What is Mystery: Definition and 913 Discussions

Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime. The central character is often a detective (such as Sherlock Holmes), who eventually solves the mystery by logical deduction from facts presented to the reader. Some mystery books are non-fiction. Mystery fiction can be detective stories in which the emphasis is on the puzzle or suspense element and its logical solution such as a whodunit. Mystery fiction can be contrasted with hardboiled detective stories, which focus on action and gritty realism.
Mystery fiction can involve a supernatural mystery in which the solution does not have to be logical and even in which there is no crime involved. This usage was common in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, whose titles such as Dime Mystery, Thrilling Mystery and Spicy Mystery offered what were then described as complicated to solve and weird stories: supernatural horror in the vein of Grand Guignol. That contrasted with parallel titles of the same names which contained conventional hardboiled crime fiction. The first use of "mystery" in that sense was by Dime Mystery, which started out as an ordinary crime fiction magazine but switched to "weird menace" during the later part of 1933.

View More On Wikipedia.org
Recent contents Top users
  1. G

    Solving the Mystery: Identifying the Faulty Bag of Balls

    try this, there are eight bags. each bag contains 10 balls. one of those bags contains balls weighing 2 kg(all balls weigh the same). All the other balls weigh 1 kg. you have a weighing machine (not a balance). in one weighing u have to find out which bag contains the faulty balls.
  2. L

    Exploring the Mystery of Why the Sky is Dark

    The stars in the sky are all emitting their own light. The light is reflected for infinitely many times and part of the light energy will be stored in objects. But why is the sky so dark? Why is it not bright?
  3. honestrosewater

    Introducing The NEW AND IMPROVED Mystery X Game

    - The game proceeds by rounds. At the start of each round, X is some mystery individual. A round begins by the latest winner (or me for the first round) attributing one property to X. Ex: X is dead. or X is in my car. or X is a dead president of the USA. - A property must apply to more...
  4. honestrosewater

    What Is the Mystery X Game?

    Monkey see, mokey do. 1st poster: X is green. 2nd poster: X is native to Florida. 3rd poster: X is a reptile. 4th poster: X is not a mammal. This breaks a rule: You must actually narrow the options. 5th poster: X's jaws can exert thousands pounds of pressure per square inch when closing...
  5. P

    Mystery by the Woods: Amber and Kayla's Case

    me and my friend have a case. every night at 12:00 by the woods we see a figure a green light and bouncing leaves. is it the owner or a killer :confused: -amber and kayla o:)
  6. J

    Exploring Nitrogen Oxide Compounds: Unraveling the Mystery

    I’m puzzled by these two oxides of nitrogen, especially with NO, how do they exist, what favors them? If nitrogen has 1s2 2s2 2 px1 py1 pz1 configuration how or why does he form compound with only one oxygen atom ? Nitrogen has +1 oxidation number here right? So by what kind of connection...
  7. F

    .Unraveling the Mystery of 1=2: A Logarithmic Proof

    everybody seems to know at least one of the "proofs" that 1=2 or 1=-1, etc but i had never seen this one before. check it out: everybody knows that log(1+x) = x-\frac{x^2}{2} + \frac{x^3}{3} - ... plug in x=1 & the series converges & we get log2 = 1 - 1/2 + 1/3 - 1/4 + 1/5 - 1/6 + 1/7 -...
  8. Monique

    Is Your Street Market Portrait Part of a Larger Art Mystery?

    On a street market I bought an old signed portret of a girl, it is really nice and everyone likes it. One day I was looking on the internet and found another portret by the painter, this time a boy: http://x2.putfile.com/6/15805291684.jpg Then I saw the same seller also had the same...
  9. Ivan Seeking

    Loch Ness's other monster mystery is finally solved

    http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=570402005
  10. T

    How should -x^2 be treated in graphing equations?

    I'm graphing equations, and I ran into a snag. I assumed that the graph would be the same for both of the following: y=x^2 and y=-x^2 since any negative number squared is equal to it's absolute value squared. However, the book showed equation 2 as having an inverted graph of equation...
  11. matthyaouw

    Uncovering the Mystery of the Money Pit

    http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/OakIsland/ This has been absolutely fascinating to me ever since I heard about it. It really astounds me to see the legnths that someone has gone to in order to protect whatever lies at the bottom of this pit. The engineering is quite astounding...
  12. Lisa!

    Is Dark Matter the Missing Piece in Our Cosmic Puzzle?

    I want to know more about dark matter. Please tell me: Why do scientists think that there should be dark matter?
  13. S

    Skating Shoes and Ice: Uncovering the Mystery

    I want to know why we can easily slide on ice when we wear skating shoes. Originally, I guess it is due to the friction between the metal and the ice. But I think it is not the correct answer. Could anyone help me with this problem. Thanks a lot, Sarah :smile:
  14. A

    Exploring the Mystery of Consciousness: Why Am I Born This Way?

