Write a detective story. James N

Most books on how to write a detective story are chock-full of wise advice: how to collect evidence, how to leave a false trail for a criminal, where to find poisonous mushrooms and how to take fingerprints. You may get the impression that a detective novel is a mixture of ingredients. They are carefully measured, thrown into a bowl, beaten with a wooden spoon until a homogeneous mixture is obtained, then briefly put in the oven and - voila - brilliant detective ready!

I don't want to disappoint you, but it won't work out that way.

The book “How to Write a Brilliant Detective” is not at all a collection of instructions on what you can and cannot write. This book will teach you how to brainstorm, build a detective story, write a draft, and make edits. This book will detail how to create vibrant, dynamic, three-dimensional characters that, when given free rein, will help you construct a complex, intricate, yet believable story. It will be full of mysteries, dangers, dramatic conflicts and tension.

In addition, the book will explain how to choose the right narrative form, how to perfect the style and polish of the novel, and how to find a literary agent after completing the manuscript.

Is there a guarantee that you will write a brilliant detective story if you use the recommendations outlined in this book? Sorry, there are no such guarantees. A lot depends on you. If you follow the instructions carefully and religiously, make the characters act as they are meant to, if you write, write, write, and then edit, edit, edit until your novel sizzles with the intensity of passions - perhaps you are waiting for big success. Many detective writers have achieved this. What's worse about you?

Learning to write brilliant detective stories is like learning to skate. You fall, struggle to get back to your feet, and get back to work. Over and over again you repeat the same thing. Finally, you let your friends read your work, and they say: “Listen, this is a real detective story!”

You shouldn’t perceive working on a detective story as tedious or even hard work. Detective fiction is adventure literature, so you need to get into the spirit of adventure. There are a lot of stories about writers who sit until they sweat blood, staring at Blank sheet paper. Bloody sweat is the lot of writers who create serious literature. For crime writers creative process should be... well, let's say, pleasure. Create characters, invent cities and even entire worlds that never really existed, think about how a murderer can avoid retribution, condemn to death people who resemble your slovenly ex-wife, a tyrant boss, a bitch mother-in-law - what could be more pleasant?

Our adventures will begin in Chapter I. In it we will discuss why people read detective stories, we will think about what place detectives occupy in modern literature and what participation they take in creating the mythology of culture. If you are planning to write a detective story, it is extremely important for you to know all this.

I. Why people read detective stories and other useful information for authors who undertake to write a detective story

Answer one, classic (and nonetheless correct)

If you want to write detective stories, you first need to understand why people read them.

The usual answer is that people want to “escape from reality”, immerse themselves in silence for a couple of hours, get away from the bustling life, and want to have fun. However, there are many other entertainments that are not as popular as reading detective stories.

It is generally believed that readers enjoy solving a mystery crime, just as they enjoy solving a crossword puzzle. They say that a detective novel is a kind of puzzle that confuses the reader. The author plays with the reader, hides evidence, casts suspicion on innocent people who act as if they are the murderers, etc. The reader will most likely go the wrong way, and all his guesses will be wrong. The detective in a detective novel, as a rule, always surpasses the reader in intelligence and is the first to discover the killer.

However, if there was a passion for riddles main reason readers' love for detective stories, this genre would have died out in the thirties and forties of the 20th century, along with a special direction of detective novels called “locked room detectives.” They were carefully thought out and full of mysteries. The murder took place in a room locked from the inside; only a corpse was found in it. There is a bullet wound, but there is no bullet. The body was found on the roof, then it disappeared. Any reader who independently identified the killer could be proud of himself.

To write a brilliant detective story, one puzzle is not enough.

Marie Rodell in her work “Detective Genre” (1943) cites four classical reasons, forcing people to read detective stories. These reasons have not changed to this day.

1. Readers are interested in following the main character’s train of thought; they empathize with the detective pursuing the killer.

2. Readers enjoy the satisfaction of seeing a villain get what he deserves.

3. Readers identify themselves with the main character, “get involved” in the events of the novel and thereby increase their own significance.

4. Readers are imbued with a sense of confidence in the reality of the events occurring in the detective novel.

Marie Rodell further notes that “a detective novel that does not meet these requirements is doomed to failure.” What was true in the time of Marie Rodell has not lost its significance today. Moreover, now we need to approach working on a detective novel much more seriously than before. Modern reader- a skeptic, he is more knowledgeable about the methods of work of the police, he has become skilled in jurisprudence. Making him believe in the reality of what is happening is now much more difficult.

