There are many different books, in many different genres. There are
horror novels, love stories, suspenseful books, and detective stories. The
detective story's evolution has been a long and eventful process. The man
responsible for the biggest leap in the detective story was Arthur Conan
Doyle. He gave the world Sherlock Holmes, who could be considered the
greatest investigator in detective story history. Holmes was unique in
detective story history. "... The reader's interest is captivated not only by
the detective's "unique methods," but to perhaps to even a greater degree
by "the singular personality of this remarkable man" (Sayers 10). Doyle
also gave the world Dr. Watson, Holmes' sidekick. Other authors could
have written about this pair, but none could match Doyle. "Doyle was a
master storyteller" (Snow, 8). Without Doyle the detective story would
never have been what it is now. Cresterton states, "With Conan Doyle, the
detective story at last came to full fruition" (Cresterton, 170). This
statement is true. All detective stories after Doyle's had some of the
aspects of his stories. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle shaped the way detective
stories were written in the twentieth century by using a third person limited
perspective, using a structured plot line, and by having Holmes investigate
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was the first detective story author to make
good use of the third person limited perspective. Holmes' sidekick Watson
is a smart man, but he could not compare to the brilliance of Holmes.
When Holmes was figuring out a mystery, he often left Watson very
confused. Holmes would do things that, to Watson, would make no sense.
At the end of the story, however, Watson would see the logic behind
Holmes' actions. This quote is Watson thinking about the case he and
Holmes were working on. "Here I had heard what he had heard, I had seen
what he had seen, and yet f...