detective fiction
Crime-solving literary genre
Detective fiction is a genre of storytelling centered on solving a crime, typically murder, through investigation and deduction.
The classic form features a brilliant detective—amateur or professional—who gathers clues, interviews suspects, and reveals the culprit in a climactic scene.
The genre ranges from cozy mysteries to hard-boiled noir: She reads detective fiction on long flights.
Also called mystery fiction or crime fiction, though these terms have slightly different emphases.
New and unusual
- noirHard-boiled film genre
- hardboiledTough, cynical fiction style
- cozy mysteryLow-violence amateur sleuth genre
- proceduralFollowing set steps
pulp · thriller · whodunit · locked-room · police procedural · golden age · amateur sleuth · fair play
Person found guilty
- motiveReason for action
- revealMake something visible
- twistRotating motion or surprise
- deductionConclusion from premises
confession · arrest · guilty · innocent · verdict · unmasking · denouement · accusation
- PoirotFictional Belgian detective
- Father BrownPriest who solves mysteries
- Nancy DrewTeen girl investigator
- private eyeHired investigator, unlicensed
Miss Marple · Sam Spade · Columbo · gumshoe · inspector · sidekick · Watson · magnifying glass
Facts supporting truth
- red herringIntentional misleading distraction
- false leadMisleading clue or trail
- cipherHidden writing system
- codeSymbolic communication system
cryptic message · hidden compartment · bloodstain · alibi · weapon · photograph · timeline · diary
Anxious uncertainty about outcomes
- intrigueSecret plotting or fascination
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
- tensionStretched or strained state
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
shadowy · gaslit · foggy · sinister · menacing · brooding · secrets · deception
Formal, probing examination
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- stakeoutProlonged covert observation
- undercoverSecretly engaged in espionage
- forensicsScientific crime-scene analysis
autopsy · fingerprint · footprint · search warrant · crime scene · evidence · testimony · witness
Deliberate unlawful killing
- homicideCausing another's death
- theftUnlawful taking of property
- kidnappingUnlawful seizure of person
- blackmailCoercion through damaging threats
fraud · forgery · poisoning · robbery · heist · burglary · embezzlement · conspiracy
novel
New and unusual
- noirHard-boiled film genre
- hardboiledTough, cynical fiction style
- cozy mysteryLow-violence amateur sleuth genre
procedural · pulp · thriller · whodunit · locked-room · police procedural · golden age · amateur sleuth · fair play · serial killer
culprit
Person found guilty
deduction · confession · arrest · guilty · innocent · verdict · unmasking · denouement · accusation · perpetrator
Sherlock Holmes
- PoirotFictional Belgian detective
- Father BrownPriest who solves mysteries
- Nancy DrewTeen girl investigator
Miss Marple · Sam Spade · Columbo · private eye · gumshoe · inspector · sidekick · Watson · magnifying glass · trench coat
evidence
Facts supporting truth
- red herringIntentional misleading distraction
- false leadMisleading clue or trail
- cipherHidden writing system
code · cryptic message · hidden compartment · bloodstain · alibi · weapon · photograph · timeline · diary · confession
suspense
Anxious uncertainty about outcomes
- intrigueSecret plotting or fascination
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
- tensionStretched or strained state
foreboding · shadowy · gaslit · foggy · sinister · menacing · brooding · secrets · deception · paranoia
interrogation
Formal, probing examination
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- stakeoutProlonged covert observation
- undercoverSecretly engaged in espionage
forensics · autopsy · fingerprint · footprint · search warrant · crime scene · evidence · testimony · witness · suspect
murder
Deliberate unlawful killing
- homicideCausing another's death
- theftUnlawful taking of property
- kidnappingUnlawful seizure of person
blackmail · fraud · forgery · poisoning · robbery · heist · burglary · embezzlement · conspiracy · smuggling
- Japanese LiteratureNorwegian Wood, Rashomon, Confessions, Kappa, Genji
- fictionnovel, novels, novella, novellas, short story
- genresaction, comedy, fantasy, horror, documentary
- literaturebooks, book, poetry, stories, novels
- British LiteratureShakespeare, Dickens, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Austen
- crime fictionmurder mystery, whodunit, crime novel, mystery novels, crime stories
detective fictiontrue crime
Genre covering actual offenses
investigative journalism · crime documentary · court reporting · courtroom transcripts
detective fictionromance fiction
Genre centered on courtship
crime fiction · villain protagonist · anti-narrative · literary fiction · noir fiction
fiction, detective, detection, detected, detector, detecting, undetected, detectable, undetectable