Modern detective novel and heroic literature

Barbara Norville in useful and educational book How to Write a Modern Mystery (1986) argues that the modern detective novel has its roots in medieval morality plays, noting that "in the modern detective novel negative character commits a crime against his neighbor; in a morality play, the negative character is guilty of the sins of pride, laziness, envy, etc.”

Undoubtedly, the medieval morality play and the modern detective story have general features. However, I believe that the roots of the modern detective story go much deeper. The modern detective novel is a version of the most ancient legend on Earth - the mythical tale of the wanderings of a warrior hero.

When I talk about "myth" or "mythological features", I mean that the detective story contains mythological elements and is a retelling of ancient legends modern language. The hero of ancient legends killed dragons (monsters that were feared by the society of that time) and saved beauties. The hero of a modern detective novel catches murderers (monsters that modern society fears) and saves beauties. Many qualities of heroes of ancient legends and characters modern detectives coincide: they are brave, loyal, strive to punish evil, are ready to make sacrifices for the sake of an ideal, etc.

Why do we read detective stories? On the one hand, this is a form of escaping reality, further proof that we live in a just world. This is sports excitement - we are rooting for our detective. This is a pleasant illusion - we identify ourselves with the main character and as a result we seem stronger, braver, etc.

On the other hand, this is an exercise for the mind - many people like to guess charades.

The main elements of a detective story

The four pillars of detective fiction are:

Mystery. The reader, together with the main character, looks for answers to the questions: What was that?, Who did it? and sometimes - Will they catch or not?

Voltage. For the reader to become seriously interested in a mystery, there must be something important at stake. That's why detective stories appeal to such fundamental values ​​as life, freedom and money. The fast-paced plot and high stakes create tension, leaving the reader wanting to know what happens next.

Conflict. The detective story is rooted in ancient legends about the epic journey of a warrior who fights Evil. Solving a crime, especially a murder, is a symbolic victory over death. Therefore, in the detective story, white is separated from black and Good and Evil are in a state of irreconcilable war.

Surprise. Theoretically, the reader has the opportunity to solve the crime himself: as the story progresses, he is given all the necessary clues. But he is disappointed if he still guesses who exactly killed Miss Jane or stole the diamonds from the nightstand.

The world of a genre detective only vaguely resembles the real world. There is no place for accidents, coincidences and unclear circumstances. Everything should be clearly thought out and logical. Each of the heroes performs a strictly defined function: the detective investigates, witnesses present him with necessary facts, the criminal is hiding. But at the same time, plausibility remains important feature detective.

Types of detectives

Closed detective. The crime is committed in a confined space (on a ship, in a mountain boarding house, etc.), and suspicion may fall on a limited circle of people. The closed detective story was especially popular in the 1920-1930s.

Psychological detective. The main emphasis is on the psychology of both the criminal and the detective.

Cool detective and standing close to him detective noir(i.e. black). Violence, corpses and sex are depicted in great detail.

Historical detective. The action takes place in the past. One of the varieties of historical detective fiction is the investigation of a crime committed a long time ago.

Political detective. The action takes place around elections, political actions or privacy politicians.

Spy detective. The adventures of the scouts are described.

Art detective. The theft of a work of art is being investigated.

Love detective. A love affair (often between two antagonists) greatly influences the development of the plot.

Ironic detective. The narration is told in an ironic tone. Investigations are usually carried out by amateur ladies. The gory details are omitted.

Police detective. Investigative procedures and the work of professionals are described in detail. Variation - forensic detective. The authors of these works are usually lawyers or former employees law enforcement.

Fantastic detective. The investigation is carried out in a fictional world.

Private detective. The investigation is being conducted by a private detective.

Amateur detective. A non-professional - a witness, suspect, relative or friend of the hero involved in the case - is taken on to solve the crime. If we're talking about about a series of novels about an amateur detective, a paradox arises when a seemingly ordinary person stumbles upon a corpse every six months.

Detective characters

Detective- the person who conducts the investigation. As mentioned above, detectives are divided into the following types:

Law enforcement officer;

Advocate;

Private detective;

Amateur detective.

The characteristic features of the protagonist of detective stories are courage, a sense of justice, isolation and the ability to break the law for a just cause. For example, a detective may intimidate a rogue witness to discover the truth. He is able to stand up for himself and is ready to help others. He is a professional in his field, although we are not necessarily talking specifically about investigative work.

Often he has special talent: unique memory, language abilities, etc. In a word, he is always somehow different from mere mortals - this is part of the myth.

Oddities and paradoxes in the character of the hero decorate the narrative: the quiet librarian can ride a motorcycle; pathologist - work as a clown on weekends, etc. But here we must be careful: a lumberjack who loves ballet looks unnatural. If a librarian rides a Harley to work, there should be a rational explanation for it. For example, she inherited a motorcycle from her deceased husband.

