Which genre of literature focuses on investigating and solving a crime?

Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime. The central character is often a detective who eventually solves the mystery by logical deduction from facts presented to the reader.

The genre of mystery novels is a young form of literature that has developed since the early 19th century. In 1887 Arthur Conan Doyle introduced Sherlock Holmes, whose mysteries are said to have been singularly responsible for the huge popularity in this genre. The 1920s also gave rise to one of the most popular mystery authors of all time, Agatha Christie, whose works include "Murder on the Orient Express" (1934), "Death on the Nile" (1937), and the world's best-selling mystery "And Then There Were None" (1939).

The massive popularity of pulp magazines in the 1930s and 1940s increased interest in mystery fiction. Pulp magazines decreased in popularity in the 1950s with the rise of television.