To Murder a Mystery - DE Book Club

"Nothing is real. All is fiction." On this peculiar note, John Fowle's The Enigma shifts from a conventional detective story to a self-referential discussion on the nature of mystery. Isobel Dodgson's unproved theory does not resolve the case. It resolves the story itself by conveying the insignificance of solving the mystery.

In The Typology of Detective Fiction, Todorov explains that a work of detective fiction consists of two stories: the tale of the crime and that of the investigation. While the latter is usually recounted gradually by the narrator, the story of the crime is only told through dialogue at the very end of the investigation. The detective story thus concludes with the revelation of the first tale. For example, The Adventure of the Speckled Band only settles once Sherlock Holmes explains how the murder was committed, thus ending the mystery.

However, The Enigma concludes without explaining what truly happened to John Marcus Fielding. The tale of the crime is never actually told. As Fowles' characters state themselves, this lack of resolution is the most important element of his story:

"'Just tying ends up.'
'And if I don't answer?'
'I don't think that writer of yours would allow that.'
'Oh but he would. That's his whole point.'"

"The act was done; taking it to bits, discovering how it had been done in detail, was not the point." In detective stories or whodunits ("Who has done it?"), the question is what drives the readers. They are invited to follow the second tale, that of the investigation, where the mystery is kept alive.

By avoiding its own resolution, The Enigma demonstrates that the main purpose of a detective story isn't to recount a murder but to present a puzzle: "he was being put to the test; [...] this was precisely what was to be learnt."

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