Mystery



What Kids and Teachers Think

  • Who done it? A hunt for the unknown.
  • A story with a question (generally a crime) to be solved deductively.
  • "The mystery story or novel is a work of fiction in which the element of mystery or terror plays a controlling part." (A Glossary of Literary Terms).

    Some mysteries are detective stories where the clues from the stories are presented to the reader at the same time that the detective in the story receives them.

    Some of the most popular children's books have been mysteries. Some examples are the Nancy Drew Series and the Hardy Boys Series. These books were written by many different authors using a pseudonym. So the Nancy Drew books are all listed as written by Carolyn Keene.



    History and Classics of the Genre

    In the middle ages mysteries were plays based on Biblical history. Secular themes were introduced in the Renaissance era.

    Some early mysteries were "The Murders in Rue Morgue" (1841) and "The Purloined Letter."(1845) both by Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was influenced by Charles Dickens.

    Sherlock Holmes stories, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, came on to the mystery scene in 1887 with his book, "A Study in Scarlet" (1887)."

    The first woman to write a detective novel has Katherine Anne Greene who wrote "The Leavenworth Case" in 1878. However the the most famous woman in this field was Agatha Christie (1890-1976) who wrote more than 80 mystery novels in her 50-year career.

    Resources for Mystery

    Really fun mystery activities for kids! (writing contests, weekly puzzles, and more!)
    MysteryNet, which is "mystery central" online! (source for this page)
    SFF Net (Great site for all kinds of genre literature)
    History of the Mystery, on MysteryNet (source for this page)
    MysteryNet's very good description of the different types of mystery stories
    Ultimate Mystery Web Guide
    Sisters In Crime (great info on women mystery authors!)

    If you know of any good Mystery links, please visit our
    Contact Us page
    and fill out the form, letting us know about the link!

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