detective story: Quick Facts

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Engraving of Sherlock Holmes standing and holding a pipe while explaining his deductions to Dr. Watson, who is seated beside a table.

The Maltese Falcon

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Agatha Christie’s Poisons The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Award List of Agatha Christie Mystery Books popular literature genre science fiction romance ballad Western musical spaghetti western Cyberpunk manga mystery story melodrama

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Key People

Master of the macabre

Edgar Allan Poe

American writer

Author Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly

American author

Louise Penny, 2018

Louise Penny

Canadian author

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George Douglas Howard Cole

British economist

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Per Wahlöö

Swedish journalist and author

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Maj Sjöwall

Swedish journalist and author

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Donald J. Sobol

American author

Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

Argentine author

Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith

British writer

Portrait of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle seated and looking slightly to the side, wearing a suit with a vest and watch chain.

Arthur Conan Doyle

British author

Jo Nesbø

Jo Nesbø

Norwegian writer and musician

Grafton, Sue

Sue Grafton

American writer

Author Philip Pullman smiling and wearing a black beret, glasses, and a light jacket over a white shirt.

Philip Pullman

British writer

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Sara Paretsky

American author

Portrait of Gilbert Keith Chesterton wearing glasses and a suit, with a mustache and tousled hair, looking directly at the camera.

G.K. Chesterton

British author

Master of the hard-boiled detective story

Dashiell Hammett

American writer

Agatha Christie seated at a wooden desk, typing on a typewriter with papers in front of her, in a room with bookshelves and a window, 1946.

Agatha Christie

British author

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Alain Robbe-Grillet

French author

Georges Simenon.

Georges Simenon

Belgian-French author

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James Crumley

American author

British actor Basil Rathbone, as Detective Sherlock Holmes who he portrayed in several movies based on the detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Fictional Detectives Quiz