The Characteristics of an Amateur Dectective

The Characteristics of a Armature Detective Why are we so fascinated with detective fiction? Is it because we are simply interested in the crimes themselves? Or is it because we are drawn to the characters within the stories that have characteristics that we desperately wish we could portray ourselves. The armature detective is one that we follow more often and have characteristics that pull us in more. As said in The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction “they may be armatures, but they triumph over the professionals and discover the criminal. They pursue the truth with courage and tenacity, often at the risk of their own lives. In these detectives can be found the best of human qualities: a genuine concern for other and that justice must prevail.”(Mansfield-Kelly. 26). The armature detective is the underdog that we all root for. There are two different types of armature detectives; the armature-armature and the professional armature. The armeture-armeture detective described in The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction as “the elegant aristocrat who pursues crime for a hobby.”(Mansfeild-Kelly.26) the professional detective is described as doctors and lawyer and other career professions that allow the detective to fall into the crime but their profession allows them to have an upper hand on the law enforcement and solve the crime. Detective Lord Peter Wimsey and Deborah Knott are two completely different amateur detectives. Lord Peter Wimsey is more an amateur-amateur detective considering the fact that his career has nothing to do with criminal justice and in the story the hunted police man, it was only by coincidence that he fell upon the mystery. On the other hand you have Deborah Knott who is a lawyer and solves crimes for a living. What brings these two different detectives together is that they both share a characteristic of an amateur detective. “They often blunder into situations that are unforeseen or