The concept of a mystery focused on a closed circle of suspects goes way back — like, all the way back to Victorian novelist Wilkie Collins — and has been a continual source of innovation within crime fiction. The closed-space mystery creates a pliable backdrop against which the smallest details become clues.
Fletch isn't the typical detective story thanks to the healthy dose of humor thrown in by Chase's iconic portrayal of Fletch. Chase seamlessly blends comedic timing with detective skills, creating a character that's as funny as he is resourceful. The film follows Fletch as he goes undercover, encountering a web of lies and hidden agendas, similar to the complex mysteries unraveled in Knives Out.
In it, a social outcast has to plunge himself into the complicated politics of the various cliques in order to solve his ex-girlfriend’s murder, a woman who he still loves and who — in one of her last known actions on earth — called him for help. Brick is a fascinating look at the power struggles at play in the teenage drug economy. The dialogue, sewn together with Johnson’s characteristic wit, is the driving force of this brooding mystery.
In this flick, five private eyes are invited to a dinner party hosted by Lionel Twain in order to solve an unsolvable murder, with the winner receiving a million dollars. Events take a turn for the worse — and the wacky — as each detective learns the true cost of dining with an eccentric, aloof mystery lover. Featuring memorable performances by Peter Falk, Peter Sellers, and Elsa Lanchester, this quirky film is a great moment of brevity in the genre.