Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

The Whimsical Wordsmith

 

“She had known happiness, exquisite happiness, intense happiness, and it silvered the rough waves a little more brightly, as daylight faded, and the blue went out of the sea and it rolled in waves of pure lemon which curved and swelled and broke upon the beach and the ecstasy burst in her eyes and waves of pure delight raced over the floor of her mind and she felt, It is enough! It is enough!”

Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

A Brief History of Mystery Books

What exactly is a mystery book?

In a mystery novel, a crime is committed. The crime is commonly a murder, but thefts or kidnappings are also popular. The action of the story revolves around the solution of that crime – determining who did it and why, and ideally achieving some form of justice.

There are many specific subtypes within the mystery genre: police procedurals, hard-boiled detective stories, espionage thrillers, medical or forensic mysteries, cozy mysteries, closed-room mysteries, and courtroom dramas, to name a few. As myriad as they sound, they all sprouted from the same authors and history.

This copy of The Murders in the Rue Morgue is a 1932 “photoplay edition” listed for sale by Heritage Book Shop.

The beginning of the mystery genre

The rapid growth of urban centers in the 19th century meant that more police were needed. This spurred the advent of professional detectives whose chief job was to investigate crimes. Although there are examples of puzzle stories that reach back through time to when some of the earliest poems or tales were written down, most people agree that the first modern ‘detective story’ is The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe. First published in the April 1841 issue of Graham’s Magazine, the short story tells the tale of an amateur detective who sets out to solve the grisly murders of a mother and daughter within a locked room of their apartment on the Rue Morgue.

Nearly twenty years after Poe’s story, Wilkie Collins published The Woman in White (1859), which is considered the first mystery novel, and The Moonstone (1868), generally considered the first detective novel. The Woman in White is a gripping tale of murder, madness and mistaken identity that is so beloved it has never been out of print. Collins had “Author of The Woman in White and other works of fiction” engraved on his tombstone. The Moonstone set the standards for the detective novel formula – an enormous diamond is stolen from a Hindu temple and resurfaces at a birthday party in an English manor, and with numerous narrators and suspects, the story weaves through superstitions, romance, humor and suspicion to solve the puzzle.

The Moonstone’s title as the first detective novel is contested by two other books. The first, The Notting Hill Mystery, was published in 1865 and written under the pen name Charles Felix, who is believed to be Charles Warren Adams, sole proprietor of the publishing house Saunders, Otley, and Company. In The Notting Hill Mystery, the main character figures out the culprit of murder through diary entries, family letters, chemical analysis, depositions, and a crime scene map. Many of these detective techniques were not used again until the novels of the 1920s.

A French mystery, L’Affaire Lerouge (1866) by Émile Gaboriau, is also considered a pioneering detective novel. One of the first stories to use the gathering of evidence to solve the murder mystery, it combines police intrigue and a love story – two mothers, two sons, and one father (a Count). L’Affaire Lerouge, first published in English as The Widow Lerouge or The Lerouge Case, introduced the concept of an amateur detective as well as a recurring character trope, featuring a young police officer named Monsieur Lecoq who was featured in several of Gaboriau’s later novels. 

This first American edition of The Leavenworth Case: A Lawyer’s Story is listed by Lucius Books

Early Mystery Novels

The Dead Letter, published in 1866 by Beadle’s Monthly Magazine, is credited with being the first detective story by a woman. It was written under the name Seeley Regester, a nom de plume for author Metta Victoria Fuller Victor who wrote more than 100 dime novels. The Dead Letter is also the first full-length American work of crime fiction.

In 1878, Anna Katherine Green introduced the first American detective in The Leavenworth Case. The Leavenworth Case is widely noted as one of the first American bestsellers, selling 750,000 copies in its first decade and a half of publication. Green would pave the way for many prolific and talented women writers in the genre.

