Retellings of famous literary or cultural narratives, such as the loose one presented in Holmes, Marple & Poe, have, by definition, strong and specific genre influences. Given the iconic status of Sherlock Holmes, Miss Jane Marple, and Edgar Allan Poe in the detective fiction genre, the invocation of these three figures draws not only on their specific literary antecedents but also on the genre that they represent. Holmes, Marple & Poe uses the tropes of these genres to build suspense in the novel and capture the thrill of the chase, as the quest to uncover the truth drives the protagonists’ actions.

Patterson and Sitts’s novel draws heavily on thriller conventions, particularly the style of thriller that Patterson is best known for. Holmes, Marple & Poe uses short paragraphs and short chapters, the majority of which end in some form of cliffhanger, to convey the detectives’ forward momentum. In contrast to the original Holmes, Marple, or Poe detective stories, this version of the detective narrative focuses on action rather than deduction. When the novel’s private investigators come to conclusions, they do so quickly; rather than slowing the narrative pace to convey the methodical thought process required to solve crimes, the investigators love the chase.