---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Of course the modern detective story puts…"
description: "\"Of course the modern detective story puts off its best tricks till the last, but Doyle always put his best tricks first and that's why they're still th..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/rex-stout-2846_courses_of-course-the-modern-detective-story-put_1055699.png"
---

#  Of course the modern detective story puts off its best…

![“Of course the modern detective story puts off its best tricks till the last, but Doyle always put his best tricks first and that's why they're still the best ones.” quote by Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/rex-stout-2846_courses_of-course-the-modern-detective-story-put_1055699.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/rex-stout-2846_courses_of-course-the-modern-detective-story-put_1055699.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/rex-stout-2846_courses_of-course-the-modern-detective-story-put_1055699.png)

> “Of course the modern detective story puts off its best tricks till the last, but Doyle always put his best tricks first and that's why they're still the best ones.”

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Doyle’s early reveal of key clues made his mysteries timeless, unlike modern stories that delay twists.

**In simple terms:** Early clues make stories memorable.

Key Takeaway

Value clear, early storytelling.

Themes

mystery craft legacy

Mood

reflective analytical

Type

critical educational

When to use this quote

- detective novels
- screenwriting
- educational workshops

Key Concepts

narrative structure reader engagement

Questions to Reflect On

- Do early clues diminish suspense?
- How can writers balance surprise and fairness?

A Different Perspective

Modern audiences may prefer surprise over early clarity.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Detective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detective/) [Detective stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detective-stories/) [Detectives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detectives/) [Sherlock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sherlock/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/)

## Related quotes

> [I think the detective story is by far the best upholder of the democratic doctrine in literature. I mean, there couldn't have been detective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/i-think-the-detective-story-is-by-far-the-best-upholder-of-the/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [Time and distance have a way of playing tricks with your best intentions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-kiedis/time-and-distance-have-a-way-of-playing-tricks-with-your-best/)

[Anthony Kiedis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-kiedis/)

> [I love facts and figures. It's like following a detective story, piecing together what's going on in the economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/i-love-facts-and-figures-it-s-like-following-a-detective-story/)

[Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/)

> [There's a structure to a detective story that I can easily understand. I understand playing that particular game. It's like solving a puzzle. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bollen/there-s-a-structure-to-a-detective-story-that-i-can-easily-understand/)

[Christopher Bollen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bollen/)

> [The cinema, like the detective story, makes it possible to experience without danger all the excitement, passion and desirousness which must be repressed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-cinema-like-the-detective-story-makes-it-possible-to-experience/)

[Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/)

> [“The detective story, as created by Poe, is something as specialised and as intellectual as a chess problem, whereas the best English detective fiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/the-detective-story-as-created-by-poe-is-something-as-specialised-and/)

[T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/)

> [I once started a detective story to make moneybut I couldn't get the murder to take place! At the end of three chapters I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/i-once-started-a-detective-story-to-make-money-but-i-couldn-t-get-the/)

[Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/)

> [What I try to do is write a story about a detective rather than a detective story. Keeping the reader fooled until the last,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dashiell-hammett/what-i-try-to-do-is-write-a-story-about-a-detective-rather-than-a/)

[Dashiell Hammett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dashiell-hammett/)

> [The detective story is the normal recreation of noble minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guedalla/the-detective-story-is-the-normal-recreation-of-noble-minds/)

[Philip Guedalla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guedalla/)

> [You find when you're writing a detective story that you're actually not trying to solve anything. You're trying to stop the reader from solving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bollen/you-find-when-you-re-writing-a-detective-story-that-you-re-actually/)

[Christopher Bollen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bollen/)

> [The average detective story is probably no worse than the average novel, but you never see the average novel. It doesn't get published. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-average-detective-story-is-probably-no-worse-than-the-average/)

[Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/)

> [Just imagine how interesting it would be if I were to publish a romance of the "Secret Annexe." The title alone would be enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frank/just-imagine-how-interesting-it-would-be-if-i-were-to-publish-a/)

[Anne Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frank/)

> [make no mistake about it, the detective-story is part of the literature of escape, and not of expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/make-no-mistake-about-it-the-detective-story-is-part-of-the/)

[Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/)

> [Where there's a will there's a detective story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-wells/where-there-s-a-will-there-s-a-detective-story/)

[Carolyn Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-wells/)

> [I believe there's a landscape that exists underneath everything that we can see in present-day stuff. And I think that makes life kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hopkins/i-believe-there-s-a-landscape-that-exists-underneath-everything-that/)

[Stephen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hopkins/)