Assistant- serves so that the detective can explain the details of the investigation to someone. As a rule, this is a person of average abilities, against whose background main character looks more representative.

Criminal- a person who committed or organized a crime. As a rule, his name is not fully known.

Here's what James N. Frey advises in How to Write a Great Mystery:

The criminal must be selfish and act out of self-interest. If the reader discovers that the murder was committed by a kind nun who protected orphans, one of the pleasure factors of reading a detective story is lost. People want evil to be punished. No evil - no conflict - no feeling of satisfaction. If a good criminal is necessary for the development of the plot, increase the intensity of the conflict in other ways.

The criminal must be afraid of exposure - otherwise the severity of the conflict will again be lost. Make it smart and resourceful. Let them fight on equal terms with the detective.

The criminal may have suffered mental trauma in the past, after which he went down a crooked path.

Suspect- the person on whom suspicion initially falls. As a rule, he turns out to be innocent.

Victim- a person killed or injured as a result of a crime.

Witnesses- people supplying the detective important information about a crime and/or a criminal.

Sage- gives to the detective valuable advice on how to conduct an investigation.

Expert- provides the detective with important scientific or professional data. For example, in the field of ballistics, linguistics, art, etc.

Detective's plan

Usually a detective story is built according to the following scheme:

1) The detective takes up the investigation. In some cases, the author describes a crime scene or introduces a prologue in order to create the desired atmosphere.

If the main character is a professional, then there is no need to explain his motivation (why he agreed to conduct the investigation): that’s his job. If the main character is an amateur or a private detective, you cannot do without an introductory part: you need to show why on earth the hero got involved in the case. This can be done in flashback order.

2) The detective begins an investigation and at first he is lucky. In mythology, this is called initiation - the hero leaves his usual life and finds himself in Far Far Away kingdom crime.

The investigation is carried out in two ways:

Hunting - the detective immediately finds an important clue and this allows him to unravel the whole tangle;

Gathering - the detective studies disparate facts, which are subsequently combined into a picture of the crime.

The conflict can escalate if the detective finds himself in an environment that is not his own: for example, a simple, taciturn guy from the lower social classes is investigating a murder on Rublyovka.

3) The detective is faced with a serious crisis that turns his life upside down, gathers his strength and continues the investigation in a new direction.

4) The investigation is hot on the trail. The detective discovers the missing links in the chain. The moment of enlightenment comes - he finds answers to all the key questions.

5) The detective catches the criminal. The killer (kidnapper, spy, etc.) gets what he deserves.

6) It tells how the events of the novel influenced the characters.

What to look for when writing a detective story

Investigators are always tracking:

Motive - the reason for committing a crime,

Method - the suspect must have access to the crime weapon and be physically able to commit this or that action.

When thinking through the plot of a detective story, you should start with the motive: why did the locksmith Kuvaldin strangle the ballerina Tapkina? Next, we think about the easiest way to do this: with your bare hands, your own pants, or a wire from a toaster. Don't complicate things: water flows to where it is lower, criminals act in the simplest way.

A detective story must have at least two stories: one true, the other false. First, the detective develops a false version: it fits so well with the facts that he has no doubts about the chosen path. And only then, closer to the climax, does it begin to emerge true position of things. The situation is turned upside down and it is at this moment that the reader experiences catharsis.

It’s useful to stop somewhere in the middle of the novel and write down: what is the reader guessing by this time? What forecasts does he make? And at least two or three forecasts should not come true.

To make it impossible to identify the killer right away, give each of the suspects equal strengths and weaknesses. Let the readers' attention concentrate on the detective: if the most interesting character There will be a murderer in the novel, the secret will immediately become apparent.

The same thing will happen if you emphasize that the locksmith Kuvaldin had neither the motive nor the opportunity to kill the ballerina Tapkina. When the author diverts suspicion from the hero, there is a feeling that this is where the dog is buried. This perceptual feature is often used to create false keys. For example, the author shows that Kuvaldin is as innocent as a daisy, the reader grins contentedly: “Well, everything is clear!”, but in fact, not everything is clear. At the same time, we should not forget that false clues are triggered only when they fit perfectly into the initial investigative version.

A good detective resembles a quest - computer game: to get to the goal, you need to collect a certain number of items that will later be useful to the player. In a detective story, this role is played by evidence.

The level of skill of the author largely depends on how skillfully he hides them. Skilful does not mean far. On the contrary, the evidence should lie on the surface, but at the same time have such an insignificant appearance that the reader does not pay attention to it. As a result, at the moment of climax, he can only throw up his hands: Well, how did I not guess? After all, they gave me all the clues!

