Edgar Allen Poe created Auguste Dupin, an amateur detective in Paris, in The Murder in the Rue Morgue publishedi n 1841. Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and Arthur Conan Doyle modeled their mystery stories after elements in Poe's stories. Sherlock Holmes and Watson in turn inspired the birth of other literary sleuths like Hercule Poriot and Lord Peter Wimsey in the Golden Age of Detective Stories in the1920's.
With Industrialization, prohibition, and world war, the noir detective such as Phillip Marlow and Sam Spade gained popularity. Spy stories such as Eric Ambler's Coffin for Dimitrios grappled with international intrigue.
Today, the mystery genre is stronger than ever and represented by a diverse field of writers. Enjoy!