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Awhodunit (less commonly spelled aswhodunnit; a colloquialelision of "Who [has] done it?") is a complexplot-driven variety ofdetective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed thecrime is the main focus.[1] The reader or viewer is provided with the clues to the case, from which the identity of theperpetrator may be deduced before the story provides the revelation itself at itsclimax. The investigation is usually conducted by an eccentric, amateur, or semi-professionaldetective.
A whodunit follows the paradigm of the traditional detective story in the sense that it presents crime as a puzzle to be solved through a chain of questions that the detective poses.[2] In a whodunit, however, the audience is given the opportunity to engage in the same process ofdeduction as theprotagonist throughout the investigation of a crime. This engages the readers so that they strive to compete with or outguess the expert investigator.[3]
A defining feature of the whodunit narrative is the so-calleddouble narrative. Here, one narrative is hidden and gradually revealed while the other is the open narrative, which often transpires in the present time of the story.[4] This feature has been associated with the Russian literary termssyuzhet and fabula. The former involves the narrative presented to the reader by the author or the actual story as it happened in chronological order while the latter focuses on the underlying substance or material of the narrative.[4]
The double narrative has a deep structure but is specific, particularly when it comes to time and a split gaze on the narrative itself.[5] The two tales coexist and interweave with the first tale focusing on the crime itself, what led to it, and the investigation to solve it while the second story is all about the reconstruction of the crime.[5] Here, thediegesis, or the way the characters live on the inquiry level creates the phantom narration where the objects, bodies, and words become signs for both the detective and the reader to interpret and draw their conclusions from.[5] For instance, in a detective novel, solving a mystery entails the reconstruction of the criminal events. This process, however, also involves on the part of the detective the production of ahypothesis that could withstand scrutiny, including the crafting of findings about cause and motive as well as crime and its intended consequences.[6] This discourse of explanation constitutes the second narrative besides the primary story relating to the crime.[6]
The double narrative is cited as a main distinguishing element between the whodunit and thethriller. The whodunit goes backward as it goes forward, reconstructing the timeline of both crime and investigation, while the thriller coincides with the action in a single story.[7] According toTzvetan Todorov, in terms oftemporal logic, the whodunit narrative is considered aparadigm for fiction in general because the story unfolds in relation not to a future event but one that is already known and merely lying in wait.[7] Such certainty pertains to the crime and not to the identity of the culprit, who the reader must anticipate as part of the unknown future.[7]
This narrative development has been seen as a form ofcomedy, in which order is restored to a threatened social calm.[8]
According toMerriam-Webster Dictionary, the term "WhoDunIt" was coined byNews of Books reviewer Donald Gordon in 1930, in his review of the detective novelHalf-Mast Murder written byMilward Kennedy. Journalist Wolfe Kaufman claimed that he coined the word "whodunit" around 1935 while working forVariety magazine.[9] However, an editor of the magazine,Abel Green, attributed it to his predecessor,Sime Silverman.[10] The earliest appearance of the word "whodunit" inVariety occurs in the edition of August 28, 1934, in reference to a film adaptation of the playRecipe for Murder, as featured in the headline, "U's Whodunit: Universal is shooting 'Recipe for Murder,'Arnold Ridley's play".[11] The film was eventually titledBlind Justice.[12]
The "whodunit" flourished during the so-called "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", between theFirst andSecond World Wars,[13] when it was the predominant mode of crime writing. Many of the best-known writers of whodunits in this period wereBritish – notablyAgatha Christie,Nicholas Blake,G. K. Chesterton,Christianna Brand,Edmund Crispin,Michael Innes,Dorothy L. Sayers,Gladys Mitchell andJosephine Tey. Others –S. S. Van Dine,John Dickson Carr andEllery Queen – were American, but imitated the "British" style. Still others, such asRex Stout,Clayton Rawson andEarl Derr Biggers, attempted a more "American" style. During the Golden Age, the genre was dominated by female authors.[13] In addition to Christie, Brand, Sayers, Mitchell, and Tey, major writers also includedMargery Allingham andNgaio Marsh.[13]
Over time, certain conventions andclichés developed which limited surprise on the part of the reader – vis-à-vis details of the plot – the identity of the murderer. Several authors excelled, after successfully misleading their readers, in revealing an unlikely suspect as the real villain of the story. They often had a predilection for certain casts of characters and settings, with the secludedEnglish country house at the top of the list.
One reaction to the conventionality of British murder mysteries was American "hard-boiled" crime fiction, epitomized by the writings ofRaymond Chandler,Dashiell Hammett andMickey Spillane, among others. Though the settings were grittier, the violence more abundant and the style more colloquial, plots were, as often as not, whodunits constructed in much the same way as the "cozier" British mysteries.
