Convention Analysis of The Adventure of the Empty House, by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventure of the Empty House, by Arthur Conan Doyle, is a classic example of a detective story and therefore also an example of crime fiction, following the conventions required by both genres, including those set out or setting, language, plot, and characters of the story.
As is typical for crime fiction, the setting is described in detail and everything is presented so that it appears to be just plausible, if nevertheless slightly out of the ordinary. Also, as is typical for crime fiction, the setting is usually in a large city, London, in this case. Doyle’s account of the time of death of the victim in this story is fitting to the conventions of the setting. On page two, Watson notes, “...his head had been horribly mutilated by an expanding revolver bullet, but no weapon of any sort was to be found in the room.” This account does not only serve to increase the suspense and the curiosity of the reader, but also the fear of such a horrendous crime. By placing crime in the most pedestrian and realistic locations, authors of crime and detective fiction can address and entertain a broad public.
To this extent, the language used in both crime and detective fiction is relatively simple. The difference between the genre of crime fiction and its subgenre of detective fiction hereby lies with the reading demographic. Crime fiction is less complex than detective fiction, which is usually centered around a complicated plot and also intended for a more demanding audience, such as the middle and the upper middle class, which began to emerge during the industrial revolution. This Sherlock Holmes story, although using a more elevated language, is nevertheless written in the past tense and uses short, non-expansive dialogue, as demonstrated by Sherlock Holmes himself on page three, when Watson recounts, “’My dear Watson,’ said the well-remembered voice, ‘I owe you a thousand apologies. I had no idea that you would be so affected.’” The register is relatively formal, but nevertheless familiar within the historical context and the spoken words are confined to two sentences, which makes the word exchange easier to follow, as is common in crime fiction.
What differentiates crime fiction from detective fiction most significantly, however, is the format of the plot. Whereas crime fiction generally follows the format of crime, investigation, and punishment, detective fiction is, for the most part, more complex. Whereas crime fiction is focused on catching the culprit, detective fiction seeks to explain every detail about the crime scenario that was presented at the beginning. As in the case of The Adventure of the Empty House, the story begins with a murder. Usually, a detective is hereafter hired, but in this case, Sherlock Holmes has a special interest to pursue in the uncovering of this mystery. During a previous case, he had almost been killed and is now convinced that the murder of the young aristocrat Ronald Adair and his near-death experience are related. This experience serves as the confrontation with a dangerous situation, required by the conventions of detective fiction and also contributes to the rising action of the story. The climax is reached with the capture of the culprit Moran in the empty house. Thereafter Holmes makes the transition to the denouement, the unknotting of the story, as he begins to put together the facts of the case for the reader and for the other characters.
As is convention, most characters in crime fiction are vaguely drawn, in detective fiction, however, the investigator is always marked by a given set of characteristics. One of them is that he is a very accomplished individual, who is competent to solve problems like no other. Sherlock Holmes demonstrates this readily, by unveiling the culprit in the empty house on page ten, when he tells the rest, “This, gentlemen, is Colonel Sebastian Moran, once of Her Majesty’s Indian Army, and the best heavy-game shot our Eastern Empire as ever produced.” He already demonstrates his intellectual superiority as he begins the denouement of the case as soon as he has captured the villain, revealing the facts of the case bit by bit, as if it were al completely logical, demonstrating his abilities as an extraordinary investigator. As is commonly done in detective fiction, the denouement then flows into the anticlimax, or the return to normality, in this case remarked upon shortly by Watson, when he says on page 13, “… and once again Mr. Sherlock Holmes is free to devote his life to examining those interesting little problems which the complex life of London so plentifully presents.”
In the end, like most pieces of detective fiction, The Adventure of the Empty House promotes the stereotype of the competent investigator and makes crime appear like a useless effort, as the tacit agreement between the author and the reader of detective fiction demands.