Mysteries have been around as long as humans. Not every mystery is sinister. When we misplace something, we are presented with the mystery of finding it again. Some mysteries can be solved by asking a simple question. Other mysteries are far more complex and require the use of deductive reasoning – who, what, when, where, how, and sometimes why.
When did writers begin writing mystery novels? Who wrote the first mystery? That question is practically impossible to answer because there are so many different types of mysteries. Was it Shakespeare? Is Hamlet the first detective?
Who wrote the first detective novel? Which amateur sleuth is featured in the first mystery novel? When did women begin writing mysteries and when did female characters begin solving mysteries? In honor of Mystery Month, we’ve uncovered a few possible answers for you and some fun facts about mysteries.
“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” is a short story by Edgar Allen Poe. It was published in Graham’s Magazine in 1841. It is often described as the first modern detective story. C. Auguste Dupin solves the mystery of two women who were murdered in Paris by finding a hair at the crime scene that does not appear to be human. Dupin’s investigative techniques are copied in later works of detective fiction and the story is told by Dupin’s best friend. Dupin appears in two later stories by Poe, “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt” and “The Purloined Letter.”
Charles Dickens introduced Inspector Bucket in Bleak House in 1852. Bucket was a fictional detective on the London police force and the first detective to appear in an English novel.
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins was published November 26, 1859. It was considered a “sensation novel.” Collins’ protagonist, Walter Hartright, an art teacher, employs investigative techniques used by later private detectives. Many consider it to be the first detective novel even though Hartright is not a real detective.
William Stephen Hayward published The Revelations of a Lady Detective in 1861 or 1864. This was the first appearance of a female detective in mystery literature. The story is narrated by Mrs. Paschal, who has become a detective to earn a living and get out of financial difficulties.
The Notting Hill Mystery was published in 1862 in eight parts. Its author published the work under the pseudonym Charles Felix. Many believe this work is the first true detective novel.
In 1864, James Redding Ware published The Female Detective under the pen name Andrew Forrester. The book is narrated by Mrs. G. who uses an organized and methodical method to solve crimes.
Metta Victoria Fuller Victor writing under the pen name, Seeley Register, published The Dead Letter in 1866. She is considered to be the author of the first American detective novel.
Anna Katharine Green wrote her detective novel. The Leavenworth Case in 1878 featuring New York City Police detective, Ebenezer Gryce. She later wrote mystery novels featuring the female detectives, Violet Strange and Amelia Butterworth.
Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887. The first series of short stories about the master sleuth whose adventures were recorded by his best friend, Dr. John Watson later appeared in The Strand Magazine beginning with “A Scandal in Bohemia” in 1891. Holmes is considered the best-known fictional detective in literature.
Father Brown is a fictional Catholic priest and amateur sleuth appearing in 53 short stories by British author G.K. Chesterton between 1910 and 1936. Brown uses intuition and his keen understanding of human behavior to solve crimes. He makes his first appearance in “The Blue Cross.”
Belgian Detective Hercules Poirot made his debut in Agatha Christie’s first published novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920. Her amateur sleuth Miss Marple first appeared in The Murder at the Vicarage in 1930.
Dorothy L. Sayers introduced Lord Peter Wimsey in the 1923 mystery novel, Whose Body? Wimsey became the archetype for the British gentleman detective who solves mysteries for his own amusement.
Nancy Drew Mysteries are 92 years old this month. The intrepid amateur sleuth first appears in The Secret of the Old Clock in 1930. Publisher Edward Stratemeyer created the Nancy Drew character and the series as the female counterpart to the Hardy Boys Mysteries which he created in 1927. The first book in the Hardy Boys series is The Tower Treasure. Nancy Drew books have been written by various authors using the same pseudonym, Carolyn Keene from 1930 through the present day. The Hardy Boys mysteries were also written by various authors using the pseudonym, Franklin W. Dixon.
Raymond Chandler became a detective fiction writer in 1932 after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Great Depression. His first short story “Blackmailers Don’t Shoot” was published in 1933 in Black Mask Magazine. His first book, The Big Sleep featuring the hard-boiled detective, Philip Marlowe, was published in 1939. He would go on to write six other novels. Chandler died before completing his eighth novel, Poodle Springs. Chandler’s family commissioned Robert B. Parker to complete Poodle Springs in 1989 for the 30th anniversary of Chandler’s death.
Robert B. Parker wrote the first of 40 Spenser Mysteries, The Godwulf Manuscript in 1973. After completing Chandler’s unfinished novel, Poodle Springs, Parker wrote the sequel to The Big Sleep, Perchance to Dream, featuring Chandler’s character, Philip Marlowe. Parker also wrote mystery series featuring Jesse Stone, Cole & Hitch, and Sunny Randall.
Dale Furutani wrote his first mystery novel, Death in Little Tokyo featuring detective, Ken Tanaka in 1993. It won an Anthony Award and a Macavity making Furutani the first Asian American to win a major mystery award. In 1998, Dale Furutani wrote Death at the Crossroads, the first book in his trilogy featuring Matsuyama Kaze, a lordless samurai wandering Japan in 1603 in search of a missing girl. Along the way, Kaze solves other mysteries. Furutani includes fascinating historical facts about Japan and its transition to the Tokugawa period. He recently completed a fourth novel about Kaze to satisfy his readers about events after the trilogy titled The Ronin Returns.