Meg Morrison
History of Mystery ... from Cicero and Poe to Columbo
Modern Times
Head to a bookstore, any bookstore. The mystery section has expanded from the private eye style - whether it's Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone or Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshewski - to medical thrillers by Tess Gerritsen, Patricia Cornwall and others, to cozy offerings - books without blood, guts or profanity, usually include an amateur sleuth with some kind of "gimmick" such as a coffeeshop owner or an expert in herbs.
Historical mystery also has a spot on the shelf, from Roman antiquity to Ellis Peters' medieval Brother Cadfael and Sharan Newman's ex-nun Catherine, to the 18th century with Kate Ross' Julian Kestrel and the 19th century with Will Thomas' Holmes/Watson style sleuths of Barker and Llewellyn and Victoria Thompson's midwife Sarah Brandt to the turn of the century and beyond. The 20th century may even be added to the 19th century "historical" period. Only time will tell. But one thing's clear.
There's plenty of mystery for all!
Head to a bookstore, any bookstore. The mystery section has expanded from the private eye style - whether it's Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone or Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshewski - to medical thrillers by Tess Gerritsen, Patricia Cornwall and others, to cozy offerings - books without blood, guts or profanity, usually include an amateur sleuth with some kind of "gimmick" such as a coffeeshop owner or an expert in herbs.
Historical mystery also has a spot on the shelf, from Roman antiquity to Ellis Peters' medieval Brother Cadfael and Sharan Newman's ex-nun Catherine, to the 18th century with Kate Ross' Julian Kestrel and the 19th century with Will Thomas' Holmes/Watson style sleuths of Barker and Llewellyn and Victoria Thompson's midwife Sarah Brandt to the turn of the century and beyond. The 20th century may even be added to the 19th century "historical" period. Only time will tell. But one thing's clear.
There's plenty of mystery for all!
The "Father" of Mystery?
Edgar Allen Poe is considered to be the "father" of mystery. However, a Roman orator, writer and statesman, Cicero, first hammered a few murderers with his speeches which became long ago "bestsellers" in those days. Not much in between till Poe published a short story in 1841, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" with Auguste C. Dupin. Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes became a legend with A Study in Scarlet published in 1887.
Mystery's Golden Age didn't occur until Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple entered the scene after World War I, along with Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey, with the English country house as a setting for murder. The American hard-boiled detective style of mysteries became the rage once Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade and Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe took on the seamier side of life on the streets.
Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe never left his apartment, letting sidekick Archie Goodwin do all his legwork. Ellery Queen's books morphed into a popular mystery magazine, along with Alfred Hitchcock whose Hollywood movies are still popular today - Rear Window, Rope and North by Northwest.
Even children love a good mystery! They can enjoy old series books with the Bobbsey Twins, the Boxcar Children, Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden. The game Clue is still a favorite as well.
Edgar Allen Poe is considered to be the "father" of mystery. However, a Roman orator, writer and statesman, Cicero, first hammered a few murderers with his speeches which became long ago "bestsellers" in those days. Not much in between till Poe published a short story in 1841, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" with Auguste C. Dupin. Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes became a legend with A Study in Scarlet published in 1887.
Mystery's Golden Age didn't occur until Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple entered the scene after World War I, along with Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey, with the English country house as a setting for murder. The American hard-boiled detective style of mysteries became the rage once Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade and Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe took on the seamier side of life on the streets.
Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe never left his apartment, letting sidekick Archie Goodwin do all his legwork. Ellery Queen's books morphed into a popular mystery magazine, along with Alfred Hitchcock whose Hollywood movies are still popular today - Rear Window, Rope and North by Northwest.
Even children love a good mystery! They can enjoy old series books with the Bobbsey Twins, the Boxcar Children, Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden. The game Clue is still a favorite as well.
Earle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason helped to spawn the TV mystery epoch with Dragnet, Kojak, Columbo, The Rockford Files, Hawaii 5-0, Remington Steele and modern realistic shows like CSI.
