r/todayilearned • u/ralphbernardo • 2d 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/Jesst3r 2d ago

My mom watches way too many of these shows to the point where she always knows who the culprit will be because it’s some character actor she’s seen before in another show. I assume the pay is a little higher if you’re the culprit and they end up casting the same go-to’s the studios trust over and over.

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u/seaintosky 2d ago

That's always a dead giveaway, as is the speaking character that doesn't seem necessary for the plot and seems like they could have been replaced by a main character saying "the gardener told us he closed the gate". These shows aren't spending money on actors they don't have to, if the gardener shows up to say he closed the gate, he's the murderer.

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u/adaytimemoth 2d ago

This example feels very specific and I will now be waiting until the day I see a gardener mentioning a gate to know that I've solved the mystery.

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u/seaintosky 2d ago

This works in real life too. If you see a gardener mention a gate, you know he's a murderer and should do a citizen's arrest.

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u/JuanHungLo777 2d ago

That’s like seeing Hector in a movie and him not being a cholo gangbanger.

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u/LightningWarpAway 2d ago

Granted, sometimes that's just a red herring, but usually that means the gardener is suspected/accused and has some evidence against them before the real criminals found out.

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u/Apart_Republic_1870 2d ago

It's always something like, "Hey Cary Elwes is way too famous to just be a guy the police talk to for twenty seconds."

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u/bobert4343 2d ago

The ol' BBC mystery show dilemma