Meny

Theme article

History of crime fiction

By: Johan Wopenka

Depending upon how one wishes to define the concept ‘crime fiction’, it is possible to trace its history and roots back in time. When Dorothy L. Sayers compiled her comprehensive three-volume anthology Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror (1928–34) she started with two stories from the Old Testament, and when Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee (alias Ellery Queen) wrote their fundamental The Detective Short Story : A Bibliography (1942), they listed eight Chinese collections of short stories which are believed to have been written down between 600 A.D. and 1800 A.D., some of them containing stories based on an older, oral tradition.

Further reading

Literary figure

David Wintringham

Gender: Male

He has an ordinary, plain appearance, but through his work as a doctor he has become accustomed to noticing details. He likes to become involved in murder cases, which is not always appreciated by Scotland Yard, but Chief Inspector Mitchell listens to David Wintringham’s theories, and with their help can solve several cases. The doctor also performs solo in some of Josephine Bell’s novels.

Further reading