Tom Stoppard, in his play The Real Inspector Hound, both conforms to and subverts the automated conventions of crime fiction. The conventions of crime fiction include the crime that is committed, dangerous situations that confront the sleuth, the completeness of the sleuth's character, and the detailed nature of the setting and the structural significance of the denouement. It is appropriate therefore to consider in turn Stoppard's treatment of these conventions, in comparison to more conventional crime fiction works.
The first convention relates to the crime itself. Usually, the audience is presented with the crime, which is the crux of the plot and forms the basis of the investigation that follows. Subplots are often interwoven into the main storyline. In The Real Inspector Hound, Stoppard follows this convention by presenting the murder of Higgs, Simon Gascoyne and Birdboot. Similarly, this play is typical of the genre through its use of subplots and "red herrings". In this play the incident where Felicity discovers that Simon is disloyal, and threatens to kill him is an example of the above technique. At a plot level, Stoppard conforms to this convention through his presentation of the crime.
Another convention of crime fiction is the dangerous situations that often confront the sleuth. In most, if not all cases, the sleuth usually escapes. However, Stoppard successfully contrives such situations where Birdboot and Moon are in such danger. On the other hand, unlike most modern crime fiction texts, they are killed and the supposedly "evil" real Inspector Hound is allowed to triumph over his counterparts. Stoppard's conformance with this convention is somewhat limited, as his sleuth does not entirely escape danger.
The next convention relates to the character of the sleuth. In most crime fiction texts, the role of the sleuth is usually undertaken by one central character. Here, not one character, but three fulfills that role, and it raises an interest in point.
