Coming in 2026 - The History of Mystery

This course traces the history of the mystery novel as a literary genre and covers its development into different styles and sub-genres up to the present day. It is not designed to be an in-depth study but more an overview which will hopefully give lovers of mystery novels a more detailed understanding of its history and development along with many suggestions for further reading.

Unit 1 – The Development of the Mystery Novel

The beginnings of crime fiction as we think of it, going back to the early 19th century.

Unit 2 – Sherlock Holmes

Why has Holmes continued to captivate generation after generation when other fictional detectives of the Victorian period are forgotten?

Unit 3 – The Golden Age of Mystery Novels

Who dunnit? 1920s and 1930s are commonly known as the Golden Age of detective fiction.

Unit 4 – Hard Boiled Murder

An American reaction, to the cosy conventionality of British murder mysteries, was the American hard-boiled school of crime writing.  

Unit 5 – Crime Thrillers

Over the decades, the detective story metamorphosed into the more general crime novel.

Unit 6 – Women Crime Writers

It's interesting and somewhat unexpected that this genre has consistently attracted as many women writers as men, if not more.

Unit 7 – Some Mysteries to Solve

Some intriguing mystery scenarios to test your detective skills.