The locked-room or impossible-crime mystery is a type of crime found in crime and detective fiction in which the perpetrator appears to have committed a crime without any possible means of entering, carrying it out and escaping undetected, the classic example being a murder victim discovered in a room that was sealed, windowless and locked from the inside. As in traditional detective fiction, the reader is given every clue and puzzle element the detective possesses, encouraging an attempt to solve the mystery independently before the story's resolution.
Facts
Place of OriginContested between Ireland and the United States: Robert Adey credits Sheridan Le Fanu's 1838 story about an Irish countess as preceding Edgar Allan Poe's 1841 Rue Morgue story by three years. 1 Notable ExampleEdgar Allan Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841), generally considered the first locked-room mystery. 1 Defining TraitA crime, typically murder, whose circumstances make it seem impossible for the perpetrator to have entered the crime scene, committed the crime, and left undetected. 1 Connections
Sources
1. Locked-Room Mystery (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)History section, Early locked-room mysteries subsection
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841) is generally considered the first locked-room mystery.
Lead section
The "locked-room" or "impossible crime" mystery is a type of crime, typically murder ("locked-room murder"), that appears in crime and detective fiction, in which the circumstances make it seem impossible for the perpetrator to have entered the crime scene, committed the crime, and left undetected.
View the Source Frequently Asked Questions
Which story is generally considered the first locked-room mystery?
Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) is generally considered the first.
Edgar Allan Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) is generally considered the first locked-room mystery. The claim is contested, though: Robert Adey credits Sheridan Le Fanu's 1838 story about an Irish countess as preceding Poe, so the genre's origin is disputed between Ireland and the United States.
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