When you hear the term “funny mystery” what is your first thought? If you are like most people, it is either a mental image of Agatha Christie’s wicked Stepney or a mental image of a mystery story that is too good to let you leave the theatre. That’s unfortunate since her stories have won over time, including my own enjoyment of them, and I am presenting three of her best-known funny mysteries. “The Adventure of the Missing Rose” by Agatha Christie is the first in a series featuring her famous “pink fairy” and her famous “woodcut” novel. You will not regret reading this one.
In “The Adventure of the Missing Rose” the delightful Agatha Christie sets a delightful scene in the search for the famed “wild rose”. A beautiful specimen of the daisy family, this beautiful bush has earned a reputation as being dangerous. The owner of a jeweler is more than ready to pay any price to secure this “wild rose” which he hopes will grow into a huge bloom for his daughter. The search is going on and while Rose’s granddaughter is a willing participant in the quest, there seems to be some other forces at work that might derail her. These ripples become the plot of this funny mystery.
The title “The Adventure of the Missing Rose” pretty much sums up this funny mystery. Following the story chronologically, we have the murder of a French countess who is involved in the deal involving the return of a young man with a mysterious blood-red stain on his shirt. The investigation that follows the murder also includes the return of a suspect who had been on the trail of the murder but had disappeared before it could be concluded.
This “comedy of the slayers” is part of a long tradition of mystery and suspense set in a world of adventure. In these tales the detective must rely on his wits, skill, patience, and experience to solve the mystery. These stories have often featured a modern-day sleuth who uses technology or his own Bureau of Investigation methods to solve the crime. In the case of “The Adventure of the Missing Rose” these tools are used by a modern day FBI agent who must use his knowledge, experience, and skills to uncover the killer’s identity and to stop the killer from hurting another innocent. The sleuth in these stories is not the typical male detective who is more often the hero.
In modern times we are often subjected to stories of weird sex crimes and the police or FBI are not always the heroes. In these stories the detective is often the victim and in the end the killer is either hanged or escaped to commit more crimes. The funny mystery, more importantly, is that even though the sleuth is the victim and the killer is the criminal, he or she still has to solve the mystery. This often requires cooperation from all the characters involved in the sleuthing.
These kinds of murder mysteries are also commonly known as “CSI” or” CSI thrillers”. In many of these stories the lead character is a master sleuth who solves the crime using modern technology such as computers and cell phones. Often they must also use their wits to outwit the criminal, who often manages to escape the jurisdiction of the local law enforcement. These types of murder mysteries are very popular today, especially on television. The recent hit TV series “CSI” has become popular with a large audience who enjoy the suspense and the adventure that comes with solving a crime.
