Picture the scene. A wealthy elderly person lies dead, obviously murdered. Their sumptuous mansion is filled to the rafters with expensive assets. Around every corner is a family member or neighbour with some financial tie to the deceased and seemingly no alibi for the time of the crime. What’s
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
