December 7, 2004 The Detective Story

(three elements: characters, setting, story. That's independent of the narrative fold, which is a contest between writer and reader to invent the future).

The simple folding in a detective story is the real reality (explained at the end) overlain on the fake reality which is the "story" the murderer projects.

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The Dragon Murder Case (1934): This follows the "Hound of the Baskervilles" template in which a family curse is blamed. The battle between logic and superstition plays out and of course logic wins.

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The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983): This may be the first detective story where the fold of competing realities (that of the murderer and that of the "truth") is overlain with a battle between superstition and logic.

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