But unlike The Leavenworth Case that eventually fell out of favor and out of print, Robert Louis Stevenson, who had success with Treasure Island in 1883, published the classic mystery The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886. Initially sold as a ‘penny dreadful’ in the UK and US, more than 40,000 copies of the book had been sold within six months, and soon after more than 250,000 copies were pirated in America. The book and its characters have infiltrated not only literature but also film, television, and popular culture ever since. 

The first edition of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde listed by Second Story Books

1886 was also the year The Mystery of a Handsom Cab was published in Australia, written by Fergus Hume. The mystery about a body discovered in a Handsom cab in the city of Melbourne was very successful in Australia, and it went on to be published in America and Britain, selling over 500,000 copies worldwide. The Mystery of a Handsom Cab initially outsold a new release by Arthur Conan Doyle, one that introduced a character that would soon take over the world of detective fiction.

In 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle sold the rights to a story called A Study in Scarlet for £25. It was published first in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, and later in 1888 as a novel by Ward, Lock & Co. Doyle was 27 years old when it was published and wrote the story in a reported three weeks. A Study in Scarlet was the first work to feature Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Doyle went on to write 56 short stories featuring Holmes and a total of four full-length novels in what is considered the Canon of Sherlock Holmes. The novels in the Canon following A Study in Scarlet are The Sign of Four (1890), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901-1902) and The Valley of Fear (1914-1915). 

This copy of A Study in Scarlet belonged to John Keynes. Listed by John Atkinson.

Mary Roberts Rinehart published The Circular Staircase in 1908, creating the ‘had I but known’ school of mystery writing. The Circular Staircase, about a spinster aunt who solves mysteries at a rented summer house, became a best-seller and made Rinehart a household name. She wrote hundreds of stories and forty novels. At her death, her novels had sold 10 million copies, and it is said at her prime she sold more books than Agatha Christie, to whom she’s often compared, although many of her works pre-date Christie’s.

The Innocence of Father Brown (1911), a collection of 12 stories, started the prolific career of G. K. Chesterton, who is credited with being the father of the ‘cozy’ mystery. Father Brown solved crimes more by intuition and a deep understanding of human nature than by experimentation and scientific deduction.

1915’s The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan is one of the earliest ‘man-on-the-run thrillers that would later be a popular plot device for mysteries and often used in movies as well. In the novel, Richard Hannay, an expatriate Scot, is an ordinary man met by extraordinary circumstances, who puts his own safety and interests aside to protect his country at the outset of WWI. The novel was very popular with troops during the First World War, and the author followed it up with multiple sequels.
And into the Golden Age…

These books all led up to what is considered ‘The Golden Age’ of crime writing in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of the most beloved authors of this period were British and writing in either the ‘cozy’ or ‘country house’ mystery style. Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh are often dubbed the Queens of this Golden Age. Quite a few American writers followed suit until some broke out in a distinct ‘hard-boiled’ style as “pulp” novels were popularized.

The popularity of detective fiction waned with the outbreak of WWII, never again reaching the peak of the Golden Age, yet many mystery books continue to be published and consumed in the subsequent decades. 

We’ll be taking a look at the most collectible mystery novels in our Book Collecting By the Year series starting on January 30. Want to get updates in your inbox when we add a new decade? Join our mailing list here.

Amber

Amber is the current marketing coordinator at Biblio. A lifelong love of the written word brought her to Biblio and she happily spends her days talking about books and delving into the wide world of antiquarian books.

You can also find her in the garden or writing about brewing and plant adventures at Pixie’s Pocket.

The diary of being top dog: It was Dilyn's first birthday this week - and what a year it's been for the Downing Street mutt. From the Brexit rufferendum to a new cutie in No 10, he's been keeping notes throughout it all... as told by JAN MOIR

• Dilyn the Downing Street dog had a whirlwind first year of his life living at No.10
• He moved to London in September 2019, after being saved by a breeder in Wales 
• Since his arrival, Dilyn has welcomed baby Wilfred to the world and self-isolated

Hey, it's paw-ty time! Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me! Dilyn the Dog here, the nation's Numero Uno hound, Downing Street top dog, celebrating being one year old this week.

