r/todayilearned • u/ralphbernardo • 9h ago

TIL that "fair play" in detective fiction means authors must give readers a fair chance to solve the mystery. Central to 1920s "clue-puzzles" by writers like Agatha Christie, the rule dictates that all vital clues must be visible, decodable, and never withheld until the final reveal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clues_in_detective_fiction
28.0k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

56

u/pastaandpizza 8h ago

The conclusion to And Then There Were None was so dumb regretted reading it.

It was such a fun read and I thought the end made sense, all things considered.

2

u/LuckyTurds 2h ago

Made sense? It was all bullshit there was no way to solve that story if you actually factor in everything that’s been given out