Summary of Detective Fiction
Summary of Detective Fiction
“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” is an interesting tale in which a guy named Dupin outwits the police in solving the murder of two women. The story is quite captivating and I was particularly inspired by the systematic manner in which Dupin connects the small leads in the case. When Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter Mademoiselle Camille are found dead, the neighbors give conflicting tale of events, but one thing is clear: two distinct voices were heard from the apartment. The fact that the apartment is inaccessible from the outside makes the murder appear mysterious. After keenly reading the account of events written in the newspaper, Dupin asks to be allowed to make a follow up on the case, and what he discovers is quite intriguing; it appears as though the murders were not committed by a human being and this comes after discovering non human hair on the crime scene.
Since the entry appears intact, Dupin reasons that the animal, which killed the two women, must have stood outside the lightening rod and attacked through the window. The knotted ribbon at the base of the lightening rod points out that the owner of the animal is a sailor. Dupin then confronts a sailor, who then admits that the Ourang-Outang which killed the women escaped from its closet holding a razor. The sailor then followed his animal and watched helplessly as it climbed the lightening rod and leaped onto the window. The Ourang-Outang then proceeded to slash Madame L'Espanaye and choke her daughter to death. The sailor’s voice confirms that the two voices heard by the neighbors came from him and his Ourang-Outang. Undoubtedly, such an analysis would have escaped any average detective, but the author tries to stretch the reader’s mind to look for answers away from the conventional sources.
Gone Girl by Rose McDonald
“Gone Girl” is another classic detective-fiction thriller by Ross McDonald. It is important to point out that the story lives up to the expectations readers of other Ross McDonald’s work might have, because the writer maintains high standards in the story. What I like about this narrative is the way the author gives a mental picturesque of the murder setting in the story. This is a unique technique, and it makes the readers connect with the story in a manner such that they can visualize the events that the narrator saw. In “Gone Girl”, the author narrates the story through a character named Archer- and this is something which is common with Ross McDonald’s stories. As Archer reports to his motel room, he stumbles upon an intriguing murder.
Although some people suggest that the dead man shot himself in the stomach, Archer objects this simple inference. The proprietor of the motel room tries to bribe him to tell white lies, but Archer stands his ground. Archer insists that the dead man checked into the motel accompanied by a woman, and the registrar proves his intuition right because the records show a Mr. and Mrs. Rowe checked into the room. At this point, Donny, a guy from the reception, admits that the woman left with the man’s clothes and did not leave any trace of her. Archer is determined to get to the bottom of the matter, and he drives to the shopping centre to look for a woman who matches the description given by Donny.
The search takes Archer to a cartel that sells rugs, and they try to “buy him off” thinking he has been sent by a rival gang. As it turns out, the dead man was romantically involved with Ella, the proprietor’s girl. Ella had arranged with Donny for him to kill him, so that they could elope together. So Ella was the culprit. Who would have unraveled such a mystery, if not Archer the private detective?
