whodunit
[hudˈʌnɪt] /hü-ˈdə-nət How to pronounce whodunit (audio)/ (ame, mw)
whodunit — 名詞
1. a book, film, or play in which a serious crime occurs — most often a killing — a
推理小說
以找出兇手為主軸的故事
a book, film, or play in which a serious crime occurs — most often a killing — and the main focus is on finding out who is to blame
I borrowed a classic whodunit — a dead woman in a locked room — and stayed up all night.
我借了一本經典推理小說——一名女子死在鎖住的房間裡——熬夜看完了。
collocation: classic whodunit
The film starts like a whodunit, with a body found in a locked room.
這部電影開場就像推理劇，一具屍體在鎖著的房間裡被發現。
passive: body found in [location]; typical whodunit setup
My grandmother watches old whodunit movies and always tries to guess the killer before the detective.
我祖母看老推理片，而且總是想在偵探之前猜出兇手。
A good whodunit keeps the reader guessing until the very last page.
一本好的推理小說會讓讀者一路猜測到最後一頁。
The author writes clever whodunits set in English villages, where a detective uncovers hidden motives.
這位作家創作了背景設定在英國村莊的巧妙推理小說，故事中的偵探揭開了隱藏動機。
- mystery
broader term that can include non-crime puzzles and supernatural stories
- detective story
more formal and emphasises the role of a detective character
- crime novel
broader category that includes stories where the criminal's identity may be known from the start
用法筆記
Informal word formed from a jocular misspelling of 'Who done it?' (non-standard English for 'Who did it?'). The variant spelling 'whodunnit' (with double 'n') is common in British English. Use in casual contexts; for formal writing, prefer 'mystery novel' or 'detective story.'