detective stories

[truangel]

im doing sherlock holmes at school and i wanted to know what was the very first detective story called? thanks in advance

[shaneystar2]

Arthur Conan Doyles first significant work was A Study in Scarlet which appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual .
I may be wrong but the very first detective story has always been considered to be The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe.
Have a look here..there are a few earlier ones
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761559994/Detective_ Story.html

Good luck with your homework.

[Hammond Egg]

Another candidate (I don't know whether it predates Poe) is The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.

[Quizmonkey]

My money's on The Moonstone too.

[shaneystar2]

The Murders in the Rue Morgue is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1841.
The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language.
So I agree with the others on The Moonstone ,as this is a novel rather than a short story.
I had entirely forgotten about Wilkie Collins.
It's my age you know !

[Argee]

I always thought that the first detective story was "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins written in 1860.

[Argee]

Sorry! I have just checked in the Oxford Companion to English Literature and Sergeant Cluff first appears in The Moonstone.

[Quizmonkey]

Woman In White is a mystery but not a detective story.