    I have a few questions that had been bothering me the past few days. First off, why am I born with this particular consciousness and why am i born this "way" as oppose to an infinite other possibilities? Is it because this is how the chemicals in my brain happened to arranged itself out of all...
  15. A

    Unsolved Mystery - Bill & Pam's Mount Everest Tragedy

    Bill took Pam to Mount Everest in order to go mountain climbing. Unfortunately Pam was found dead after her hook broke while she was climbing up the mountain. Although most of the people were convinced that Pam died of an accident, ONE person was assured that it was a planned murder. Who is that...
  16. B

    The Mystery of Consciousness: Electrical Impulses in the Brain

    how can a seires of electical imoulses in the brain generate consiusness
  17. DaveC426913

    Mystery Mineral in Tabletop Fountain

    This crystal was left over after the water in a tabletop foundation evaporated. The fountain is a collection of rocks glued together that the water tumbles over. The crystals are off-white, slightly straw-colured. The image is about 2X actual size. Any idea what the mineral may be?
  18. wolram

    Solving the mystery of Iapetus

    http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/astro-ph/pdf/0504/0504653.pdf Title: Solving the mystery of Iapetus Authors: Paulo C. C. Freire Comments: Submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets Since the discovery of Iapetus by G. D. Cassini, in 1672, it has been known that the leading...
  19. T

    The Mystery of Pell and NSW Numbers: Can You Solve It?

    Hi, I'm looking to solutions of: 2^n+Q=m^2 , where Q=1 . Obviously, n must be odd. I already know the trivial solution: 2^3+1=3^2 and I've started using a naive PARI/gp program for finding (n,m) up to n=59 . No success yet. Do you know about other solutions or about some theory ? This is...
  20. G

    Can You Unravel My Mystery Username? Clues Inside!

    Hey, I thought of a good brain teaser. I have another account on this forum. Try to find out what my other username is, there are hints in my profile that are NOT true, just clues. I expect some people to get it, so please, put the answer in white.
  21. Z

    Quantum Mystery #1 - Complementarity Principle

    Quantum Mystery #1 - Complimentarity Principle Hi all - Making sense of the standard double-pinhole experiment is not easy for the layman! In order for me to better understand complimentarity, an experiment is proposed. What is wrong with this thought experiment? Please view (you may need to...
  22. G

    Sun Rise Laser Cannon Aiming - Unraveling the Mystery

    ok... So, we see the sun everyday, right? So let's say you are standing on one point of the Earth looking at the sun rise... At where must you point a laser cannon in order to hit the sun dead centre? and why? :confused:
  23. M

    Unraveling the Mystery of Yawning: The Biological Reason

    Evening everyone, This is a rather odd question: why do we yawn? Is there any biological reason for it? Why do we yawn when we see other people yawn or think about it? Oh, just typing this post is making me yawn! :zzz:
  24. tony873004

    The Mystery of the Minus Sign: Finding the Cross Product of a x b

    find the cross product a x b of the vectors a = 5.0m,i and b=4.3m,k 5.0m\ast 4.3m\ast \sin (90)=22m^2,\hat {j} The back of the book gives -(22m^2)\hat {j} Where does the minus sign come from?
  25. S

    Uncovering the Mystery of Magic Squares

    Magic Square Hello, Don't know, which forum, so i put it to general... Yesterday i saw something like an magician on an exposition, showing some math to angle for attention. He asked the audience to give him a number between 41 and 100. So he got the 47. He worked out a magic...
  26. DaveC426913

    Why Do Birds Bob Their Heads When Walking?

    Belongs in a 'nature' forum, but this is as close as it gets. Why do some birds (pigeons, starlings) bob their heads (front and back) when they walk? I have two hypotheses: 1] They have lower retinal retentiveness, and must hold an image on their eye longer to resolve it. They move their...
  27. T

    Mystery of 2.3: Is it Even or Odd?

    Sorry if this is the most elementary question ever, but hey, I gots ta know man! Is the number 2.3 even or odd? :confused: The Rev
  28. wolram

    Uncovering the Mystery of Quantum Foam

    From Wikipidia John Wheeler derived the concept of the quantum foam in 1955. It is also referred to as spacetime foam and bears a superficial resemblance to the old concept of the ether (or Aether). How does the time component of this" foam" progress? is it governed by the expansion rate of...
  29. S

    The Mystery of filling up an ipod

    Has anyone actually seen it done? I'm sitting here staring at my petty collection of 1248 songs on my 40GB and the little bar at the bottom of the screen is telling me it's less than 1/8th full. HOW THE **** AM I SUPPOSED TO FILL UP 40GB THESE GUYS ARE INSANE!
  30. S

    Solving Mystery of String Force: Find the Answer

    have a look a the diagram heavy particle of mass m is tied to one end of a string which is of length l. The other end is attached to the ceiling. The particle forms uniform circular motion. Angular velocity of omega. String is angle theta. Ignore friction and mass of string. Find magnitude...
  31. R

