Most of us have a soft spot for mysteries and even if we don't, everyone knows the basic premise of a who-dunnit. Starting with Wilkie Collins and the first detective novel, following through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and finally taking a fixed shape in Agatha Christie's mystery novels, the who-dunnit appeals to us on multiple levels. Interestingly, it has also influenced other genres lending aspects of mystery, well known tropes and elements of suspense and tension to fantasy, sci-fi and even romance. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at why we're wired to find a who-dunnit compelling; why the story form has very much become it's own thing and how you can leverage that for your own writing.
On the slab this week: Knives Out, Death on the Nile, See How they Run and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 158: Dominion, Mastery and Emancipation - Portrayals of Slavery in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 157: Chosen Ones and Fated Champions - the Phenomenon of the Special Snowflake in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 156: Childcatchers and Trunchbulls - Portrayals of Abuse in Children's Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 155: All in Your Head - Portrayals of Mental Illness in Modern YA Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 154: Death and Sex Appeal - Assassins in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 153: A Pirate's Life for Me - Myths, Stories and Crime on the High Seas
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 152: The Universe in Motion - Expanding Series & Reader Opinion in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 151: Reading Like a Writer - How Critical Reading Informs the Writing Process
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 150: The Twilight Zone - When Fandoms are Attacked in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 149: 2018 - The Good, the Bad and the Utterly Bizarre
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 148: The Holly and the Ivy - The Root of the Carol
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 147: Trading Capes - When Villains become Heroes
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 146: The Hollywood Treatment - What the Movies Changed
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 145: Away with the Faeries - Girls versus Supernatural Queens
Dissecting Dragon: Episode 144: Private Eyes and Underworlds - Crime Meets Urban Fantasy
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 143: Making Sh!t Happen - Avoiding the Number One Writing Fail
Dissecting Dragons Episode 142: Battlefield Earth - Intergalactic Invasions in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 141: Spirits of the Deep and Dark - A Dissecting Dragons Hallowe'en Special
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 140: Parody, Farce and Exaggeration - Satire in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 139: That is Illogical - Murderous, Wacky and Wise-cracking AI in Speculative Fiction
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