How to hide evidence? American writer Shannon Okork gives this advice: “If the evidence is big, show it small. If it should get lost, put it in a visible place. Dirty or break beautiful evidence, present dangerous evidence as a completely ordinary object.”

An excellent example of hidden evidence can be found in Roald Dahl's story Sacrificial Lamb: Wife Kills Her Husband Frozen leg of lamb, and then feeds it to the police, who spent the whole day unsuccessfully searching for the crime weapon.

Particular attention should be paid to climax. It comes in the following types:

The detective gathers everyone characters and announces who the murderer is;

In desperation, the criminal tries to do something terrible (grabs hostages, etc.);

The detective knows who the killer is, but he has no direct evidence. He sets a trap and the killer falls into it himself;

The criminal is ready to triumph, but then an unexpected witness appears;

The battle between the detective and the criminal (option - chase);

The detective suddenly realizes that his assumptions are not true;

Pseudo-climax. The criminal is caught, the reader rejoices, but last moment It turns out that they took the wrong one.

The climax itself is built according to the following scheme:

Surprise - for example, the reader did not expect that the Minister of Defense would be the killer;

Increased threat - the killer is cornered, he has nothing to lose and is now ready to do anything;

Peak of conflict;

Justice triumphs.

The detective catches the criminal only thanks to his own mind - no luck, fortune telling, God ex machina, etc.

The reader will feel cheated if the murder ends up being a suicide or an accident. The same thing will happen if the crime is solved when the criminal turns himself in.

Surprises and unexpected plot twists are wonderful. But when there are too many of them, the reader gets confused. It is recommended to introduce two or three big surprises and a couple of small ones. Neither the detective nor the criminal should do anything deliberately stupid. Otherwise, such a fight is not interesting to watch.

Luck may be on the villain's side before the detective exposes him. If the villain then flies away in a blue helicopter, the reader is disappointed.

Stamps in detective stories

The detective wears a raincoat and a hat, and he always has a flask of alcohol in his pocket.

Before an audit, criminals start a fire in a store or warehouse.

A luxurious woman, the main suspect, is trying to seduce the detective.

Before dying, the victim whispers a mysterious word or name that is a clue.

Pathologist chewing at work.

The main mafioso wears a diamond ring on his finger, licks his hair with gel and goes everywhere accompanied
gorilla bodyguards.

The investigator is constantly worried that the case will be taken away from him.

A mysterious sect with a maniac leader at its head is to blame for everything.

The criminal runs away, asking to go to the toilet.

Forgery of fingerprints.

The dog does not bark at a known stranger, from which the detective concludes that the dog knows this person.

Having caught the detective, the villain ties him to the death machine and talks for a long time about his insidious plans.

Chief of investigator - complete idiot and/or bastard.

At the climax, the criminal grabs the detective's girlfriend and puts a gun to her head.

The detective's wife died at the very beginning (several years before the beginning), and since then our hero has not known words of love.

The detective finds a cigarette butt at the crime scene and uses teeth marks (lipstick imprint) to identify the villain.

The criminal provides himself with an alibi using a mannequin or twin brother.

The main villain has fun compiling secret codes and clever pictograms.

The detective makes deductive conclusions that are not as clear-cut as the author would like.

A detective novel is a kind of intellectual game. Moreover, this is a sporting competition. And detective novels are created according to strictly defined laws - albeit unwritten, but nevertheless mandatory. Every respected and self-respecting detective writer strictly observes them. So, below is formulated a kind of detective credo, based in part on the practical experience of all great masters detective genre, and partly on the prompts of the voice of conscience of an honest writer. Here it is:

1. The reader should have equal opportunities with the detective to solve the mystery of the crime. All clues must be clearly identified and described.

2. The reader cannot be deliberately deceived or misled, except in cases where he and the detective follow all the rules fair play the criminal is deceiving.

3. The novel should not contain love line. We are talking about bringing the criminal into the hands of justice, and not about uniting yearning lovers with the bonds of Hymen.

4. Neither the detective himself nor any of the official investigators should turn out to be a criminal. This is tantamount to outright deception - the same as if they slipped us a shiny copper coin instead of a gold coin. Fraud is fraud.

5. The criminal must be discovered deductively - using logical conclusions, and not through chance, coincidence or unmotivated confession. After all, by choosing this last method of solving the mystery of the crime, the author quite deliberately directs the reader along a deliberately false trail, and when he returns empty-handed, he calmly informs him that the solution was in his, the author’s, pocket all along. Such an author is no better than a fan of primitive practical jokes.