    Unraveling the Mystery of Lasers & Quantum Theory

    How do lasers make use of the quantum theory of the atom. I tried to look it up but I couldn't understand what they were saying. :confused:
  32. T

    Unravelling the Mystery of Touch-Activated Lamps

    you've all seen one before, a lamp that turns on when you touch a metal part of it. i was wondering how they worked...? Here are my ideas on how it works: well it can't be sending an electric current through you, that would just be dangerous and wouldn't relly serve any purpose. then i...
  33. L

    The Mystery of the e Series: Uncovering Its Name

    I just wonder what's the name of the serries 1/1!+2/2!+3/3!... I know it equals e but I just whant to know how it's called. PS. Titels of good books abot serries would allso be welcome.
  34. Loren Booda

    Is Our Existence Defined by an Incompleteness?

    Is there an incompleteness which, over all others, defines our existence?
  35. B

    Unraveling the Mystery of HCl: Why Hydrochloric and Not Just Chloric?

    Why is HCl called hydrochloric acid, not just "chloric" acid? I mean, we don't say hydronitric acid, nor do we say hydrosulfuric acid. But then why is HCl called hydrochloric acid, not just chloric acid? (i mean, we do add the hydrogen for acid) My guess is that this is so because the...
  36. S

    Exploring the Mystery of e^(pi.i)=-1

    ok, here it goes, why is e^(pi.i)=-1 ?
  37. M

    Unveiling the Mystery Behind r^2 in F=Gm1m2/r^2

    why r^2?? hi I have a big problem in physics that nobody could answer it until now.I hope that you can help me. my question is about this formula:F=Gm1m2/r^2 why r^2?? :confused: I searched about it very much but the only thing that i could find was this:the answer is not:because of the...
  38. L

    Vave x 2: Uncovering the Mystery Behind Vf

    I have searched for this answer all day long. Why is Vave multiplied by 2 to obtain Vf?
  39. S

    The Mystery of Darrell Griffith's Standing Vertical Jump

    Okay, here's the deal: Basketball player Darrell Griffith is on record as attaining a standing vertical jump of 1.2 m (4 ft). (This means that he moved upward by 1.2 m after his feet left the floor.) Griffith weighed 890 N (200 lb). (B) If the time of the part of the jump before his feet...
  40. V

    The Mystery of Salty Seas: Why is Sea Water Salty?

    why is sea water salty ?
  41. P

    Help Solve a Mystery: Lawden's "An Introduction to Tensor Calculus

    Hi, Anyone out there have Lawden's book, "An Introduction to Tensor Calculus, Relativity and Cosmology"? Expression 39.13 (on p 109) and the sentence that precedes it have me stumped. My understanding of what he's saying is that a symmetric quadratic form can always be diagonalized so that...
  42. Gokul43201

    Unraveling the Mystery of the Mystery Spot

    Time to debunk or bow to the Mystery Spot . Some pictures here and one more here. Anyone ?
  43. DaveC426913

    Exploring the Mystery: Why Nature Never Invented the Wheel

    Why did nature never invent the wheel?
  44. T

    Can You Guess the 3D Mystery Item?

    this item is about the size of your hand, 3d, and it is considered *normal* if a stranger walks up to you and gives you the item. You will know what to do with it, and you will give it back when you are done, despite it being worth a considerable amount (it varies). by asking me only yes/no...
  45. C

    Find 0.1M NaOH Vol for 1L: 50% NaOH Soln

    What volume of 50% NaOH (by weight) solution is necessary to prepare 1 litre of 0.1M NaOH? Assume that the density of the NaOH solution is 1.53g/ml.
  46. DaveC426913

    Unlock the Mystery of Taking a Reflection Photo in Your Own Backyard

    This is a 'How did I do this?' teaser. A couple of notes first: - The picture I include is simulated (Googled for a generic shot). Sorry, best I could do without the original. Ignore the fact that a] it's not me, and b] that the pic is indoors. - Even though this is a simulation, I actually...
  47. C

    Unravelling the Mystery of VSEPR Theory

    VSEPR Theory... I am completely at ease with being able to use VSEPR theory to answer questions, etc, but I just can't get my head round why it actually happens? All I am told is "electron clouds repel each other to be as far apart as possible", but this seems to completely disagree with the...
  48. S

    The Mystery: Why Do Females Live Longer Than Males?

    Why do females live longer than males?
  49. O

    Dolly the Cow's Dance: A Tail-spinning Mystery

    A Cow's Dance A cow named Dolly was enjoying the pasture & turned to face the setting sun. Then, she decided to do a little dance. The following are the steps: she turned 180degrees to her right, 90degrees to her left, then another 45degrees to her right. She repeated the steps 250 times. At...
  50. Ivan Seeking

    News The Mystery of Capital: Exploring Its Genesis & Critical Flaw

    http://www.tessproject.com/products/seminars&training/seminar%20series/Assets_Materials/The_Mystery_of_Capital.pdf
Back
Top