ABSTRACT
Detective stories represent in a most familiar manner a narrative code characteristic of the nineteenth century. Then, as now, detective narratives re-inscribe over and over again, in books or other media, a post-Enlightenment faith in rationality and, more to the point, in the naturalness of reason. A character in Graham Greene’s novel, The Honorary Consul, explains the ritual value of such narratives of disclosure:
There is a sort of comfort in reading a story where one knows what the end will be. The story of a dream world where justice is always done. There were no detective stories in the age of faith-an interesting point when you think of it. God used to be the only detective when people believed in Him. He was law. He was order. He was good. Like your Sherlock Holmes. It was He who pursued the wicked man for punishment and discovered all.