6. A detective novel must have a detective, and a detective is only a detective when he tracks and investigates. His task is to collect evidence that will serve as a clue and ultimately point to who committed this vile crime in the first chapter. The detective builds a chain of his conclusions based on the analysis of the collected evidence, otherwise he is likened to a careless schoolboy who, having not solved the problem, copies the answer from the back of the problem book.

7. You simply cannot do without a corpse in a detective novel, and the more naturalistic the corpse is, the better. Only the murder makes the novel interesting enough. Who would read three hundred pages with excitement if we were talking about a less serious crime! In the end, the reader should be rewarded for their trouble and energy.

8. The mystery of the crime must be revealed in a purely materialistic way. Such methods of establishing the truth as divination, spiritualistic seances, reading other people's thoughts, fortune telling with the help of magic crystal etc., etc. The reader has some chance not to be inferior in intelligence to a detective who thinks rationally, but if he is forced to compete with spirits other world and chasing a criminal in the fourth dimension, he is doomed to defeat ab initio[from the very beginning (lat.)].

9. There should be only one detective, that is, only one main character of deduction, only one deus ex machina[God from the machine (lat.), that is, unexpectedly appearing (like the gods in ancient tragedies) a person who, by his intervention, unravels a situation that seemed hopeless]. To mobilize the minds of three, four, or even a whole squad of detectives to solve the mystery of a crime means not only to scatter the reader’s attention and break the direct logical thread, but also to unfairly put the reader at a disadvantage. If there is more than one detective, the reader does not know which one he is competing with in terms of deductive reasoning. It's like forcing the reader to race a relay team.

10. The criminal should be a character who played a more or less noticeable role in the novel, that is, a character who is familiar and interesting to the reader.

11. The author should not make a servant a murderer. It too easy solution, choosing him means avoiding difficulties. The criminal must be a person of a certain dignity - one who does not usually attract suspicion.

12. No matter how many murders are committed in a novel, there must be only one criminal. Of course, the criminal may have an assistant or accomplice who provides him with some services, but the entire burden of guilt must lie on the shoulders of one person. The reader must be given the opportunity to concentrate all the fervor of his indignation on one single black character.

13. Secret gangster societies, all sorts of Camorras and mafias are inappropriate in a detective novel. After all, an exciting and truly beautiful murder will be irreparably spoiled if it turns out that the blame falls on an entire criminal company. Of course, the murderer in a detective story should be given hope of salvation, but allowed to resort to help secret society- this is too much. No top-notch, self-respecting assassin needs such an advantage.

14. The method of murder and the means of solving the crime must meet the criteria of rationality and science. In other words, in roman policier It is unacceptable to introduce pseudoscientific, hypothetical and purely fantastic devices. As soon as the author soars in the manner Jules Verne into fantastic heights, he finds himself outside the detective genre and frolics in the uncharted expanses of the adventure genre.

15. At any moment, the solution should be obvious - provided that the reader has enough insight to figure it out. By this I mean the following: if the reader, having reached the explanation of how the crime was committed, re-reads the book, he will see that the solution, so to speak, lay on the surface, that is, all the evidence actually pointed to the culprit, and, even if he reader, as smart as a detective, he would be able to solve the mystery on his own long before last chapter. Needless to say, a savvy reader often reveals it this way.

16. Inappropriate in a detective novel long descriptions, literary digressions on side topics, sophisticated character analysis and recreation atmosphere. All these things are unimportant to the story of the crime and its logical solution. They only delay the action and introduce elements that have nothing to do with the main goal, which consists of stating a problem, analyzing it and bringing it to a successful solution. Of course, a novel should include enough description and well-defined characters to give it credibility.

17. The blame for committing a crime should never fall on a professional criminal in a detective novel. Crimes committed by burglars or bandits are investigated by police departments, not by mystery writers and brilliant amateur sleuths. A truly exciting crime is one committed by a pillar of the church or an old maid known to be a philanthropist.

18. A crime in a detective novel should not turn out to be an accident or suicide. To end the tracking odyssey with such a drop in tension is to fool the gullible and kind reader.

19. All crimes in detective novels must be committed for personal reasons. International conspiracies and military policy are the property of something completely different literary genre- say, novels about secret intelligence services. But a detective novel about murder should remain, how can I put it, in cozy, home within. It should reflect the reader's daily experiences and, in a sense, give vent to his own repressed desires and emotions.

