The 6 Key Elements of Detective Fiction

1. The fictional detective must be memorable. The detective must be clever and out of the ordinary. They must have or do something that makes them different from others.
2. The crime should be significant. The crime is often a murder, blackmail, or a grand theft. Murder is often used because it cannot be undone or reversed, therefore, it is worth the detective's time and effort.
3. The criminal must be a worthy opponent. This is because, for a detective to show their cleverness, skills, and wits, there must be someone who can compare to and be equal to the detective. The mind of the criminal is often equally intellectual to the detective, so the conflict becomes a battle of intellects, between the detective, the criminals, and the reader.
4. All suspects, and the criminal should be presented earlier on in the story. All good detective stories created a contest between the reader and the detective to solve the crime. The reader must be able to assume that the perpetrator is one of the main characters and not a character that randomly pops into the story,
5. All clues discovered by detective must be available to the reader. The reader must be given the same opportunity to solve the crime as the detective. The readers must be given the same evidence at the same time as the detective and if the author decides to deceive the readers on who the perpetrator is, then they must deceive the detective too.
6. The solution must be logical and obvious when the detective explains how the crime is solved. The author must convince the reader that it is possible for them to solve the crime and reach the same conclusion. The reader should be able to understand and see how it all the information and evidence comes and fits together.

 Links:
http://www.slideshare.net/kbbandrowski/introduction-to-a-detective-story-2007