Mysterys and their sleuths

The end of the 1800s to the 1930 saw the growth of one of the biggest genre that would grace the shelves of readers worldwide, the mystery. The Moonstone was just one of many that would soon be enthralling readers across the isles of Britain to the shores of America. Every mystery has its sleuths, detectives, private eyes, and police officers ready to set out and solve cases. From the Moonstone's Sergent Cuff, to Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie's Poirot, each one having their own methods and ideas that would entice English readers as well as many others across the world.

While we may not have read any of these books in British Lit this semester, I would believe that a whole semester could have been taught on nothing more than the English mystery writers and their detectives. Each character has their own abilities and designs, yet they are all similar in a fashion.

The main one that we have all ready read this semester is Sergent Cuff, and his sleuthing that lead to the discover of the death of Rachel as well as uncovering  many secrets in the early chapters. He is revealed to be a small of stature man who does not like detective work and would much rather be working in a garden, in fact, he get into a rather large argument with the gardener over the way the roses should be laid out in the garden. His steady questioning often gets results often at the frustration of the narrator Mr. Betteredge, a feature that many other detective share.

One that we have heard of at least once, the grand and illustrious Sherlock Holmes. the mastermind detective outsmarting many criminals and unraveling hundreds of mysteries and eventually eclipsing his creators fame. Again we see the steady questions that eventually root out the villains, and the odd behavior that leads many to lose their temper with the detective. Here we also get the Detective aid, who everything is explained to so that we as readers can understand the genus of the sleuth, enter Dr. Watson, the military medic fresh from his adventures in Afghanistan. This role was occupied by Mr. Beteredge in the Moonstone and many other books have the same character. 

Not till the 1920's will we see another famous sleuths enter the scene through the fantastic works of Agatha Christie.  Hercule Poirot, the funny Belgian and his assistant Hastings. Poirot uses his "Little gray cells" to solve his crimes and often annoys not only his employers but often his assistant. The themes that made Sherlock famous come to work here as well aided by the fantastic writing of Christie. 

All of these great detectives set forth to show the British approach to crimes that reacts often oppositely to the American crime dramas of the 1920 and 30s of shooting first and asking questions later, showing that mind will always come first solving crimes without leaving a trail of dead bodies in the wake.