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How does Dickens begin to lay the mystery's foundation toward the end of Book 1?
This section focuses on developing the mystery surrounding the Harmon murder. In an era where the detective story was only starting to emerge as a genre, Dickens played a significant role in developing some of the main customs we associate with this type of story, in Our Mutual Friend and some of his other novels (with Bleak House being another notable example). Lightwood and Wrayburn function as amateur detectives, working alongside the Inspector to try and figure out whether Riderhood is telling the truth.
Gaffer Hexam's pseudo-criminal activity and rough behavior has primed a reader to...
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