The English detective novel: historical and theoretical aspect

Abstract

The current article deals with the peculiarities of the development and formation of the English detective novel. Three main stages of English detective fiction – classic, modern, and postmodern are described. It is established that the classical detective novel is a kind of puzzle that is built around the mystery of solving a crime. The narrative is built logically and consistently, and the protagonist discovers the truth by critically analyzing the facts. The compositional features of the detective story determine the binary opposition of the characters, mostly male, – good (the detective, their assistants) and bad (the criminal, their accomplices).