who gets everything wrong right from the start: assigned to investigate the murder of English millionaire Sigsbee Manderson, who is found shot in the library of his country house, Trent makes his first major mistake when he falls head over heels in love with the main suspect. In the course of his investigation he jumps at the wrong clues, in his reasoning he carefully eliminates the wrong suspects, and finally he arrives at a conclusion concerning the identity of Manderson's murderer which turns out to be completely wrong (though Trent is not presented as a bumbler at all). At the end of the novel, the real perpetrator casually informs him during dinner that he/she has shot Manderson. These are Trent's final words to the murderer:
- '[...] I'm cured. I will never touch a crime-mystery again. The Manderson affair shall be Philip Trent's last case. His high-blown pride at length breaks under him.' Trent's smile suddenly returned. 'I could have borne everything but that last revelation of the impotence of human reason. [...] I have absolutely nothing left to say, except this: you have beaten me. I drink your health in a spirit of self-abasement. And you shall pay for the dinner.'
A more recent example of a spoof, which at the same time shows that the borderline between "serious" mystery (if there is any such thing) and its parody is necessarily blurred, is U.S. mystery writer Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block is an acclaimed contemporary American crime writer best known for two long-running New York–set series, about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, respectively...
's novel The Burglar in the Library (1997). The burglar of the title is Bernie Rhodenbarr, who has booked a weekend at an English-style country house just to steal a signed, and therefore very valuable, first edition of Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
's The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep is a hardboiled crime novel by Raymond Chandler, the first in his acclaimed series about detective Philip Marlowe. The work has been adapted twice into film, once in 1946 and again in 1978...
, which he knows has been sitting there on one of the shelves for more than half a century. Alas, immediately after his arrival a dead body turns up in the library, the room is sealed off, and Rhodenbarr has to track down the murderer before he can enter the library again and start hunting for the precious book.
Murder by Death
Murder by Death
Murder by Death is a 1976 comedy film with a cast featuring Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, James Coco, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Nancy Walker, and Estelle Winwood, written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.The plot is a spoof of...
is Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's spoof of many of the best-known whodunit sleuths. In the 1976 film, Sam Spade
Sam Spade
Sam Spade is a fictional character who is the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon and the various films and adaptations based on it, as well as in three lesser known short stories by Hammett....
(from The Maltese Falcon) becomes Sam Diamond, Hercule Poirot becomes Milo Perrier, etc. The film makes particular fun of the relationship between each detective and his or her sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
. The characters are all gathered in a large country house, given meaningless clues, and all of them fail to solve the mystery.
Another example is the Lord Darcy
Lord Darcy (fiction)
Lord Darcy is a detective in an alternate history, created by Randall Garrett. The first stories were asserted to take place in the same year as they were published, but in a world very different from our own.-Title character:...
stories by Randall Garrett
Randall Garrett
Randall Garrett was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s...
. Despite their fantasy fiction setting, they are "straight" whodunits. However, the names of many of the supporting characters are pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
s, suggesting Garrett's friends, or the lead characters in other detective stories. Often, the personality of the character also reflects this.
In 2006 Gilbert Adair published the first of three novels so far which combine many aspects of the golden age of crime fiction, most notably the works of Agatha Christie.
Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's The Real Inspector Hound
The Real Inspector Hound
The Real Inspector Hound is a short, one-act play by Tom Stoppard. The plot follows two theatre critics named Moon and Birdboot who are watching a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery, in the style of a whodunit...
is a send up of crime fiction novels and features a bumbling detective.
The 2001 film Gosford Park
Gosford Park
Gosford Park is a 2001 British-American mystery comedy-drama film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. The film stars an ensemble cast, which includes Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Alan Bates, and Michael Gambon...
paid homage to the classic whodunit premise, while at the same time presenting a very original story.
"The Unicorn and the Wasp
The Unicorn and the Wasp
"The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the 7th episode in the revised fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired by BBC One on 17 May 2008 at 19:00. Perhaps due to its later broadcast, it received an overnight audience rating of 7.7 million, making it the...
", an episode of the revived Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
series, is a variation of the genre. The Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
, companion Donna Noble
Donna Noble
Donna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
and Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
investigate a series of murders committed by an alien at a dinner party.
Homicide investigation
The term whodunit is also used among homicideHomicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
investigators to describe a case in which the identity of the killer is not quickly apparent. Since most homicides are committed by people with whom the victim is acquainted or related, a whodunit case is usually more difficult to solve.
See also
- Crime fictionCrime fictionCrime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
- List of crime writers
- Detective fictionDetective fictionDetective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
for an overview - Historical whodunnitHistorical whodunnitThe historical whodunnit is a sub-genre of historical fiction which bears elements of the classical mystery novel, in which the central plot involves a crime and the setting has some historical significance. One of the big areas of debate within the community of fans is what makes a given setting...
- Howcatchem
- Mystery fictionMystery fictionMystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
- Mystery filmMystery filmMystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
External links
- A John Dickson Carr Page
- Ellery Queen: A Website on Deduction
- All About Agatha Christie A Comprehensive guide to the life and work of Agatha Christie
- Whodunit Mystery Bookstore UK and Canadian book authors prominently featured
- Whodunnit at TV Tropes