Adult Reading Round Table Genre Boot Camp  •  Mystery

Mystery DEFINITION: Detective and mystery novels are stories in which a crime, usually but not always a murder, has been committed, and the means, motive, and criminal are in doubt or unknown. This problem is presented to an amateur or professional detective who accepts the puzzle and its clues and who then solves it. Contemporary authors in this genre are stressing the why—the psychology behind the crime—above the who, when, and how that have been the hallmarks of the classic detective and mystery novel. Specialists abound in today’s mysteries, whether forensic experts in a police procedural or amateur detectives whose interest in rare books, horse racing, or cosmetology is as important to the story as the solving of the crime. Recent trends are the use of paranormal creatures such as vampires and ghosts in the stories and the emphasis on the reader's emotional involvement with the character. See also: Suspense/Thrillers.

Classic Authors: Agatha Christie, Wilkie Collins, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, Ed McBain, Ellis Peters, Edgar Allan Poe, Mickey Spillane, Jim Thompson

CHARACTERISTICS:  Mysteries present a challenge to the reader who must use the clues to solve the crime. The stories are usually intricately plotted but can be either fast paced and suspenseful or slower paced with lots of detail and description.  The protagonist can be an amateur detective who just happens to find a dead body, a police detective, or a private eye.  The stories can be very realistic and recreate the real world of the police or crime with gritty language, violence, and sex.  Amateur detective mysteries can by light hearted with the violence off stage, but even these now have a love interest and some sex.  Most mysteries feature a series character that readers get to know and identify with through the books.  Authors delve into the psychology of the characters while the crimes often reflect the problems of society including drugs, greed, corruption, runaways, child abuse, and more.  The end of the story must tie up all loose ends and solve the crime. 

APPEAL: Mysteries appeal to readers on many levels—as puzzles that are a battle of wits between the reader and the sleuth, as a morality play where the hero slays evil and saves mankind, as entertainment that tells a good story with a satisfying resolution, as an acceptable way to channel aggressive thoughts and act out aggressive fantasies, as a way to learn about special subjects or problems, and as stories with characters that  have strong emotional appeal.

READERS: Mystery readers come in all ages from pre-teen to seniors. These are people who like their stories based in the real world and want to see good defeat evil.  Traditionally women have read the amateur detective and cozy subgenres while men like the hard hitting and more realistic police procedural, private eye, and crime subgenres.  Today women are also reading these subgenres as women authors have created women police detectives and women private eyes.  Many men may not read women writers although this too is changing. 

SUBGENRES:  Amateur detective (including cozy), Crime/Caper, Historical, Humorous, International, Police Detective, Police Procedural, Private Investigator, Cross-Genre                                 

TOP AUTHORS:  Diane Mott Davidson (cozy/amateur detective), Michael Connelly (police detective), Robert Crais (private eye), Charles Todd (historical)

TRENDS:
Development of main character and readers emotional involvement with the character
Weaving specialized subjects such as cooking, gardening, anthropology, sports into the mystery
Adding suspense elements into mysteries and blurring the lines between suspense and mystery
The rise of the historical mystery, especially those set from 1920 to 1960
The return of the cozy and the use of humor in the story
The use of paranormal elements such as ghosts and vampires in the stories
Mystery writers doing both series characters and stand alone mysteries that feature psychological suspense

WEBSITES:
ClueLass.com   www.cluelass.com   includes new releases by month, lists of awards, convention dates, links to magazines, newsletters, and bookstores
Stop You’re Killing Me   www.stopyourekillingme.com  includes lists and links to 2,200 authors, award lists, what’s new section, and indices listing characters by location, job, diversity, and more
Mystery Ink  www.mysteryinkonline.com  features book reviews, author interviews, award lists, and links to mystery web sites
Reviewing the Evidence  www.reviewingtheevidence.com  includes reviews of new books and links to many mystery author web sites
Looking for a Mystery  www.sldirectory.com/mystery.html  includes links to mystery reading lists on many different subjects from library and mystery sites; lists of books and authors by time period

REFERENCE BOOKS:  Niebuhr, Garry Warren Make Mine a Mystery: A Readers Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction, Libraries Unlimited, 2003; Vassilakos, Jill Murder in Retrospect: A Selective Guide to Historical Mystery Fiction, Libraries Unlimited, 2005; Forshaw, Barry  Rough Guide to Crime Fiction, Rough Guides, 2007;  Herald, Diana Tixier  Genreflecting: A Guide to Reading Interests in Genre Fiction, Libraries Unlimited, 2005;  Charles, John  The Mystery Readers’ Advisory: The Librarian’s Clues to Murder and Mayhem, American Library Ass., 2002

PUBLISHERS:  All of the major publishers have the best selling authors but smaller publishers have the largest number of midlist and new authors who will give depth and variety to your collection.  These include St. Martins Minotaur, Severn House, Poisoned Pen Press, Soho Crime, Kensington Press, Hard Case Crime, Bitter Lemon Press, and Five Star Press.

MAGAZINES:  All of the major library journals review mysteries; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine—short stories and reviews; Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine—short stories and reviews; Crime Spree Magazine—interviews, articles, columns, reviews.

ORGANIZATIONS—Mystery Writers of America www.mysterywriters.org; Sisters in Crime www.sistersincrime.org;  American Crime Writers League   www.members.aol.com/theACWL.

AWARDS:  Edgar Awards given by the Mystery Writers of America; Anthony Awards given by Bouchercon; Agatha Awards given by Malice Domestic; Shamus Awards given by Private Eye Writers of America; Macavity Award given by Mystery Readers International; Arthur Ellis Awards given by Crime Writers of Canada; Dagger Awards given by Crime Writers Ass. of the United Kingdom

Prepared by Merle Jacob
September 2007

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