20. And finally, one more item for good measure: a list of some techniques that no self-respecting author of detective novels will now use. They have been overused and are well known to all true lovers of literary crime. To resort to them means to admit your incompetence as a writer and lack of originality.

a) Identification of the criminal by a cigarette butt left at the crime scene.
b) Arrangement of an imaginary seance in order to frighten the criminal and force him to give himself away.
c) Forgery of fingerprints.
d) An imaginary alibi provided by a dummy.
e) A dog that does not bark and therefore allows one to conclude that the intruder was not a stranger.
f) At the end of the day, placing the blame for the crime on a twin brother or other relative who is like two peas in a pod like the suspect, but is an innocent person.
g) Hypodermic syringe and drug mixed into wine.
h) Committing a murder in a locked room after the police broke into it.
i) Establishing guilt using psychological test naming words by free association.
j) The mystery of a code or encrypted letter, eventually solved by a detective.

Van Dyne S.S.

Translation V.Voronina
From the collection How to make a detective

The detective genre is one of the most popular. Murder Mysteries, detective geniuses, intrigue and exposure of all human sins...plots that cannot get boring and always have their reader, and now also the viewer. However, not all detectives are “equally useful.” The writers themselves understood this, even at the dawn detective literature, when the works of Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe were canon for any beginner, and for professionals too. At the end XIX century - early In the 20th century, writing detective stories was “dabbled in” with exceptionally high educated people, Oxbridge graduates (editor's note - the concept was born from the merger of the names of two British “ancient universities”). Later, the best of the best will create a Detective Club, which will “protect” the purity of the genre - not with fire and sword, but with concern for the rules and formula of detective stories.

What was the Detective Club famous for, who was its member and what did its members do? The Detective Club was the first and most prestigious association of authors working in the detective genre. It appeared in 1930 on the initiative of Anthony Berkeley. Berkeley approached his colleagues in the detective genre with a proposal to meet from time to time for lunch and discuss their craft. That is, the original purpose of the club was simply an excuse to eat in a good restaurant in a wonderful company, where you could invite a judge or a criminologist. So to speak, to combine business with pleasure.

Colleagues responded quickly and with enthusiasm. After several meetings, those gathered decided to give the enterprise a more thorough character. The Detective Club was in no way a union for crime writers. It was a club for its own - narrow circle chosen ones, a company of friends and like-minded people. The only thing we had to “defend” was the purity of the genre. Under no circumstances were writers of spy novels and thrillers admitted to membership in the club.

Over time, the writers set up headquarters, which was located at 31 Gerrard Street. The hall was, of course, accompanied by a library. The club existed until World War II. The world had no time for detective stories, and writers had no time for the interests of their readers. The club was dissolved, but after the war it resumed its activities, albeit in a different location.

The first president of the club was G. K. Chesterton, from whose pen the character Father Brown appeared. And perhaps the most famous president was Agatha Christie. She “ruled” the club from 1958 to 1976.

So, let's return to the rules of writing detective stories. Club members believed:

A detective story is a story, and it is subject to the same laws of storytelling as love story, magic story and any other literary form, and the writer who composes detective story, is a writer who has ordinary writing obligations to God and man - as if he were composing an epic or tragedy.

This dogma of the Detective Club gave rise not only to criteria for selecting members of the organization, but also to the formula of the detective genre and even regulations. One of the founders of the club, Ronald Knox, who, in addition to writing detective stories, translated the Latin Bible (Vulgate) into English, stated in the preface to the collection “The Best detective story» 10 rules. If the author follows these rules, then, according to Knox, the detective story will not be just a set of characters who need to find a murderer or thief, but a pure intellectual competition.

What are these rules?

1. The criminal should appear early enough in the story, and it should not be a character whose thoughts the reader is allowed to follow.
2. Any manifestations of the supernatural are prohibited.
3. More than one secret passage or secret room is not allowed.
4. You cannot use poisons unknown to science or any other elements that would require lengthy explanations at the end.
5. The Chinese should not act in a detective story (editor's note - Knox drew up the rules in 1928).
6. The detective should not help Lucky case or intuition.
7. The detective himself must not commit a crime.
8. The detective must present all the evidence to the reader immediately.
9. The detective's stupid friend, "Dr. Watson", should not hide his thoughts from the reader, and his intelligence should be a little bit - but only a little bit! Below the intelligence of the average reader.
10. The reader must be properly prepared for the appearance of twin brothers, doubles and virtuosos of transformation, if it is absolutely impossible to do without them.

Of course, the detective Knox formula could not be frozen in time and on the pages of detective literature. He himself was well aware that a writer, following only any formulas, risks exhausting his plots and stock of techniques. Moreover, not only the writer, but also the reader developed his ability to guess the killer. The reader became more and more sophisticated, how can we do without the Chinese and the supernatural.

