Re:Father Knox’s decalogue: the ten rules of Golden Age dete...
by dang on Wednesday December 01, 2021 @09:53PM
(#29411960)
(spoiler, sorry --)
> The criminal must be someone mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to follow
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd breaks that one decisively, no? I find it interesting that Agatha's first classic was already turning the genre on its head.
Pretty sure she broke this one too:
> The detective must not himself commit the crime.
Re:Father Knox’s decalogue: the ten rules of Golden Age dete...
by cafard on Thursday December 02, 2021 @06:29AM
(#29414862)
Somewhere, probably in the essay referred to, Knox acknowledges Christie's bending of the rules. But it has been an awfully long time since I read the essay.
> The criminal must be someone mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to follow
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd breaks that one decisively, no? I find it interesting that Agatha's first classic was already turning the genre on its head.
Pretty sure she broke this one too:
> The detective must not himself commit the crime.
... but I'll refrain from mentioning where.