Murder mysteries through the ages

By Alice O’Donnell

Arts & Entertainment Editor

I don’t know about you, but my Netflix has been pushing its new film Enola Holmes onto me. Every time I logged in, Millie Bobby Brown in period costume popped up. Eventually, I bit the bullet and watched it. And begrudgingly, I really enjoyed it. It

I think at the heart of a good detective story is an unlikely detective. Someone who doesn’t fit the stereotypes of the role, someone whose differences end up allowing them to solve the case... As you watch these unlikely heroes persevere and allow justice to be served, your own problems no longer seem as massive.

got me back into the detective genre, the who-dunnit books. For over a century, we’ve been blessed with a top-notch selection of murder mystery novels. From the Victorians to 1920’s to modern day, below are my top picks of murder mysteries.

A Study in Scarlet, by Arthur Conan Doyle The first, the original, the opening. Jump right into the world of consulting detective Sherlock Holmes. I was quite surprised with the formatting of this novel – although the book takes time to establish the crime, and Sherlock and Watson do struggle to untangle the mystery, the murderer is caught within the first half. The second half is devoted to telling the murderer’s own story, detailing his reason for revenge. Although the pacing does deviate between the two halves to such a degree you’d be close to getting whiplash, it’s a rewarding read. Once you’ve accustomed yourself to a slower pace story, far away from the busy world 221B Baker Street, London, you are drawn into the tale. It’s also fun to compare it to its TV adaption Sherlock episode, A Study in Pink (I loved how London cabs were integral to both plots, although a cab in Victorian times is a far cry to the modern day cabbies). As the world’s first introduction to perhaps the world’s most famous detective, that should be reason alone to give it a read!

After the Funeral by Agatha Christie You really thought I could make a list of murder mystery novels and not mention the queen of the Who-dunnit genre? Agatha Christie is the second- bestselling fiction author of all time, only beaten by Shakespeare. Each and every one of her 74 novels are full of mystery, suspense and murder. After the Funeral will always have a special place in my heart, namely due to the fact it was the first work of hers I ever read. Instead of getting the dusty, archaic mystery I was expecting, I was thrown into turmoil of an unhappy family revolving around a murder. Each character was equally as suspicious as the next, and I was forever kept on my toes along with detective Poirot. Another reason I adore her novels so much is that they also serve to freeze a moment in history, and like a window you can peer into a different time period. A time when Aleppo was a busy holidaying location for the European upper-class (Murder on the Oriental Express), where children could be found not in schools but begging on streets or working as lift boys and maids (The Secret Adversary) and what I found the weirdest thing of all, the practise of sending little slices of wedding cake in the post to old relatives (After the Funeral). Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris There were a lot of books that are perhaps a better fit to the genre, like Gone Girl or Girl on the Train, but I think Silence of the Lambs is one of the best examples of how the murder mystery genre has evolved and changed. No longer does the protagonist detective rely only on their own cunningness to solve the crime – Clarise Starling has the power of the FBI, data bases and DNA prints all to help her. However, Clarise also has to deal with a different barrier-gender imbalance. Clarise’s constant fight to be taken seriously as a woman in the detective field heavily shapes the plot. The novel is also far more graphic and violent than either Conan Doyle’s or Christie’s work, and verges on psychological horror at parts. However, at its heart is an unsolved mystery. A nail-biting read from start to finish.

I think at the heart of a good detective story is an unlikely detective. Someone who doesn’t fit the stereotypes of the role, someone whose differences end up allowing them to solve the case. It can be a young teenager (Enola Holmes), a man who can understand the dead better than the living (Sherlock Holmes) an old lady or perhaps a forgotten foreigner (Both Mrs Marple and Poirot) or, as seen in Silence of the Lambs, a young woman, or a serial killer themself. You lose yourself in the lives, and sometimes deaths, of others. As you watch these unlikely heroes persevere and allow justice to be served, your own problems no longer seem as massive. They no longer seem like life or death anymore.

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