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Whydunit vs Whodunit - What's the difference?

whydunit | whodunit | Related terms |

Whodunit is a related term of whydunit.



As nouns the difference between whydunit and whodunit

is that whydunit is a type of detective story in which the focus is not on who committed the crime, but what were their motives for committing it while whodunit is a novel or drama concerning a crime (usually a murder) in which a detective follows clues to determine the perpetrator.

whydunit

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A type of detective story in which the focus is not on who committed the crime, but what were their motives for committing it.
  • 1985 , Laurence Urdang, Walter W. Hunsinger, Nancy LaRoche: Picturesque expressions: a thematic dictionary , p 420[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=E3MYAAAAIAAJ&q=whodunit+howdunit+whydunit&dq=whodunit+howdunit+whydunit&lr=]:
  • :* Connery takes over the interrogation and in the process beats the man to death. This much we know almost from the beginning, so the film is less of a whodunit than a whydunit .
  • whodunit

    Alternative forms

    * whodunnit

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A novel or drama concerning a crime (usually a murder) in which a detective follows clues to determine the perpetrator.
  • * 1946 , Josephina Niggli. Pointers on radio writing (Boston: The Writer, Inc.) page 25
  • Actually, an whodunit is a mystery story. The hero is generally a detective, although sometimes he is a gentleman (apparently a mild mannered worm) who sallies forth at night to become Public Enemy No. One of Crime. Otherwise the formula is exactly the same as that of the Cliff-hanger and follows the same rules.

    Synonyms

    (A fictional story of a crime which a detective solves) detective novel, detective story, mystery story

    Hypernyms

    (A fictional story of a crime which a detective solves) thriller

    Anagrams

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