The big bow mystery

In 1891, the serialized publication of The Big Bow Mystery in a London newspaper marked a turning point in detective fiction.

Sealed-room mysteries had appeared before, but this inventive and deftly humorous tale offered a novel exploitation of the genre's puzzling possibilities.

The modern style, which disguises the criminal and reveals the evidence, owes much to author Israel Zangwill and his retired police detective, George Grodman.