Anatomy of Crime, Suspense and Surprise

: Detective Fictions and Psycho Thrillers

Detective fictions : Character
Development

• Reasons known, killer unknown.

• Protagonist/detective has mission to find killer.
“Whodunit” or "by whom“
• Reasons for crime are:
• a. Money b. Fear of exposure c. Jealousy
• Protagonist or narrator drives the story or both
can.
• No plot twist.
• Quirky characters+ a non graphic murder
+puzzle
•Ending not ambiguous
Psycho thriller: Character
Development
• Killer known, reasons unknown.
• Protagonist/ detective has mission to foil
evil.
•”Why" is important.
• Villain drives the story.
• Plot twists a lot.
• Horrific murder + experienced detective+
threatened lives.
• Villain creates suspense.
• Moral/ morality and ethics
•ending is ambiguous
Element of surprise and suspense
in detective fictions and psycho
thrillers:

Definitions
• Suspense
• Surprise

Suspense VS Surprise
• Detective Fiction- More Surprise
• Psycho Thriller- More Suspense
Focalizer
•Methods to determining how readers receive an
image:
Reader-Character-(riddle/detective
story/search)
•Reader + Character - (Threat)
•Reader-Character +(secret)
•Reader +Character +(No suspense)

 Narration and Characters

•Problematic narrator and characters
•Discrepancy of surprise
•Empathy for protagonists or characters
•Cast of characters
Suspense and Surprise in
Making
•Plot
•Clues
•Red herrings
•Wandering viewpoints
•Crafting of surprise

Complementarities of
suspense and surprise
Unreliable Narration

•Misreporting
•Misreading
•Misregarding
•Under reporting
•Under reading
•Under regarding
American Psycho
Antagonist Saves the Protagonist
Hercule Poirot
Trailer: American Psycho(2000)
Trailer : The Silence of the Lambs
Short Clip: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
That’s All Folks!