## More by Rex Stout

> [A person who does not read cannot think. He may have good mental processes, but he has nothing to think about. You can feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-person-who-does-not-read-cannot-think-he-may-have-good-mental/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [If I'm home with no chore at hand, and a package of books has come, the television set and the chess board and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/if-i-m-home-with-no-chore-at-hand-and-a-package-of-books-has-come-the/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [To say that man is a reasoning animal is a very different thing than to say that most of man's decisions are based on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/to-say-that-man-is-a-reasoning-animal-is-a-very-different-thing-than/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [“Frankly, I wish I could make my heart quit doing an extra thump when Wolfe says satisfactory, Archie. It's childish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/frankly-i-wish-i-could-make-my-heart-quit-doing-an-extra-thump-when/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [What good is an obscenity trial except to popularize literature?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/what-good-is-an-obscenity-trial-except-to-popularize-literature/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [In a world that operates largely at random, coincidences are to be expected, but any one of them must always be mistrusted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/in-a-world-that-operates-largely-at-random-coincidences-are-to-be/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [“everything from war to picnics depends on the weather, as Wolfe remarked”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/everything-from-war-to-picnics-depends-on-the-weather-as-wolfe/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [The more you put in your brain, the more it will hold -- if you have one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-more-you-put-in-your-brain-the-more-it-will-hold-if-you-have-one/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [“When we turned right on Thirty-fifth Street our suffix came along. By the time we rolled to the curb in front of Wolfe's house…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/when-we-turned-right-on-thirty-fifth-street-our-suffix-came-along-by/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [What the tongue has promised, the body must submit to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/what-the-tongue-has-promised-the-body-must-submit-to/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [The Glass Key is better than anything Hemingway ever wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-glass-key-is-better-than-anything-hemingway-ever-wrote/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [Genius is fine for the ignition spark, but to get there someone has to see that the radiator doesn't leak and no tire is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/genius-is-fine-for-the-ignition-spark-but-to-get-there-someone-has-to/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [A Dickens character to me is a theatrical projection of a character. Not that it isn't real. It's real, but in that removed sense.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-dickens-character-to-me-is-a-theatrical-projection-of-a-character/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [“To pronounce French properly you must have within you a deep antipathy, not to say scorn, for some of the most sacred of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/to-pronounce-french-properly-you-must-have-within-you-a-deep/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

> [A man may debar nonsense from his library of reason, but not from the arena of his impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-man-may-debar-nonsense-from-his-library-of-reason-but-not-from-the/)

[Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

[Explore all 148 Rex Stout quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/)

## More Courses quotes

> [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [Our critical day is not the very day of our death; but the whole course of our life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/our-critical-day-is-not-the-very-day-of-our-death-but-the-whole/)

[John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/)

> [ Bernie \[Ecclestone\] is the commercial rights holder so the more outgoing the champion is, the better. Of course. I also do think about our… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-ecclestone/bernie-ecclestone-is-the-commercial-rights-holder-so-the-more/)

[Bernie Ecclestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-ecclestone/)

> [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/)

[Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/)

> [We are always saying: Let the Law take its Course but what we really mean is: Let the Law take OUR Course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/we-are-always-saying-let-the-law-take-its-course-but-what-we-really/)

[Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/)

> [Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/men-generally-decide-upon-a-middle-course-which-is-most-hazardous-for/)

[Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/)

> [I earn my living by teaching film, mostly filmmaking but also teaching courses on current cinema. I'm interested in movies. I hope that's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-andersen/i-earn-my-living-by-teaching-film-mostly-filmmaking-but-also-teaching/)

[Thom Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-andersen/)

> [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/)

[Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/)

> [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/)

[Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/)

> [You can’t bake a cake without getting the kitchen messy. Halfway through surgery it looks like there’s been a murder in the operating room.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/price-pritchett/you-can-t-bake-a-cake-without-getting-the-kitchen-messy-halfway/)

[Price Pritchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/price-pritchett/)

> [ Leave a cavity behind the \[wall\] facings, and on the inside build walls two feet thick, made of red dimension stone or burnt brick… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/leave-a-cavity-behind-the-wall-facings-and-on-the-inside-build-walls/)

[Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/)

> [Of course it does on opening night, but I've never had that devastating stage fright that some people get, but apparently, you can develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-collins/of-course-it-does-on-opening-night-but-i-ve-never-had-that/)

[Joan Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-collins/)

> [I studied philosophy and ended on sociology. For some reason, all the advanced courses in philosophy were offered 4:30 to 6:30, so I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-jackson/i-studied-philosophy-and-ended-on-sociology-for-some-reason-all-the/)

[Lawrence Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-jackson/)

> [There is no one who can change My course or affect My conduct to the slightest extent. I am the Master over all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/there-is-no-one-who-can-change-my-course-or-affect-my-conduct-to-the/)

[Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/)

> [In the course of our eternal existence, we spend infinitely more time in the spirit world on the other side than we spend in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-browne/in-the-course-of-our-eternal-existence-we-spend-infinitely-more-time/)

[Sylvia Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-browne/)

Browse all 6,995 Courses quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Of course the modern detective story puts off its best tricks till the last, but Doyle always put his best tricks first and that's why they're still the best ones.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Rex Stout"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/of-course-the-modern-detective-story-puts-off-its-best-tricks-till/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Courses"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/of-course-the-modern-detective-story-puts-off-its-best-tricks-till/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/rex-stout-2846_courses_of-course-the-modern-detective-story-put_1055699.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/rex-stout-2846_courses_of-course-the-modern-detective-story-put_1055699.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/rex-stout-2846_courses_of-course-the-modern-detective-story-put_1055699.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Of course the modern detective story puts off its best tricks till the last, but Doyle always put his best…” — Rex Stout",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Rex Stout",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Of course the modern detective story...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/of-course-the-modern-detective-story-puts-off-its-best-tricks-till/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/of-course-the-modern-detective-story-puts-off-its-best-tricks-till/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
