Editing Detective fiction (section)

==Golden Age novels==
{{Main|Golden Age of Detective Fiction}}
[[File:Agatha Christie.png|thumb| [[Agatha Christie]] (1890–1976)]]
[[File:Mika Waltari.jpg|thumb|[[Mika Waltari]] (1908–1979), better known for his [[historical novel]]s, also wrote crime novels such as [[Inspector Palmu]]s.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.bonnierrights.fi/books/who-murdered-mrs-skrof/| title = Who Murdered Mrs. Skrof? - Bonnier Rights Finland| access-date = 2020-08-01| archive-date = 2020-10-26| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201026095849/https://www.bonnierrights.fi/books/who-murdered-mrs-skrof/| url-status = live}}</ref>]]
The [[interwar period]] (the 1920s and 1930s) is generally referred to as the [[Golden Age of Detective Fiction]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/12/a-nice-gentle-murder/|title=P.D. James: Who killed the golden age of crime?|date=2013-12-14|work=The Spectator|access-date=2018-03-29|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330082433/https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/12/a-nice-gentle-murder/|url-status=live}}</ref> During this period, a number of very popular writers emerged, including mostly British but also a notable subset of American and New Zealand writers. Female writers constituted a major portion of notable Golden Age writers. [[Agatha Christie]], [[Dorothy L. Sayers]], [[Josephine Tey]], [[Margery Allingham]], and [[Ngaio Marsh]] were particularly famous female writers of this time.<ref name=":1" /> Apart from Marsh (a New Zealander), they were all British.

Various conventions of the detective genre were standardized during the Golden Age, and in 1929, some of them were codified by the English Catholic priest and author of detective stories [[Ronald Knox]] in his [[Ronald Knox#Knox's Ten Rules for Detective Fiction|'Decalogue']] of rules for detective fiction. One of his rules was to avoid [[supernatural]] elements so that the focus remained on the mystery itself.<ref name=":1" /> Knox has contended that a detective story "must have as its main interest the unravelling of a mystery; a mystery whose elements are clearly presented to the reader at an early stage in the proceedings, and whose nature is such as to arouse curiosity, a curiosity which is gratified at the end."<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gYL2DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|title=Queering Agatha Christie: Revisiting the Golden Age of Detective Fiction|last=Bernthal|first=J. C.|date=2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-33533-9|pages=1–24|language=en}}</ref> Another common convention in Golden Age detective stories involved an outsider–sometimes a salaried investigator or a police officer, but often a gifted amateur—investigating a murder committed in a closed environment by one of a limited number of suspects.

The most widespread subgenre of the detective novel became the [[whodunit]] (or whodunnit, short for "who done it?"). In this subgenre, great ingenuity may be exercised in narrating the crime, usually a homicide, and the subsequent investigation. This objective was to conceal the identity of the criminal from the reader until the end of the book, when the method and culprit are both revealed. According to scholars Carole Kismaric and [[Marvin 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."<ref name="NDHB" />

[[John Dickson Carr]]—who also wrote as Carter Dickson—used the “puzzle” approach in his writing which was characterized by including a complex puzzle for the reader to try to unravel. He created ingenious and seemingly impossible plots and is regarded as the master of the "[[locked room mystery]]". Two of Carr's most famous works are ''The Case of Constant Suicides'' (1941) and ''[[The Hollow Man (Carr novel)|The Hollow Man]]'' (1935).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/29/top-10-locked-room-mysteries-adrian-mckinty|title=The top 10 locked-room mysteries|last=McKinty|first=Adrian|date=2014-01-29|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-03-29|archive-date=2017-04-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424180807/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/29/top-10-locked-room-mysteries-adrian-mckinty|url-status=live}}</ref> Another author, [[Cecil Street]]—who also wrote as John Rhode—wrote of a detective, [[Dr. Priestley]], who specialised in elaborate technical devices. In the United States, the whodunit subgenre was adopted and extended by [[Rex Stout]] and [[Ellery Queen]], along with others. The emphasis on formal rules during the Golden Age produced great works, albeit with highly standardized form. The most successful novels of this time included “an original and exciting plot; distinction in the writing, a vivid sense of place, a memorable and compelling hero and the ability to draw the reader into their comforting and highly individual world.”<ref name=":1" />

=== Agatha Christie ===
{{Main|Agatha Christie|Agatha Christie bibliography}}
Agatha Christie is not only the most famous Golden Age writer, but also considered one of the most famous authors of all genres of all time. At the time of her death in 1976, “she was the best-selling novelist in history.”<ref name=":2" />

Many of the most popular books of the Golden Age were written by Agatha Christie. She produced long series of books featuring detective characters like [[Hercule Poirot]] and [[Miss Marple]], among others. Her use of basing her stories on complex puzzles, “combined with her stereotyped characters and picturesque middle-class settings”, is credited for her success.<ref name=":2" /> Christie's best-known works include ''[[Murder on the Orient Express]]'' (1934), ''[[Death on the Nile]]'' (1937), ''[[Three Blind Mice and Other Stories|Three Blind Mice]]'' (1950) and ''[[And Then There Were None]]'' (1939).