ABSTRACT
Agatha Christie’s novels ushered in an era of mystery fiction known as the Golden Age, which spanned the years between the two world wars. The genre featured amateur detectives of all types who were motivated by the thrill of the game, the challenge of solving a knotty problem, and often the personal satisfaction of demonstrating their superiority over the police. Classical detectives like Dupin, Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot often had a competitive relationship with the police and took great delight in routinely demonstrating their superiority over them. The genre featured amateur detectives of all types who were motivated by the thrill of the game, the challenge of solving a knotty problem, and often the personal satisfaction of demonstrating their superiority over the police. Amateur detectives are driven by the thrill of the chase, the intellectual challenge or a healthy sense of being better at solving crimes than the police.