The 1935 commercial parlour gameJury Box sees the players cast asjurors who are given the scenario of the murder, the evidence presented by the prosecutor and defendant, two photographs of the crime scene and ballot papers. Players are challenged to make the decision as to who is guilty, before a real solution is read out.[14]
The 1948 board gameCluedo, released asClue in North America, was the first murder mystery board game, and sees players as visitors in a mansion, attempting to identify a killer whose identity is recorded on a hidden card.
Amurder mystery game is a form of live-action "whodunit" experience, where guests at a private party are given notes to perform the roles of the suspects, detective and murderer over the course of an evening. There are a number of murder mysterydinner theaters, where either professional or community theatre performers take on those roles, and present themurder mystery to an audience, usually in conjunction with a meal. Typically before or immediately following the final course, the audience is given a chance to offer their help in solving the mystery.
An important variation on the whodunit is theinverted detective story (also referred to as ahowcatchem orhowdunnit) in which the guilty party and the crime are openly revealed to the reader/audience and the story follows the investigator's efforts to find out the truth while the criminal attempts to prevent it. TheColumbo TV movie series is the classic example of this kind of detective story (Law & Order: Criminal Intent andThe Streets of San Francisco also fit into this genre). This tradition dates back to the inverted detective stories ofR Austin Freeman, and reached an apotheosis of sorts inMalice Aforethought written by Francis Iles (a pseudonym ofAnthony Berkeley). In the same vein is Iles'sBefore the Fact (1932), which became theHitchcock movieSuspicion. Successors of the psychological suspense novel includePatricia Highsmith'sThis Sweet Sickness (1960),Simon Brett'sA Shock to the System (1984), andStephen Dobyns'sThe Church of Dead Girls (1997).
In addition to standard humor,parody, spoof, andpastiche have had a long tradition within the field of crime fiction. Examples of pastiche are theSherlock Holmes stories written byJohn Dickson Carr, and hundreds of similar works by such authors asE. B. Greenwood. As for parody, the first Sherlock Holmes spoofs appeared shortly afterConan Doyle published his first stories. Similarly, there have been innumerableAgatha Christie send-ups. The idea is to exaggerate and mock the most noticeable features of the original and, by doing so, amuse especially those readers who are also familiar with that original.
There are also "reversal" mysteries, in which the conventional structure is deliberately inverted. One of the earliest examples of this isTrent's Last Case (1914) byE. C. Bentley (1875–1956). Trent, a very able amateur detective, investigates the murder of Sigsbee Manderson. He finds many important clues, exposes several false clues, and compiles a seemingly unassailable case against a suspect. He then learns that that suspect cannot be a murderer, and that while he found nearly all of the truth, his conclusion is wrong. Then, at the end of the novel, another character tells Trent that he always knew the other suspect was innocent, because "I shot Manderson myself." These are Trent's final words to the killer:
"I'm cured. I will never touch a crime-mystery again. The Manderson affair shall be Philip Trent's last case. His high-blown pride at length breaks under him." Trent's smile suddenly returned. "I could have borne everything but that last revelation of the impotence of human reason. [...] I have absolutely nothing left to say, except this: you have beaten me. I drink your health in a spirit of self-abasement. Andyou shall pay for the dinner."
Another example of a spoof, which at the same time shows that the borderline between serious mystery and its parody is necessarily blurred, is U.S. mystery writerLawrence Block's novelThe Burglar in the Library (1997). The burglar of the title is Bernie Rhodenbarr, who has booked a weekend at an English-style country house just to steal a signed, and therefore very valuable, first edition ofChandler'sThe Big Sleep, which he knows has been sitting there on one of the shelves for more than half a century. Alas, immediately after his arrival a dead body turns up in the library, the room is sealed off, and Rhodenbarr has to track down the murderer before he can enter the library again and start hunting for the precious book.
Murder by Death isNeil Simon's spoof of many of the best-known whodunit sleuths and theirsidekicks.[15] In the 1976 film,Sam Spade (fromThe Maltese Falcon) becomes Sam Diamond, Hercule Poirot becomes Milo Perrier, and so on.[15] The characters are all gathered in a large country house and given clues to solve the mystery.[15]
Tom Stoppard'sThe Real Inspector Hound is a send-up of crime fiction novels and features a bumbling detective.
The 2019 filmKnives Out is a modern take on the classicwhodunit by deconstructing the narrative form and adds a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.
The termwhodunit is also used amonghomicide investigators to describe a case in which the identity of the killer is not quickly apparent.[16] Since most homicides are committed by people with whom the victim is acquainted or related, a whodunit case is usually more difficult to solve.
