The main appeal of crime fiction lies in its treatment of narrative organization, in particular, its application of the double stories of crime and investigation. Centered on the search for answers to the who? how? and why? questions, works of crime fiction revolve around the resolution of an enigma, and it isn’t until the very end that the interrelatedness of the various clues is revealed and the gap between the two stories is bridged. Enthusiasts of crime fiction read for the plot; every word on the page adds to the anticipation of the final revelation, and the longer that instant can be pushed back, the stronger the concluding moment of illumination will be. Bayard (2000) argues that “this game-playing dimension is essential to the construction of blindness, which is all the more powerful when the veil is lifted at the last possible moment” (p. 20). Solving the mystery or murder is a type of game, and like any good game, it is built on rules, in this case, “fair play” rules of narrative organization (Pyrhönen, 2010, p. ). Works of crime fiction have to give the reader, or in the case of videogames, the player, a fair chance to solve the enigma before the narrative comes to an end and everything is resolved. In literary works, this type of fair play is achieved by “showing readers the clues needed for solving the case, while simultaneously confusing [and blinding] them as to the correct meaning of these clues” (Pyrhönen, 2010, p. 46). Solving the murder or finding the key to the puzzle should be a difficult but possible task, and in all cases, the process should appear evident in retrospect.
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