THE HISTORY OF MYSTERY

The Father of Mystery Mystery stories as we know

them began in the mid-1800s.

Edgar Allen Poe introduced mystery’s first detective in his story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” in 1841.

Poe continued these stories and became known as the father of mystery.

Charles Dickens also made many contributions to the beginnings of the mystery genre.

His most famous mystery is “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” written in 1870, because the author’s death left the story unfinished.

In 1878, Anna Katherine Green became the first woman to write a detective novel.

She wrote “The Leavenworth Case.”

1887 brought the most famous mystery detective: Sherlock Holmes.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote “A Study in Scarlet” and began the Sherlock Holmes adventures.

Conan Doyle’s writing exhibited a new style to solving mysteries by making the act of deducing clues a science.

Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. Watson quickly became indispensable to mystery readers everywhere.

The Golden Age The 1920s brought about

many more mystery writers.

The popularity of mystery fiction was at an all time high.

During this time, famous mystery author Agatha Christie began her stories. She wrote more than 80 novels and is probably the most well-known mystery writer in history.

Radio mysteries became popular in the early to mid 1900s.

The 1940s brought mysteries to the television, with popular characters such as Perry Mason, Simon Templar, Columbo, and Jessica Fletcher of the “Murder, She Wrote” series.

Later television mysteries included “Dragnet,” “Hawaii 5-O,” and “Alfred Hitchcock.”

Mysteries for Children More mystery stories began to be

written for children, including Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Encyclopedia Brown.

Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine (“Goosebumps”) began writing mysteries for children.

The game CLUE brought mystery to even more children.

Today Today, mystery continues to be an ever-

popular genre for both children and adults.

Here are some you may recognize: