Curious Incident contains many elements of detective fiction. While not the first fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, the creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is probably the most famous and the yardstick with which all future fictional detectives have been measured.

Detection fiction typically includes:

• a rational and intelligent detective whose logical thinking outwits the criminal

• a mystery—typically a murder

• a variety of suspects who need to be eliminated

• The antagonist—the criminal who is trying to get away with the crime

• clues which the reader can enjoy as a puzzle and even solve the crime themselves

• build-up of tension (remember the story mountain?)

• a satisfactory resolution in which the mystery is solved and order restored

Our novel draws on the conventions of detective fiction but in a new and exciting way. This time the detective is a young person who exhibits traits of autism and the murder is that of a dog.