You recognize this type of scene from past mysteries: the Great Detective Pondering the Case.
Formula is a key part of the fun of mysteries — we’re all familiar with these stock scenes and characters. Greedy nephews. Clueless policemen. Foolishly romantic young lovers. When does the detective overhear the heated argument in the garden? What letter’s return address causes all color to leave the mother’s face? How does a fading, sepia-tinged photograph of a rowing team reveal the vital clue to a murder, decades later? I think that one reason that readers and writers of mysteries can forge such tight relationships is because they share this common vocabulary.
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