Anne R. Allen is one of my favourite mystery writers, plus she hosts a Top 100 Writers Digest Blog (link provided below.) Anne is always worth reading, and this post is excellent in it's entirety, but I particularly draw your attention to the comparison to Mozart. (With a name like Melodie, how can I not agree? 😄)
Why Do We Read Mysteries?
by Anne R. Allen
I once met an aspiring writer who had been forced to move in with Mom after a year of rejections and other catastrophes. He dealt with his humiliating situation by criticizing his mother to anybody who would listen.
One of her great sins? She spent every evening reading mystery novels and watching BBC murder
mysteries.
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| Anne R. Allen, author |
"It freaks me out that she's so bloodthirsty," he said. "Why does she want to focus on death every night?" He added, "They're so unrealistic. How can there be any people left in Midsomer with all those murders every week?"
I hear this kind of negativity from readers, too. "Why do you want to write about murder and death? That seems like such a downer. Why don't you write about something more comforting and uplifting?"
But here's the thing: mysteries are uplifting. The classic mystery doesn't focus on death, but what caused it. A mysterious murder causes chaos, but the sleuth finds out whodunnit, brings the culprit to justice, and order is restored. That gives us comfort, especially in times of stress.
Time Magazine reported that during the pandemic, booksellers had a hard time keeping Agatha Christie's novels in stock. People were consuming them like tranquilizers.
A Ride to Safety
I'm not saying that reading a murder mystery is entirely soothing and calm. It's also about confronting our fears. It's like going on a roller coaster ride. The ride may be terrifying at the time, but you know everything will be okay in the end.
Roller coaster riders are not thinking about real-life speeding dangers, or run-away trains, and we don't go on a roller coaster ride because we're having morbid thoughts. It's about the chaotic thrill, followed by a peaceful resolution.
The Challenge of the Puzzle
An article in The New Yorker a few years ago was highly critical of the genre, saying that we mystery authors don't have enough empathy for our victims. But mysteries are not for dwelling on gruesome or tragic deaths. They are puzzles to be solved. We aren't reading them for the emotional journey involved with rich old Aunt Augusta's demise, but to use our intellectual skills to solve a puzzle.
Reading a classic mystery is more like playing the board game "Clue" than studying a real-life killing. We don't empathize with Colonel Mustard or Mrs. Peacock any more than we do with the pawns in a chess game. We're there to solve the puzzle.
It's not a coincidence that a lot of mystery readers are also fans of crossword puzzles. They're both exercises for the mind. A lot of very highbrow literary types also enjoy mysteries. T.S.Elliot was a major fan, and wrote reviews of mysteries for the magazine the Criterion in the late 1920s.
Academics also love mysteries. I once spent a semester at the American Academy in Rome, and it had one of the best libraries of mystery novels I'd ever seen.
A visiting professor at the Academy compared the classic mystery to listening to Mozart. The form is stylized, he said, but there's lots of room for creative flights of fancy. And in the end, everything is resolved with a wonderful, pleasing piece of harmony.
Weeding Out the Bad Guys
It's our yearning for resolution - that orderly conclusion - that keeps us turning back to classic mysteries, especially in times of upheaval.
Literary critic Edmund Wilson wrote a famous article in The New Yorker in 1944 called "Why People Read Detective Stories." He was exasperated by the fact that his wife, Mary McCarthy, was always reading detective stories and recommending them to their friend, Vladimir Nabokov.
Wilson wrote that people like detective stories because : "Everybody is suspected in turn, and the streets are full of lurking agents whose allegiances we cannot know. Nobody seems guiltless, nobody seems safe; and then, suddenly, the murderer is spotted, and -relief!- he is not, after all, a person like you or me. He is a villain."
When the sleuth reveals the bad guy, everyone can feel safe again and stop suspecting Miss Scarlet over there in the library with that candlestick in her hand.
A Murder Mystery Restores Law and Order
I find I'm turning to mysteries even more in this time of political chaos. I live in a country where the principles of law and order have essentially been repealed.
People ask me why I'm "only" writing mystery stories when there are so many terrible things happening on a daily basis. They're often especially unimpressed that my ditzy etiquette expert heroine isn't "kick-ass" and doesn't carry a gun.
But when we live in a thugocracy where the smallest act of kindness or mercy can get a citizen fired, imprisoned, or deported, a show of good manners can be a heroic act of defiance.
Reading a classic mystery can take us back to a time of less chaos and more order - when the rule of law was respected by all. And even though some of us live in a country where bringing a criminal to justice may be an unrealistic fairy tale, it's a fairy tale a whole lot of us need right now.
Anne R. Allen is an award-winning blogger and the author of 13 funny mysteries and 2 how-to books for writers. Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mysteries are a mash-up of mystery, rom-com, and satire. They feature perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall — who is a magnet for murder, mayhem, and Mr. Wrong. But she always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way. Anne is the former artistic director of the Patio Playhouse in Escondido, CA and now lives on the foggy Central Coast of California.
Blog: https://annerallen.com/
What a compelling, cogent, and on-point essay! Christie sales picked up during Covid? How great to learn readers still acquire and still care for classics.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to plot, little beats mysteries. One careless screw-up ruins the story. Understandably a number of colleagues don’t care for unsavory aspects of Gone Girl, but few question it is one of the most carefully plotted stories ever. Even more intricate is Stuart Turton’s 2018 novel, The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Match that, literary novels!