How to write a detective story

I would like to make a reservation right away: I am writing this essay, fully aware that its author never managed to write a detective story. Moreover, it was not possible many times, and therefore my authority has a certain practical and scientific significance, like the authority of some great statesman or thinker dealing with unemployment or the housing problem. I do not at all pretend to create a role model for the aspiring author to follow: if anything, I am rather a bad example that should be avoided. Moreover, I do not believe that there can be models in the detective genre, just like in any other necessary case. It is surprising that popular didactic literature, which constantly teaches us how to do everything that we should not do, has not yet developed enough role models. It is also surprising that the title of this essay is not yet staring at us from every book tray. An endless stream of brochures comes out of the press, constantly explaining to people what is completely impossible to comprehend: what personality, popularity, poetry, charm are. We are diligently taught even those literary and journalistic genres that are decidedly not amenable to study. The present essay, on the contrary, is a clear and specific literary guide, which, albeit within very limited limits, can be studied and, by a happy accident, comprehended. I think that sooner or later the shortage of such manuals will be eliminated, because in the world of commerce, demand instantly responds to supply, but people are not able to get what they want. I think that sooner or later there will be not only various manuals for training detective agents, but also manuals for training criminals. There will be little change in modern ethics, and when the dashing and shrewd business mind finally breaks with the tedious dogmas imposed on him by his confessors, newspapers and advertising will show complete disregard for prohibitions today(just as today shows complete indifference to the taboos of the Middle Ages). Theft will be presented as a form of usury, and cutting throats will be no more a crime than buying goods in the markets. Book stands will display brochures with catchy titles: “Forgery in Fifteen Lessons” or “What to Do If Your Marriage Failed,” with the same public guidance on poisoning as if it were about using contraceptives.

However, let's be patient and not look into a happy future for the time being, and until it comes, practical advice on how to commit crimes may not be any better good advice about how to reveal them or how to describe their disclosure. As far as I can imagine, a crime, the detection of a crime, the description of a crime and its detection, and the guidance to such a description, undoubtedly require a certain effort of thought, while succeeding or writing a book on how to succeed does not in any way require this very much. cumbersome process. Be that as it may, when I think about the theory of the detective genre, I become something of a theorist. In other words, I explain everything from the very beginning, avoiding, if possible, exciting openings, clunky phrases, unexpected turns designed to attract the reader's attention. At the same time, I am not at all trying to confuse him or - what good - to awaken thought in him.

The first and fundamental principle is that the goal of a detective story, as indeed of any other story, is not darkness, but light. The story is written for the sake of the moment of insight, and not at all for the sake of those hours of reading that precede this insight. The reader's confusion is the cloud behind which the light of understanding is briefly hidden, and most unsuccessful detective stories are unsuccessful precisely because they are written to confuse the reader, and not to enlighten him. For some reason, detective authors consider it their absolute duty to confuse the reader. At the same time, they forget that it is important not only to hide a secret, but also to have this secret, and one that is worth it. The climax should not simultaneously be a decline; it is not at all necessary to completely confuse the gullible reader, whom the author leads by the nose: the climax is not so much a bursting bubble as a dawning dawn, which is brighter the darker the night. Every work of art, no matter how trivial, appeals to a number of serious truths, and although we are dealing only with a crowd of brainless Watsons, whose eyes widen in surprise, we should not forget that they, too, are eager for the light insights from the darkness of error and that darkness is needed only to shade the light. It has always struck me that, by an amusing coincidence, the best stories about Sherlock Holmes have titles that seem to have been invented specifically to emphasize this initial clarity of the detective - “Silver,” for example.

The second very important principle is that the essence of every detective work in simplicity, not in complexity. The riddle may seem complicated, but in reality it should be simple. We need the author to reveal the mystery, and not at all to explain it. The denouement itself will explain everything; in a detective story there must be something that a convicted murderer will barely mutter or a terrified heroine will squeal heart-rendingly before fainting from the belated shock caused by an unexpected epiphany. Some literary detectives the solution is more complicated than the riddle, and the crime is even more complicated.

