"But regard this particular crime: look at it closely. What do you find? You will perceive that its mise en scene has been staged, and its drama enacted, down to every minute detail - like a Zola novel. It is almost mathematically perfect. And therein, d' ye see, lies the irresistible inference of its having been carefully premeditated and planned. To use an art term, it is a tickled-up crime. Therefore, its conception was not spontaneous. And yet, don't y' know, I can't point out any specific flaw; for its great flaw lies in its being flawless. And nothing flawless, my dear fellow, is natural or genuine." (from The "Canary" Murder Case, by S. S. Van Dine)
I will provide a little help on this quote for the uninitiated (of which I am one).
"Mise en scene" means the arrangement of furniture and stage properties in a play.
Emile Zola (1840-1902) was the best-known practitioner of the literary school of theatrical naturalism, According to Wikipedia "the presentation of a naturalistic play, in terms of the setting and performances, should be realistic and not flamboyant or theatrical. The single setting of Miss Julie, for example, is a kitchen. Second, the conflicts in the play should be issues of meaningful, life-altering significance — not small or petty. And third, the play should be simple — not cluttered with complicated sub-plots or lengthy expositions."
The definition that I found for "tickled-up" is "something that is so hilarious that you feel like you are going to fall over from laughing so hard." However, that doesn't quite seem to fit here.
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