--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps this is the purpose of detective…" description: "\"“Perhaps this is the purpose of detective investigations, real and fictional -- to transform sensation, horror and grief into a puzzle, and then to sol..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/kate-summerscale-69680_absolution_perhaps-this-is-the-purpose-of-detective_2266637.jpg" --- # Perhaps this is the purpose of detective investigations… ![“Perhaps this is the purpose of detective investigations, real and fictional -- to transform sensation, horror and grief into a puzzle, and then to solve the puzzle, to make it go away. 'The detective story,' observed Raymond Chandler in 1949, 'is a tragedy with a happy ending.' A storybook…” quote by Kate Summerscale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/kate-summerscale-69680_absolution_perhaps-this-is-the-purpose-of-detective_2266637.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/kate-summerscale-69680_absolution_perhaps-this-is-the-purpose-of-detective_2266637.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/kate-summerscale-69680_absolution_perhaps-this-is-the-purpose-of-detective_2266637.jpg) > ““Perhaps this is the purpose of detective investigations, real and fictional -- to transform sensation, horror and grief into a puzzle, and then to solve the puzzle, to make it go away. 'The detective story,' observed Raymond Chandler in 1949, 'is a tragedy with a happy ending.' A storybook detective starts by confronting us with a murder and ends by absolving us of it. He clears us of guilt. He relieves us of uncertainty. He removes us from the presence of death.”” Kate Summerscale ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Detective stories turn fear and grief into solvable puzzles, offering resolution and relief from guilt and uncertainty. **In simple terms:** Detective tales turn horror into a solvable puzzle, giving closure. Key Takeaway Embrace puzzles to confront fear and find closure. Themes mystery psychology resolution Mood thoughtful curious Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - reading mystery novels - watching crime dramas - writing personal puzzles - using problem‑solving in therapy Key Concepts narrative therapy catharsis genre analysis Questions to Reflect On - How do puzzles help you process fear? - Can a story truly erase guilt? A Different Perspective Not all real‑life tragedies can be neatly resolved; some emotions persist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolution/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Detective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detective/) [Detective stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detective-stories/) [Detectives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detectives/) [Happy ending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-ending/) [Mysteries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysteries/) ## Related quotes > [“If you do not know your purpose, you have detective work to do. 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I really love his voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/raymond-chandler-i-love-a-lot-and-the-austrian-writer-thomas-bernhard/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [ \[Raymond\] Chandler, I reread him, and there's a lot of bad writing there. I don't think he knew much about people. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ellroy/raymond-chandler-i-reread-him-and-there-s-a-lot-of-bad-writing-there/) [James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ellroy/) > [I not only read Raymond Chandler but read all the crime fiction classics. I was hooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-connelly/i-not-only-read-raymond-chandler-but-read-all-the-crime-fiction/) [Michael Connelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-connelly/) > [If Raymond Chandler came from the South, his name would be Ace Atkins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kinky-friedman/if-raymond-chandler-came-from-the-south-his-name-would-be-ace-atkins/) [Kinky Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kinky-friedman/) > [And every place and time an author writes about is imaginary, from Oz to Raymond Chandler's L.A. to Dickens's London.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/and-every-place-and-time-an-author-writes-about-is-imaginary-from-oz/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [I don't much live my life as if I was living in a Raymond Chandler novel, which is probably a good thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/i-don-t-much-live-my-life-as-if-i-was-living-in-a-raymond-chandler/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [My literary heroes all wrote about L.A.: Joseph Wambaugh, Ross Macdonald, and Raymond Chandler were the three writers that made me want to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-connelly/my-literary-heroes-all-wrote-about-l-a-joseph-wambaugh-ross-macdonald/) [Michael Connelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-connelly/) > [As a teenager, I read a lot of H.P. Lovecraft, so I wrote like H.P. Lovecraft. And in my 20s, I read a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/as-a-teenager-i-read-a-lot-of-h-p-lovecraft-so-i-wrote-like-h-p/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“If there's another writer, like Ross McDonald or Raymond Chandler, and all they're writing are mysteries, they won't be accepted," he said. "And that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/if-there-s-another-writer-like-ross-mcdonald-or-raymond-chandler-and/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) ## More by Kate Summerscale > [“Nothing can be more slightly defined than the line of demarcation between sanity and insanity ... Make the definition too narrow, it becomes meaningless;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-summerscale/nothing-can-be-more-slightly-defined-than-the-line-of-demarcation/) Kate Summerscale > [“the medical journal The Lancet explained the process by which the dreadfuls could foster violence. People of a lower evolutionary type, the journal said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-summerscale/the-medical-journal-the-lancet-explained-the-process-by-which-the/) Kate Summerscale Explore all 3 Kate Summerscale quotes ## More Absolution quotes > [I tell you, guilt dwells nowhere but in the eyes of the accuser. This men know even as they deny it, which is why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/i-tell-you-guilt-dwells-nowhere-but-in-the-eyes-of-the-accuser-this/) [R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/) > [It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. 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I would not throw my numberless sins onto a scapegoat and expect them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-find-something-repulsive-about-the-idea-of-vicarious-redemption-i/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-the-confession-not-the-priest-that-gives-us-absolution/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [There is nothing absolute and final. If everything were ironclad, all the rules absolute and everything structured so no paradox or irony existed, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/itzhak-bentov/there-is-nothing-absolute-and-final-if-everything-were-ironclad-all/) Itzhak Bentov > [The truth brings with it a great measure of absolution, always.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-truth-brings-with-it-a-great-measure-of-absolution-always/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [For one thing, the Catholic Church in particular has this one thing - confession - in which you could go, confess to a priest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/for-one-thing-the-catholic-church-in-particular-has-this-one-thing/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) [Browse all 89 Absolution quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolution/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Perhaps this is the purpose of detective investigations, real and fictional -- to transform sensation, horror and grief into a puzzle, and then to solve the puzzle, to make it go away. 'The detective story,' observed Raymond Chandler in 1949, 'is a tragedy with a happy ending.' A storybook detective starts by confronting us with a murder and ends by absolving us of it. He clears us of guilt. He relieves us of uncertainty. 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