Detection

An eccentric millionaire invites the top 5 detectives to his murder-mystery party and whoever solves the murder gets $1m. As they say, hilarity ensues. The detectives are satirical versions of Sam Spade, Poirot, Miss Marple, and others from the Golden Age of mysteries. If you decide to watch Murder by Death, you should know it is silly, but also culturally insensitive. The movie attacks every trope.

In the early 1900s, real mystery writers formed a club. Members of this group wrote rules that must be followed for proper mysteries. The rules included things like: the guilty party had to appear early in the story, no surprise twins, no more than one secret room or passage, and the stupid sidekick must only be slightly stupider than the average reader.

Several members of The Detection Club, including Agatha Christie, set out to artfully break many of these rules. While others in the club faded into history, Agatha's stories continue to be popular.

Sometimes we see rules based on our perception and not on what things are or could be. Many times the rules are not even really rules, they are just habits or routines. They rarely hold up to scrutiny. We need to find what works for us, even if it is a different approach.

Do I sufficiently question things that look like rules? Am I clear enough on intent to break those that need to be broken? Is there a better, more artful way?

Be curious, be kind, be whole, do good things.