Deductive Reasoning

In the mystery genre they have many sub-categories that have detectives that bring the criminal to justice .There are two types of amateur detectives according to authors / editors Deane Mansfield – Kelly and Louis A. Marchino of The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction. They say the detectives are either amateur – amateur or professional amateur detective in their “Part 1 of Amateur Detective”. In addition the detectives are similar, with different access to professional detectives in police department. In amateur-amateur detective they stumble upon a murder while they are doing something else unrelated like gardening, professional-amateur detectives they know when a crime happens because they have access to case details and both detectives

Mansfield- Kelly and Marchino define that the use of certain level of reasoning “There must be a detective, someone with superior power of inductive and deductive reasoning, who is capable of solving the crime that baffles the official police system “(Mansfield – Kelly 25). This rule also shows how incompetent the official police department is .This is seen in the episode “Language of Flowers” and story “Deborah Judgement “.These stories have woman as their amateur detectives, who solve a crime by using deductive reasoning. In Rosemary and Thyme, Rosemary and Thyme use deductive reasoning to determine that the first accused of the murder was not her by logically thinking by knowing “the crime because of a friend , a relative ,someone associated with the crime “ that was accused of murder ( Mansfield – Kelly 26). In “Deborah judgement”, Deborah uses her superior woman power to solve crimes by relating to the character

What makes a professional detective is, they are in a profession that gives them special access. The rule is number four in “Part 1 of Amateur Detective”, the authors state that “The reader must be given all the information or “clues “to be able to solve the crime if the “clues “are properly interpreted” (Mansfield – Kelly 25). All through Maragret Maron’s “Deborah Judgment” it is filled with clues that she makes aware to the reader. For example when she says “… eye was snagged by what looked like a red-and-white cloth several yards into the newly disked field “(Maron 164). Deborah noticed the cloth and realized that knowing Beulah she would notice that too. She also uses her woman instinct and looks for more clues. Maron gave a big detail when Deborah walked outside, then says” I saw that someone else had recently crossed the field on feet. A single set of tracks “(Maron 164). Deborah noticing this clue leads her to the conclusion she might find Beulah at the end of the feet tracks. A professional male detective would not have noticed the cloth out of place and piece together a conclusion. As seen, recognizing and understanding the suspect is important essential for the reader to recognize the clues which lead to a