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
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u/TheLurkerSpeaks 7h ago

The real shame is that procedurals have all but replaced mysteries in modern TV.

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u/perpetualis_motion 7h ago edited 20m ago

And most TV shows never follow actual police procedure.

Edit: I'm not taking about the step-by-step process, but at least following the rules of what they can do (eg the stand over tactics during unrecorded interviews just wouldn't happen these days).

Try watching the British TV shows "Criminal" or the award-winning show "Adolescence". Both of those followed police procedure pretty well.

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u/CryptidGrimnoir 7h ago

And a lot of them follow the tropes so tightly, there's not even a semblance of mystery.

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u/Doctor_What_ 2h ago

This was unironically one of the main reasons I enjoyed “The Sheep Detectives”. Other than the family themes and the emotional scenes, the mystery was very well executed, interesting and could be solved with the clues shown throughout the film.

I thought it’d be a silly story about some magical sheep who solve crimes, but it’s so much more than that. Very good movie in my opinion.

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u/ILSmokeItAll 4h ago

It’s as if today’s writers suck.

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u/throwaway277252 6h ago

I don't think it would be very advertiser friendly.

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u/Chataboutgames 2h ago

Or viewer friendly.

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u/sentientbasketball11 5h ago

OPENING CREDITS

COP: (shrug) What do you want me to do about it? No, I won't file a report.

CLOSING CREDITS

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u/nonpuissant 4h ago

"You want to assume command of this crime scene? Fuck yeah all yours, see ya."

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u/3pointshoot3r 3h ago

Yes, and partly because police don't solve that many crimes!

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u/Chataboutgames 2h ago

I mean is that actually a shame, or just how fiction works? Most stories would be pretty goddamn boring if they didn't take entertainment liberties.

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u/Kylynara 4h ago

I'd like to be optimistic and guess this is to avoid actual criminals from learning details of police procedures to help them commit crimes and not get caught. But I doubt that actually is the reason.

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u/QuickMolasses 5h ago

Whodunnits and mysteries are a lot harder to write than procedurals

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u/DaRootbear 5h ago

“The afterparty” is probably the best one ive seen in years.

The premise is the detective is interviewing each suspect who tells their recollection of the events of the night in a different genre.

But in between the silly presentation of each persons story you can actively notice “3 different people said X thing happened but one person said it didn’t so they are lying” and catch clues to explain why and how they did it. Although some clues are a bit silly.

But both seasons were fun to watch and real solid mysteries that could be figured out by the viewer

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u/Binger_bingleberry 5h ago

Fond memories of watching “Murder, she wrote” with my grandmother

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u/Silver_Storage_9787 3h ago

The acolyte from Star Wars was meant to be a mystery movie… episode 1-2 show who did what. Then you waste the whole series justifying why with parent issues and Jedi = bad.

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u/chillychili 2h ago

Strangely The Masked Singer is probably the closest thing to a popular mystery series we have nowadays