Characteristics Of A Detective

The Characteristics of a Armature Detective Why are we so fascinated with detective fiction? Is it because we are simply interested in the crimes themselves? Or is it because we are drawn to the characters within the stories that have characteristics that we desperately wish we could portray ourselves. The armature detective is one that we follow more often and have characteristics that pull us in more. As said in The Longing Anthology of Detective Fiction “they may be armatures, but they triumph over the professionals and discover the criminal.

They pursue the truth with courage and tenacity, often at the risk of their own lives. In these detectives can be found the best of human qualities: a genuine concern for other and that Justice must prevail. “(Mansfield-Kelly. 26). The armature detective is the underdog that we all root for. There are two different types of armature detectives; the armature-armature and the professional armature. The armature-armature detective described in The Longing Anthology of Detective Fiction as “the elegant aristocrat who pursues crime for a hobby.

“(Mansfield-Kelly. ) the professional detective is described as doctors and lawyer and other career professions that allow the detective to fall into the crime but their profession allows them to have an upper hand on the law enforcement and solve the crime. Detective Lord Peter Whimsy and Deborah Knott are two completely different amateur detectives. Lord Peter Whimsy is more an amateur-amateur detective considering the fact that his career has nothing to do with criminal Justice and in the story the hunted police man, it was only by coincidence that he fell upon the mystery.

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Detective Qualities

On the other hand you have Deborah Knott who is a lawyer and solves crimes for a living. What brings these two different detectives together is that they both share a characteristic of an amateur detective. “They often blunder into situations that are unforeseen or unexpected. “(Mansfield-Kelly, 26). Though Deborah Knott is a lawyer and deals with murder and crime on a daily basis, the crime she fell upon one Sunday afternoon was much unexpected. In Margaret Moron’s Deborah Judgment Deborah Knott is going over to a family member’s house for dinner after church one

Sunday when she shocked to find her uncle laying shot on the floor and her aunt dead outside. In Dorothy L. Assayer’s the haunted police man lord Peter Whimsy, who has Just witnessed the birth of his first child, is having a drink at a bar when walks in a policeman who appears to be shaken up. The men share a few drinks and the police men begins to tell Lord Peter Whimsy about a so called “murder” he Just witnessed. Though the two are very different kinds of amateur detectives they still share some similar characteristic. Another similarity that these two share can also show how they differentiate from one another. They are often eccentric, but each possesses his or her own particular type of intelligence. ” (Mansfield-Kelly. 26). The two detective are both very intelligent but each detective has a different kind of intelligence. In the story the Haunted Policeman lord Peter Whimsy solves the case just by simply listening to the drunken officer tell his story. And also with his background. Being an aristocrat Whimsy enjoys obtaining knowledge and looking at Deborah Knott takes a different approach. Deborah Knott I a very intelligent women and a very successful lawyer.

Though she does look at the facts of her case she tends to be more street smart than book smart. Instead of finder her answers in a book she does some digging and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty when getting to the bottom of a case. Not only are these two detectives different but their differences are what make them similar. A similarity that they both share is their interest in the crime. “Their interest in the crime is generated because of a friend, a relative, someone associated with the crime, or because or sheer curiosity or the need for intellectual stimulation. (Mansfield-Kelly. 26). They both fall into this characteristic. Deborah Knot’s interest in the crime was driving by the fact that it was her family that was involved in the murder. While Lord Peter Whimsy fell into the case by pure coincidence and the need for amusement. Both Deborah Knott and Lord Peter Whimsy are brilliant armature detectives. Even though one is an armature-armature and the other is a professional detective they both share qualities that bring them OTOH into the same category.