A whodunit is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the clues to the case, from which the identity of the perpetrator may be deduced before the story provides the revelation itself at its climax; the investigation is usually conducted by an eccentric, amateur or semi-professional detective.
Facts
Place of OriginThe whodunit is most closely associated with Britain, flourishing during the interwar Golden Age of Detective Fiction among British writers such as Agatha Christie. 1 Notable ExampleThe Adventure of the Abbey Grange (1904), a Sherlock Holmes story in which Holmes investigates the murder of Eustace Brackenstall, is cited as a classic example of the form. 1 Defining TraitA whodunit is a complex, plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle of who committed the crime is the central focus, typically investigated by an eccentric, amateur, or semi-professional detective. 1 Connections
Sources
1. Whodunit (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundationlead section, paragraph 1
is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus
Examples section
The Adventure of the Abbey Grange (1904), Sherlock Holmes investigates the murder of Eustace Brackenstall
Golden Age section
Many of the best-known writers of whodunits in this period were British
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