What can I tell you about my life so far, fans? I was born in Merthyr Tydfil, in a faraway land called Wales; a place where the daffodils are yellow and so is the snow, if I've got anything to do with it. 

I was rescued from a breeder because I was going to be put down. I don't even know what that means. Down on the floor, down in my basket?

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Downing Street's dog Dilyn has celebrated turning one this week and looks back on his crazy first year as the country's top dog

I was adopted by my wonderful humans Boris and Carrie and came to live here in London, in the heart of your government. All of a sudden, I was famous! 

Right up there with Scooby Doo, Pluto, Lassie, Snoopy, Mutley, Pongo, Gnasher and Toto — or the Cabinet, as you ethem.

What a crazy 12 months it has been, as I told JAN MOIR...

 

1: Downing St here I come, September, 2019

Cameras filmed me being carried into No 10 in my very own doggy bag. I wore a matching neckerchief, but I looked a little nervous. 

There was good reason. I was a young pup with everything to live for — and I was going to grab this opportunity with two paws. 

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In September 2019, Dilyn was pictured being carried into No.10 for the very first time in a doggy bag

 

2: Larry, Chief Mouser

My first shock. Larry the cat and I had to share a home? 

Listen motherpuppers, you've gotta be kidding me. He was about as friendly as a Liaison Committee — and look at the size of him! 

Larry has been here for 13 years through four prime ministers — and, boy, doesn't he let you know it. 

He is always posing around No 10's front door. 

He doesn't understand that there is a new kid in town. No wonder he doesn't like me. 

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The Downing Street cat Larry has been at No.10 for 13 years through four prime ministers and now has to share his home with Dilyn

 

3: Campaigning for Goldsmith

Don't I look smart in my true blue lead? We were campaigning for an MP called Zac Goldsmith, who went right ahead and lost his seat. 

What a waste of my time! I'll never get those doggy years back.

Zac may have failed with the electorate, but to cheer him up he was given a life peerage and a fancy title as Minister for the Pacific, Trees, Weather, Clouds, International Snowballs and Group Tiddlywinks.

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Dilyn became involved in politics when he joined Carrie Symonds out campaigning for Zac Goldsmith, who lost his Richmond Park seat in the election

I'm new to the game, but sometimes I feel I will never understand politics.

Zac is a Minister for Animal Welfare, too. So maybe he could sling some chews my way, for a start? After everything I've done for him...

 

4: Antlers and tinsel at Christmas, December, 2019

Loving the Christmas tinsel collar, but I am not sure about these reindeer antlers.

Is it beneath my dognity as a proud Jack Russell to be dressed like this?

Or should I just go with the festive flow and not mind looking like a dog's breakfast?

Why don't we hold a rufferendum on the subject ... 

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Dilyn celebrated his first Christmas at Downing Street with new owners Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds by wearing a stylish tinsel necklace

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Carrie Symonds shared a photo of her dog in Christmas fancy on social media, writing 'I'm sorry Dilyn. I am a bad mother' alongside the hilarious photo

 

5: Smart Union Jack Coat, February 1, 2020

Brexit is here at last and I'm in a Union Jack coat to celebrate. It gives me a statesmanlike air, don't you think?

Like my master Boris, I am developing a taste for power, the cut and thrust of political life. It is intoxicating! Don't call me, I'll woof you. 

I'll get my people to sniff your people. Let's all dig a big hole, then jump in. Dominic, you can stop digging now! 

Which reminds me. Mr Cummings was sitting in the garden while lots of people asked him questions. Weird or what? 

My opinion was also solicited by Laura Kuenssberg.

She rubbed my tummy — so I told her everything.  

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Brexit arrived on February 1 and a Dilyn was photographed wearing in a Union Jack coat to celebrate was shared on the dog's Instagram

 

6: True love with Bailey Javid, Valentine’s day, 2020

I have fallen in love with Bailey, the doggo to the Treasury who lives next door with Sajid Javid’s family.

