Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 23, 2004

Sherlock Holmes confers with his colleague Dr. Watson

Crime fiction is a genre of fiction that deals with crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. As such, it is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction. It should be noted, however, that boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred. It has several sub-genres, including detective fiction, mystery fiction, legal thriller, courtroom drama, and hard-boiled fiction. Crime fiction began to be considered as a serious genre only as late as 1900. The earliest inspiration for books and novels from this genre came from earlier dark works of Edgar Allan Poe. The evolution of locked room mysteries was one of the landmarks in the history of crime fiction, as it helped involve the reader to a major extent. Sherlock Holmes mysteries are said to have been singularly responsible for the huge popularity in this genre. Later a set of stereotypic formulae began to appear to cater to various tastes. (more...)

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