From which follows the third principle: the event or character in which the key to the secret lies must be the central event and a noticeable character. The criminal should be in the foreground and at the same time not conspicuous at all. Let me give you an example from Conan Doyle's story "Silver". Conan Doyle is no less famous than Shakespeare, and therefore there is no longer any need to keep the secret of one of his first famous stories. Holmes learns that a prize horse has been stolen and that the thief has killed the trainer who was with this horse. Of course, the most different people, and not without reason, are suspected of theft and murder, but no one comes to mind the simplest and most natural solution to the riddle: the trainer was killed by the horse itself. For me, this is an example of a detective story, because the solution lies on the surface and at the same time remains unnoticed. Indeed, the story is named after the horse, the story is dedicated to the horse, the horse is always in the foreground. But at the same time, she seems to be on a different plane, and therefore appears above suspicion. As a valuable thing, it remains a Favorite for the reader, but as a criminal - dark horse. “Silver” is another theft story in which a horse plays the role of a jewel, but such a jewel that can become a murder weapon. I would call this the first rule of detective fiction, if there are any rules for this literary genre. In principle, the criminal must be a familiar figure performing an unusual function. It is impossible to understand what we do not know, and therefore in a detective story the criminal must always remain a prominent figure. Otherwise, there will be absolutely nothing unexpected in revealing the secret - what is the point in the sudden appearance of a person whom no one is expecting? So, the criminal must be visible, but above suspicion. The art and dexterity of a detective writer will be fully demonstrated if he succeeds in inventing a convincing and at the same time misleading reason why the killer is connected not only with the murder, but with the action of the entire novel. Many detective stories fail precisely because the criminal owes nothing to the plot other than the need to commit a crime. Usually the criminal is a well-to-do person, otherwise our fair, democratic law would require that he be detained as a vagabond long before he is arrested as a murderer. We begin to suspect such a hero by the method of elimination: for the most part we suspect him simply because he is above suspicion. The skill of the narrator should give the reader the illusion that the criminal does not even think about a criminal crime, and the author who portrayed the criminal does not think about literary forgery. For a detective story is just a game, and in this game the reader fights not so much with the criminal, but with the author himself.

The writer must remember that in such a game the reader will not say, as he would have said if he had become acquainted with a more serious and truthful essay: “Why did the inspector in green glasses climb a tree and look after the doctor’s garden?” He will inevitably have a completely different, and very unexpected question: “Why did the author force the inspector to climb a tree and why did he introduce this inspector in general?” The reader is ready to admit that the city, but not the story, cannot do without an inspector. Therefore, it is necessary to explain his presence in the story (and on the tree) not only by the arbitrariness of the city authorities, but also by the arbitrariness of the author of the detective story. In addition to petty crimes, the detection of which the inspector pleases himself within the narrow confines of the plot, he must be connected with the story and other justifying circumstances, moreover, as a literary character, and not as a mere mortal in real life. Following his natural instinct, the reader, constantly playing hide and seek with the writer, his main opponent, will say incredulously: “Yes, I understand, the inspector can climb a tree. I know very well that there are trees in the world and there are inspectors. But tell me, you treacherous person, why was it necessary to force this particular inspector to climb this particular tree in this particular story?”

This is the fourth principle to remember. Like all the previous ones, it may not be perceived as practical guide, since it was based on too many theoretical considerations. This principle is based on the fact that in the hierarchy of arts, mysterious murders belong to the noisy and fun company called jokes. A detective story is a fantasy, a deliberately pretentious fiction. If you like, you can say about it that it is the most artificial form of art. I would even say that this is an outright toy, something that children play with. It follows that the reader, who is a child looking at the world with wide open eyes, is aware not only of the presence of a toy, but also of the presence of an invisible companion, who is also the creator of the toy, a cunning deceiver. The innocent child is very smart and completely trusting. Therefore, I repeat, one of the first rules that must guide the author of a story conceived as a deception is that the disguised murderer must have the artistic right to enter the stage, and not just the vital right to exist on earth. If he comes to the house on business, then this business should be directly related to the tasks of the narrator: he should be guided not by the motives of the visitor, but by the motives of the author, to whom he owes his literary existence. An ideal detective story is a detective story in which the killer acts according to the author's plan, in accordance with the development of plot twists and turns, into which he finds himself not out of natural, reasonable necessity, but for a secret and unpredictable reason. I note that this is precisely why, despite all the costs “ love affair", the tradition of sentimental, languid, Victorian storytelling deserves kind words. Some may find this type of storytelling boring, but it can be indispensable for hiding a secret.

And finally, the last principle, which is that a detective story, like any other literary work, begins with an idea, and not only strives to find it, but also concerns the purely technical side of the matter. When it comes to a crime-solving story, the author needs to start from the inside, while the detective begins the investigation from the outside. Every successfully invented detective problem is built on an extremely clear, and therefore simple, conclusion, on some everyday episode that is remembered by the writer and easily forgotten by the reader. But, be that as it may, the story must be based on truth, and although it contains a fair amount of opium, it should not be perceived only as a fantastic vision of a drug addict.