University of Tlemcen

General Conclusion

The secret that lies beyond the fascination of literature is always its variable and rich genres. Actually, novels are one of these literary genres that readers resort to, seeking for fascination and amusement and hopefully to get out of the boring zone of reality they are surrounded by.

The detective novel is a special type of stories which has its own taste since it is a far cry from other story types. The detective novel is actually a thrilling story based on enigmas and mysteries. In fact, a clear difference seems to be noticed when this thriller is compared to other types of story; it has its own techniques and rules that proclaim certain portrayed characters, well carefully plotted events and the appropriate settings for a fascinating crime scene. Undoubtedly, if these techniques are carefully applied while recounting a detective novel, readers cannot feel that they are out of the story, but rather they will deeply be involved with it in a sense they feel as if they are the characters themselves who lead the events, sense the incidents and hold their breaths at the climaxes.
Dan Brown in his novel The Da Vinci Code was to a far extent very successful when it comes to applying all the techniques that are needed for this mystery genre. Yet, when it comes to the enigma of history; whether history is telling the truth or not, and the enigmatic story of Mary Magdalene; besides the secret of the Holy Grail, Dan Brown here needed to provide more convincing evidence that are supposed to strongly support the validity of these stories, not just by giving abstract clues but rather, concrete clues should appear in the plot.
Finally, for sure this work aimed to shed light on the defective elements presented in The Da Vinci Code, and whether they are perfectly applied or not, yet, what we think of as most important is actually the benefits of this research; in fact, we have learnt what makes the mystery genre of literature so special, and how we can possibly write a detective novel by following certain techniques.

Primary Source

Brown, Dan (2003) The Da Vinci Code. USA: Doubleday.

Secondary Sources

Forster, E, M. (1966) Aspects of the Novel, London: Pelican. Freeman, Austin R.(1924) The Art of The Detective Story.

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Mifflin ,Houghton. (2011) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Retrieved from: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/whodunit

Penguin Young Readers Group. (2014) The Five Essential Elements of a Mystery.Retrieved from http://www.penguin.com/static/packages/us/yreaders/camjansen/CamDownloadables/FiveEss

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Robert Swetland, Elements of Story or Fiction – “Character, Setting, Plot, Point of view, Style, Tone, Theme”.Retrieved from: http://www.homeofbob.com/literature/genre/fiction/ficElmnts.

Stevenson, L. (1960) The English Novel: A Panorama, Massachusetts: Riverside Press Cambridge.

Surber, Katie (2015), Detective Fiction: Definition, History & Authors. Retrieved from: http://study.com/academy/lesson/detective-fiction-definition-history-authors.html

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, (2015) “Detective Story, Narrative Genre”.http://www.britannica.com/art/detective-story-narrative-genre

Van Dine, S.S. (1928). The American Magazine: “Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories”. Retrieved from: http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv288.html

Watt, I. (1957-1985) The Rise of The Novel.Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding. Great Britain: Peregrine.