She is blonde, gorgeous and, most importantly, she is not too fussy. In the garden every morning, we romp together in bliss. 

For I am just a boy, standing in front of a cavapoo, asking her to roll in the squirrel poop with me. And she does! 

We dream of dating, of meeting incognito in a local pub, where I will say: ‘Make mine a double and give one to the bitch at the end of the bar.’

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Dilyn spent Valentine's Day 2020 with Bailey Javid, the dog to the Treasury. But Dilyn was heartbroken when his best friend disappeared from next door

But something terrible has happened. One day Bailey was there, the next she was a gone girl. I lost my mind, I lost all my dognity, I went mad with grief. Was it something I woofed? 

No. Mr Javid left in a hurry after something the humans call an ‘unhelpful political row’.

‘Don’t you worry, Dilyn,’ Boris said. ‘There are plenty more blondes in the park.’

Well, I guess he would know!

 

7: The reshuffle that never was, March 12, 2020 

I nearly choke on my breakfast. I am as sick as a dog. A so-called newspaper has reported that Boris and Carrie have ‘grown weary’ of me and that I might not make it through the next domestic reshuffle. 

They say that our home is full of ‘dog s**t’ and that I am more of a pest than a pet. WHAT?

I blink back tears. Yes, I admit there has been the occasional whoopsie. 

But nothing compared to the mess Mr Hammond used to make over at the Ministry of Defence. Or Mr Hancock is currently doing in sickness and in Health.

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A newspaper reported that Boris and Carrie have ‘grown weary’ of Dilyn and that he might not make it through the next domestic reshuffle - but luckily he made it out the other side 

Larry the cat thinks my apparent demise is hilarious but, lucky for me, Carrie agrees with my version of events. ‘Hush, puppy,’ she says, and gives me a kiss. Then she puts out a statement.

‘There has never been a happier, healthier and more loved dog than our Dilyn,’ she thunders. Woof! I adore that girl.

 

8: Carrie and I isolate together, March 27, 2020 

Pregnant Carrie and I are worried about Boris, who is lying in his hospital sickbed. She is missing her human partner but she is not alone in isolation — she has me.

I am trying to be here for her, to be a comfort and a good boy. 

‘There were times that were very dark indeed. My heart goes out to all those in similar situations, worried sick about their loved ones,’ she tweeted. 

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Boris Johnson was hospitalised amid the coronavirus pandemic but Dilyn stayed home to self-isolate with Carrie Symonds

When Boris was on the mend, she thanked the NHS and the staff at St Thomas’ Hospital. ‘I will never stop thanking you,’ she said.

Anydog else she wants to thank? I think we all know who.

 

9: Enter baby Wilfred, May 3, 2020

Ahem. I did not sign up for this. A baby was not in my social contract. Who thought this was a good idea?

One minute Carrie is all #adoptdontshop and #adogisfor life, rubbing my tummy and asking if I am a good boy, a lovely boy, the best boy in the world. 

The next she is popping out another Johnson — like the world needs more of them! 

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Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson was welcomed to the family on April 29 at 9am, named after both Boris and Carrie's grandfathers

And then — this is the worst bit — bringing him home to live with us. However, Wilfred is cute, he smells nice and he makes funny noises.

Sometimes there is bawling all night long, but apparently that is not the baby, it’s Mr Sunak looking at the economic forecasts.

 

10: Jogging with Boris, May 25, 2020

Just exactly who is the rescue animal here? My master Boris is still struggling to get back to full fitness, but everyone can see the efforts he is making.

And who is right by his side? Not Larry the cat but me, Dilyn the Dog, his right hound man. 

We’re going to stick this out together, come what may, one paw after the other, on the long walkies of life. Woof!

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Most recently, Dilyn the famous dog was pictured out with Boris Johnson during their daily exercise lockdown routine