MYSTERY

By HMilgraum and AKomarow__MYSTERY__

Mystery fiction is a literary genre in which the cause (or causes) of a mysterious happening, often a crime, is gradually revealed by the hero or heroine; this is accomplished through a mixture of intelligence, ingenuity, the logical interpretation of evidence, and sometimes sheer luck. Although some critics trace the origins of the genre to such disparate works as Aesop's fables, Chaucer's __Canterbury Tales__//,// and the Apocrypha, most agree that the Western mystery, complete with all its conventions, emerged in 1841 with the publication of Edgar Allan Poe 's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue. The first full-length mystery novels were probably Wilkie Collins 's __The Woman in White__ (1860) and __The Moonstone__ (1868). Charles Dickens 's __The Mystery of Edwin Drood__ (1870) is a detective novel that is both intriguing and frustrating because, since the novel is unfinished, its crime is never solved. In 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published __A Study in Scarlet__, which introduced Sherlock Holmes, destined to become the most famous of all literary detectives.[|(click here for source)]

 Authors Agatha Christie Agatha Christie has only been outsold by Shakespeare and the Bible. Her career spanned over half a century in which time she released over eighty mystery novels and short story collections, as well as a handful of romance, non-fiction titles and an autobiography. She also wrote //The Mousetrap//, the world’s longest running play that can still be found drawing full houses in London’s West End. Dubbed the ‘Queen of Crime’ thanks to her world famous detective stories featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple among others, Christie is loved the world over (she’s been translated into forty-five different languages) though the breadth of themes in her novels is quite extraordinary and she truly deserves her place as one of the best-loved writers of all time.[|(click h][|ere for source]) Agatha Christie wrote, among others, __The Murder of Roger Ackroyd__ (1926), __Peril at End House__ (1932), and __Murder on the Orient Express__ (1934).[|(click here for source)]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Con an Doyle is the creator of Sherlock Holmes, the best-known detective in literature and the embodiment of scientific thinking. Sherlock Holmes stories have been translated into more than fifty languages, and made into plays, films, radio and television series, a musical comedy, a ballet, cartoons, comic books, and advertisement. By 1920 Doyle was one of the most highly paid writers in the world.Doyle was born on May 22, 1859 at Picardy Place, Edinburgh, as the son of Charles Altamont Doyle, a civil servant in the Edinburgh Office of Works, and Mary (Foley) Doyle. Doyle was educated in Jesuit schools. He studied at Edinburgh University and in 1884 he married Louise Hawkins. Doyle qualified as doctor in 1885. After graduation Doyle practiced medicine as an eye specialist at Southsea near Porsmouth in Hampshire until 1891 when he became a full time writer.The first story about Holmes, __A Stu____dy in Scarlet__, was published in 1887 in 'Beeton Christmas Annual.'The second Sherlock Holmes story, __The Sign of Four__, was written for the Lippincott's Magazine in 1890. In the Strand Magazine started to appear 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.' In 1893 Doyle was so wearied of his famous detective that he devised his death in the Final Problem (published in the Strand). In the story Holmes meets Moriarty at the fall of the Reichenbach in Switzerland and disappears. Watson finds a letter from Homes, stating "I have already explained to you, however, that my career had in any case reached its crisis, and that no possible conclusion to it could be more congenial to me than this."In __The Hound of the Baskervilles__ (1902) Doyle narrated an early case of the dead detective. The murder weapon in the story is an animal. He was knighted ("Sir Arthur") in 1902. Owing to public demand, Doyle resurrected his popular hero in The Empty House (1903). In these later stories Holmes stops using cocaine. Sherlock Holmes short stories were collected in five books. They first appeared in 1892 under the title __The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes__. The later ones were __The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes__ (1894), __The Return of Sherlock Holmes__ (1904), __His Last Bow__ (1917), and __The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes__ (1927). Conan Doyle's other publications include plays, verse, memoirs, short stories, and several historical novels and supernatural and speculative fiction.Doyle died on July 7, 1930 from heart disease at his home, Windlesham, Sussex. [|(click here for source)]

Ellen Raskin Ellen Raskin was a writer, illustrator, and designer. She was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up during the Great Depression. She primarily wrote for children. She received the 1979 Newbery Medal for her 1978 mystery novel, __The Westing Game__. Ms. Raskin was also an accomplished graphic artist. She designed dozens of dust jackets for books including the first edition of Madeleine L'Engle's classic __A Wrinkle in Time__.She married Dennis Flanagan, editor of the //Scientific American//, in 1965.Raskin died at the age of 56 on August 8, 1984 in New York City due to complications with connective tissue disease.[|(click here for source)]