Many, perhaps most readers enjoy the puzzles. We’ve published non-crime stumpers here and on Criminal Brief, most recently last Christmas. We love the challenge. Between you and me, whodunit puzzles got me hooked in grade school. If the venerable and otherwise serious Scientific American publishes entertaining conundrums for brainy people (like us!), why shouldn’t we enjoy them too?
Anne’s roller coaster comparison is brilliant, very clever. She focuses mainly on mental and emotional stimulation, but Anne hints at physical reactions. I’ve mentioned my acquaintance Crystal Mary who’s often prickly and dour. But to my astonishment, she loves blood and bowel slasher movies, flicks that I– all ruff-n-tuff me– cannot stomach. After one of these films, she’s breathy, flushed, and ebullient. I don’t get it, but in today’s shadowy America, I defend her right to enjoy them.
Finally, a great advantage of being a writer is the opportunity to rectifying wrongdoing. James Lincoln Warren remarked I don’t so much write about crime as I write about injustice. Perhaps that gives a gentle reader hope and happiness, another reason to enjoy mysteries.
Anne and Melodie, I highly appreciate your article.
Leigh, thanks for this wonderful comment! You've added even more to think about. Melodie
DeleteLeigh--Thanks for the thoughtful comment. The quote from James Lincoln Warren about injustice is spot on!
DeleteThe mysteries I enjoy tend to have memorable characters and are often (but not always) set in times and places unfamiliar to me, so it's a bit of arm chair travel, I think. Without the hassle of travel (physical or time, LOL).
ReplyDeleteG Spencer--Yes! The armchair-travel aspect is certainly part of the pleasure of reading a lot of mysteries. The time-travel aspect is there too. Traveling to 1920s St. Mary Mead is certainly part of the comfort appeal of some of Christie's most famous classics.
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ReplyDeleteWell said, Anne. Whether it's a police procedural with our protagonist chasing leads through city streets, or a traditional mystery where the sleuth pieces things together over a cuppa or a quiet pint, the goal is always the same: to bring order to chaos. Murder knocks the world off balance. Solving it is the journey back to truth. It’s not about blood-lust—it’s about the deep satisfaction of watching someone untangle a mess and draw a clear, sharp line through it.
ReplyDeleteAnd honestly, there’s something solid—reassuring, even—about a story where the facts matter, the truth counts, and someone is actually held accountable. That’s the real payoff. It’s not the murder that draws us in—it’s the resolution. And in times like these, when so much feels uncertain or unresolved, that kind of story isn’t just comforting. It’s necessary, IMO.
Desmond--A mystery is a story where "facts matter, the truth counts, and someone is actually held accountable." Very well put. That's a fairy tale in my country, but something we can hope for.
DeleteYou've hit the nail on the head on why I write, read and watch mysteries. I really enjoy the ones where you can understand why the victim was killed, even if you can't condone the act. That's why Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None are two of my favourite Christie books.
ReplyDeleteI never questioned why my mother almost exclusively read mysteries as she got older because I loved them too. But when I watch the news, especially now, knowing that she grew up in England during WW2, witnessed the McCarthy years (from Canada thank heavens, because she did join the British Communist Party in her youth) and the race riots, I understand.
Anon--Motive is always the most interesting part of a murder mystery for me. I personally don't like serial killer stories because the motive is often just "he's evil." Boring. My WW2 vet dad read British mysteries almost exclusively, so I relate.
Delete“Damn it, she writes detective stories and in detective stories virtue is always triumphant. They're the purest literature we have.” Dorothy L. Sayers, "Strong Poison"
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I also understand those where (rarely) the detective absolves the murderer(s) of guilt: Poirot in "Murder on the Orient Express" and Miss Marple in "The Mirror Crack'd".
Oh, I do love that Dorothy Sayers quote, Eve! I'm copying that to my quote file right now. btw, you will find my third book in the Merry Widow series (The Pharaoh's Curse Murders) - out next March - interesting, based on your last sentence ;) Melodie
DeleteEve--Thanks for the great Sayers quote! I could have led with that.
DeleteMelodie--Now I'm going to be waiting desperately for the next installment of your Merry Widow series!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree re: motive. Given that there are only so many “whys”, I enjoy seeing the twist the writer will put on it!
ReplyDeleteAnon--I agree. The more interesting the motive, the more entertaining the story.
DeleteA very thought provoking post. Mike
ReplyDeleteMike--Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteIn my distant youth, I played guitar and sang Appalachian murder ballads. My mother always complained, wishing I'd sing something more cheerful. She died too young at 96 to know I became a mystery writer. But let's not be too quick to say that mysteries lack empathy. Dorothy L. Sayers is responsible for turning her characters into real people with feelings, revealing her technique in Lord Peter Wimsey's conversation with Harriet Vane in Gaudy Night about what to do when her character Wilfred gets stuck. The genre has been richer and more satisfying ever since. Puzzles and twists are fine, but give me character-driven elements as well.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth--I didn't mean to say mystery authors lack empathy. Some mysteries are character driven (the kind I enjoy) and others are more about attention to detail (like Sherlock) or action and derring-do. But they all have that resolution when chaos is conquered and order returns.
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