History Main / WhoDunnitToMe

* [[CuteGhostGirl Emily]] from ''ComicBook/{{AnyasGhost}}'' wants to find the man that killed her family. [[spoiler: Subverted later, where it's revealed there was no murderer. Aside from Emily, of course.]]

* [[CuteGhostGirl Emily]] from ''ComicBook/{{AnyasGhost}}'' wants to find the man that killed her family. [[spoiler: Subverted later, where it's revealed there was no murderer. Aside from [[Yandere Emily]], of course]].

* [[CuteGhostGirl Emily]] from ''ComicBook/{{AnyasGhost}}'' wants to find the man that killed her family. [[spoiler: Subverted later, where it's revealed there was no murderer. Aside from [[Yandere Emily]], of course.]]

* [[CuteGhostGirl Emily]] from ''ComicBook/{{AnyasGhost}}'' wants to find the man that killed her family.

* [[CuteGhostGirl Emily]] from ComicBook/{{AnyasGhost}} wants to find the man that killed her family.

This is where the protagonist has been murdered and is either [[DeadToBeginWith dead]] or [[YourDaysAreNumbered soon will be]]. The rest of the story concerns their efforts to solve the crime in the time they have left. A subplot can also be their trying to protect a loved one from the killer who did them in. This can be supernatural or non-supernatural depending on whether the protagonist is already dead or dying slowly but inevitably. If he or she is already dead, may involve NearDeathClairvoyance, otherwise may be considered a form of DeathByOriginStory.

'''Frank Bigelow''': San Francisco, last night.\\

* According to ''MoreInformationThanYouRequire'', ninth US president WilliamHenryHarrison was given a slow-acting poison at his inauguration that would kill him in thirty days, and told he would be given the antidote if he could figure out who poisoned him. As the book puts it, "Harrison was a great Indian-killer, but not much of a sleuth".

* In ''MysteryCaseFiles: Madame Fate'', the fortune teller Madame Fate wants to find out which of her workers is plotting her death at the stroke of midnight. The answer? [[spoiler: It's none of them as they are all found to be dead/doomed by midnight. The answer is the ghost of Charles Dalimar, the Big Bad of the series, who only gets involved ''because'' Madame Fate went to the Master Detective for help.]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' had this as a significant plot point throughout Series 6, with the Doctor being "killed" in Utah in the first episode and having to find out who and why he was murdered, and it looks like threads of it will carry over into Series 7, as The Doctor now knows WHO did it, but is still trying to figure out the specifics of WHY.

* Count Sessine from ''Feersum Endjinn'' by IainMBanks.

* ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'' begins with Rhea already in purgatory, ready to be judged, with no idea how she got there. [[UnexplainedRecovery She got better]], and there's only so many places that her killer can be...

* This was part of the title character's original motivation in ''Ghost'' from Creator/DarkHorseComics.

* One of the character's in the cyclist webcomic YehudaMoonAndTheKickstandCyclery is the dead previous owner of the cyclist shop, killed by car driver shortly before the start of the series, he seems to have a somewhat physical manifestation and seems to be unable to move to the next world unless his dead is resolved.

* The cybrid Johnny from the ''Literature/HyperionCantos''.

* ''NewAmsterdam''

* This trope pretty much sums up the plot to MysteryCaseFiles: Madame Fate as the titular Madame Fate wants to find out which of her workers is plotting her death at the stroke of midnight. The answer? [[spoiler: It's none of them as they are all found to be dead/doomed by midnight. The answer is the ghost of Charles Dalimar who was brought in because, guess what, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the Master Detective was brought in to handle the case herself.]]]]

* This trope pretty much sums up the plot to MysteryCaseFiles: Madame Fate.

* ''Series/{{Psych}}'' had a victim report that he had been poisoned and asks Shawn and Gus to find out who tried to kill him, but dies before the two find the killer. Subverted in that the man actually faked his death and killed off his two accomplices to keep what they had stolen for himself.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' had this as a significant plot point throughout Series 6, [[spoiler:with the Doctor being "killed" in Utah in the first episode and having to find out who and why he was murdered,]] and it looks like threads of it will carry over into Series 7, [[spoiler: as The Doctor now knows WHO did it, but is still trying to figure out the specifics of WHY.]]

* Partially subverted in Creator/GKChesterton's short story ''The Resurrection of FatherBrown''. The titular priestly detective is supposedly murdered and is just about to be buried before he wakes up in his coffin. It turns out he was fed a poison which caused him to go into a coma almost resembling death. The remainder of the short story concerns Father Brown's efforts to discover who did this to him.

* ''PushingDaisies'', in the pilot

''Why Am I Dead?'' features the ability to possess people in order to investigate the main character's death.

* Pextel in ''StationeryVoyagers'' wants justice on the drug runner who ran him off the road and required that he be mechanized. Laura Herrante, under the Crimson Owl protection, [[AttendingYourOwnFuneral has buried herself on occasions]]. Fortunately for her, it's usually no mystery who killed her.

* The '50s movie, ''Film/YouNeverCanTell'' tells the story of a murdered dog who was sent back by 'dog heaven' as a human to investigate his own murder.