Essay Sample on a Detective Story

Introduction

A detective story is a short story concerning a crime usually murder or a mystery that requires the attention of a detective to resolve through assembling of clues. Conan Doyle is among the few known authors of detective stories. Some characteristics define a detective story. Among them is the fact that there has to be a reasonable crime. At the same time, the detective has to be smart, intelligent and a reasonable observer. There also has to be a challenging opponent who puts the detective up to the task. The readers as well should be able to figure the solutions along with the detectives. All cues have to be availed for the reader. At the end of it all, the solution has to be logical. The short story "Adventure of the copper beeches" is subjected to the above characteristics to ascertain whether it is a detective story.

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First of all, the story presents a criminal situation. It is all centered on Mr. Rucastle's estate. At first, the mystery of the house is unknown until the later stages of the story. It is believed Rucastle forced the daughter Alice to sign all the inheritance into him which led her to become ill. At the same time, he is a quilt of hiring miss hunters to impersonate the daughter. The impersonation is a strategy of putting away the man interesting in the daughter. Above all, the daughter is locked up in a room and not allowed to access the outside. All these scenarios qualify for the presence of crime which is a characteristic of detective stories (Haycraft 6).

The intelligence capabilities of the detective are also evident in the story. The detective, in this case, is Holmes. The fact that miss haunter came to ask for some advice from him before taking the jobs shows that he is a decent character (Doyle and James 3). On the same note, he tells her that she should contact him by telegram in case she needed him. He must have given her the address to contact. At the same, Holmes is crucial in the unmasking of the mysterious in Rucastle's house. There is also an outstanding opponent in the name of Rucastle. He is the individual that has made Howler travel to Hampshire. He lives in mysterious ways that howler struggled to unearth. The fact that he could hide his daughter from the rest of the people proves his stubbornness which qualifies him to be a good opponent.

All discoveries in the story are clear to the readers as required of detective stories (Chesterton 21). From the beginning of the story, readers get to familiarize with the situation in Recastles house. The suspect in the story who is notably the owner of the house is introduced to the readers at an early stage of the story. Towards the end of the story, clues are provided to the readers. Among them is the fact Miss Hunter was forced to shave her hair so that she could resemble the daughter. All this is to mean that Miss Hunter was not hired as a governess but to impersonate the daughter.

Eventually, the discoveries come to light, and the daughter manages to escape with the fiance and later on marry. On the other hand, Miss Hunter is set free and leads a successful life. Mr. Rucastle is left at the mercy of his second wife soon after the mystery has been unearthed. The fact that the story has a crime, an intelligent detective, as well as an outstanding opponent, makes it a detective story. At the same, clues on the suspects and the mysterious flow within the story. "The adventure of the copper beeches" is thus a detective story.

Works Cited

Chesterton, Gilbert Keith. "A defense of detective stories." The Chesterton Review 37.1/2 (2011): 21-23.

Doyle, Arthur Conan, and P. James Macaluso. The adventure of the copper beeches. Vol. 12. AndrewsUKLimited, 2016.

www.repository.ccltumakurudigitallibrary.com:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/1186/Sherlock%20Holmes%20the%20Adventure%20of%20the%20Coppe%20-%20Sir%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle.pdf?sequence=1

Haycraft, Howard. Murder for Pleasure: the life and times of the detective story. Dover Publications, 2019.