--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A detective novel should contain no long…" description: "\"A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no 'atmo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/s-s-van-dine-52963_action_a-detective-novel-should-contain-no-long_1873462.jpg" --- # A detective novel should contain no long descriptive… ![“A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no 'atmospheric' preoccupations. Such matters have no vital place in a record of crime and deduction. They hold up the action and introduce issues…” quote by S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/s-s-van-dine-52963_action_a-detective-novel-should-contain-no-long_1873462.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/s-s-van-dine-52963_action_a-detective-novel-should-contain-no-long_1873462.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/s-s-van-dine-52963_action_a-detective-novel-should-contain-no-long_1873462.jpg) > “A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no 'atmospheric' preoccupations. Such matters have no vital place in a record of crime and deduction. They hold up the action and introduce issues irrelevant to the main purpose, which is to state a problem, analyze it, and bring it to a successful conclusion. To be sure, there must be a sufficient descriptiveness and character delineation to give the novel verisimilitude.” [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A detective story should prioritize plot and deduction over excessive description or side plots. **In simple terms:** Focus on core mystery, limit fluff. Key Takeaway Keep narrative tight and purposeful. Themes mystery efficiency focus Mood analytical pragmatic Type genre instructional When to use this quote - crime writing - screenwriting - novel drafting Key Concepts plot structure narrative economy Questions to Reflect On - How much detail enhances versus hinders suspense? - When can atmosphere aid deduction? A Different Perspective Risk of underdeveloped characters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Analysis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analysis/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Conclusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusion/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Deductions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deductions/) [Descriptiveness Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/descriptiveness-character-2599567/) [Detective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detective/) [Detective fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detective-fiction/) [Detective Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detective-novel-2599566/) [Detectives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detectives/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Introducing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/introducing/) [Irrelevant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irrelevant/) [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novel Contain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-contain-2599568/) [Novel Verisimilitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-verisimilitude-2599565/) [Passages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passages/) [Preoccupation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preoccupation/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Records](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/records/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Sides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sides/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Sufficient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sufficient/) ## Related quotes > [There simply must be a corpse in a detective novel, and the deader the corpse the better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/there-simply-must-be-a-corpse-in-a-detective-novel-and-the-deader-the/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [When I was young, I knew William Burroughs really well. And William's secret desire, which he never quite did, was to write a straightforward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/when-i-was-young-i-knew-william-burroughs-really-well-and-william-s/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [“Have you ever felt, in the course of reading a detective novel, a guilty thrill of relief at having a character murdered before he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/have-you-ever-felt-in-the-course-of-reading-a-detective-novel-a/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [Ah, there's nothing like tea in the afternoon. When the British Empire collapses, historians will find that it had made but two invaluable contributions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/ah-there-s-nothing-like-tea-in-the-afternoon-when-the-british-empire/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [My experience of life is that it is not divided up into genres; it’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/my-experience-of-life-is-that-it-is-not-divided-up-into-genres-it-s-a/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [With the second book, I didn't have an ideal reader in mind, as it developed quite out of my control, this detective novel of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viv-albertine/with-the-second-book-i-didn-t-have-an-ideal-reader-in-mind-as-it/) [Viv Albertine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viv-albertine/) > [I'm trying to keep it fresh for me. I'm just trying to not bore myself. 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It's the best legal dope in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-lee-settle/when-i-m-working-on-a-serious-and-solid-book-i-read-about-a-detective/) [Mary Lee Settle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-lee-settle/) > [Yeah, I'd say there's probably about a couple of hundred people I admire - but that has nothing to do with what a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/yeah-i-d-say-there-s-probably-about-a-couple-of-hundred-people-i/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [But the first published thing I did was a detective story, detective novel, and I did that on my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-shaffer/but-the-first-published-thing-i-did-was-a-detective-story-detective/) [Peter Shaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-shaffer/) > [The detective novel is the art-for-art's-sake of our yawning Philistinism, the classic example of a specialized form of art removed from contact with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-pritchett/the-detective-novel-is-the-art-for-art-s-sake-of-our-yawning/) [V. S. Pritchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-pritchett/) > [“After all, the fundamental question of philosophy (like that of psychoanalysis) is the same as the question of the detective novel: who is guilty?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/after-all-the-fundamental-question-of-philosophy-like-that-of/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“His mouth went dry and for a split second he had a metallic taste on the sides of his tongue. He stood, turned, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-woolley/his-mouth-went-dry-and-for-a-split-second-he-had-a-metallic-taste-on/) [Hugo Woolley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-woolley/) > [I've always had a great fondness for English detective fiction such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-ve-always-had-a-great-fondness-for-english-detective-fiction-such/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“A sudden, uncontrollable fury rose in him, and he cast around for something to smash. He snatched the whiskey bottle from the table and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/a-sudden-uncontrollable-fury-rose-in-him-and-he-cast-around-for/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) ## More by S. S. Van Dine > [Giving full rein to one's cynicism as one goes along produces a normal outlet and maintains an emotional equilibrium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/giving-full-rein-to-one-s-cynicism-as-one-goes-along-produces-a/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [There are few punishments too severe for a popular novel writer,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/there-are-few-punishments-too-severe-for-a-popular-novel-writer/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [There simply must be a corpse in a detective novel, and the deader the corpse the better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/there-simply-must-be-a-corpse-in-a-detective-novel-and-the-deader-the/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [It has long been a source of wonder to me why the leading criminological writers--men like Edmund Lester Pearson, H. B. Irving, Filson Young,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/it-has-long-been-a-source-of-wonder-to-me-why-the-leading/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [Only, as long as we're going insane we may as well go the whole way. A mere shred of sanity is of no value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/only-as-long-as-we-re-going-insane-we-may-as-well-go-the-whole-way-a/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [Of all the criminal cases in which Philo Vance participated as unofficial investigator, the most sinister, the most bizarre, the seemingly most incomprehensible, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/of-all-the-criminal-cases-in-which-philo-vance-participated-as/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) [Explore all 7 S. S. Van Dine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) ## More Action quotes > [I always say there are two things to be successful. 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I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [As you begin changing your thinking, start immediately to change your behaviour. Begin to act the part of the person you would like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-you-begin-changing-your-thinking-start-immediately-to-change-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [For comedy action, I must know the language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammo-hung/for-comedy-action-i-must-know-the-language/) [Sammo Hung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammo-hung/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“Action is a powerful thing. When you smile through your sadness, it can completely change your outlook. Try it! Smile :) Now hold onto…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leticia-rae/action-is-a-powerful-thing-when-you-smile-through-your-sadness-it-can/) [Leticia Rae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leticia-rae/) > [I reject criticism because the last thing I wanted was to sit there and look at people talking. 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