Caroline: For some readers , whodunnits are transient, disposable things. Once you've read a murder mystery once, there's no point keeping it or reading it again, according to this school of thought. You already know who did it, and there’s little use in cluttering up your
Caroline: Detective fiction works best when there are rigid structures that can be obeyed, subverted or undermined. The closed circle of suspects, the unbreakable alibi, the pact to play fair by the reader — all of these restrictions help to stimulate writers' creativity. The presence of certain archetypal characters is
Caroline: On 26 October 1921, a solicitor named Oswald Martin went to have tea with a fellow lawyer named Herbert Armstrong. The two worked for rival law firms in the town of Hay on Wye, which lies on the border between England and Wales. They were currently representing opposite sides
