Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue?" Sorry. Published in 1841, that's practically current events.
How about Shakespeare? There was that whiny prince trying to figure out who killed his father. Uh uh. Hamlet only goes back to 1600.
Well, there was the story of Susannah, which appears in some editions of the Book of Daniel. The prophet solves a crime by using a technique known to every modern police force. But that only dates back to around 200 BC.
How about Sophocles' play about a king interrogating various witnesses to discover the murderer of his predecessor? Nice guess, but no. At 400 BC, he's still an Oedipus-come-lately.
Enough suspense. Here is the true answer, courtesy of those brilliant British comedians David Mitchell and Robert Webb.
Had me laughing out loud. And I always suspected that cavemen spoke with British accents, not grunts.
ReplyDeleteGreat way to start the day, Rob.
ReplyDeleteI always figured the first crime was actually covered up when the killer tossed the body into a volcano or a tar pit, but what do I know? The evidence is all gone...
That was fun. Now I want to write a paleolithic mystery. I'm sure it's been done, too...
ReplyDeleteRob, nice laugh for the morning.
ReplyDeleteBoy, did I get to this late. Uh. Funny.
ReplyDeleteI'm a mad admirer of David Mitchell, especially when he appeared on QI. Nice choice, Rob.
ReplyDeleteThomas, I don't think we've discussed paleolithic mysteries, but we did get into paleolithic kidney stone surgery.
There was a stone age story in AHMM a few years ago, if I recall correctly. I liked it but that's all I remember...
ReplyDeleteLeigh, I LOVE QI. Haven't been able to see the new post Stephen Fry episodes. Of course Alan Davies, the other regular, starrred in Jonathan Creek, which was wonderful too.