Roger Angle's Blog - Posts Tagged "mystery"
THE MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES
Why are so many mysteries, both in print and on the screen, exciting and suspenseful at first and then dull and disappointing in the end?
I have been watching "Shetland," a wonderful British crime series on PBS. Each story takes two one-hour episodes to tell. So far, I have seen four, I think.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2396135/
In one story, we have a seemingly innocent young woman who appears to be a victim. (I will try not to spoil it here.) This character doesn't seem important for an episode and a half. A role player, they would say in basketball. A spear carrier, they would say in opera. Almost a background actor, they would say in Hollywood.
Then suddenly, out of the blue, she is the killer! Holy Christ, where in hell did that come from?
I think back over the two episodes and all the scenes she is in, and I can't see one hint or clue that she is dangerous or suspicious or even interesting.
I suppose the writers wanted to spring this big surprise, this big reveal, on us at the end. To fulfill the demands of the genre, I suppose.
But it didn't work for me. It was not satisfying. It wasn't up to the level of excitement of the rest of the story. It was a big let-down.
I find this kind of thing happens in a lot of mysteries that I read or see.
The explanation of the mystery is not as much fun as the mystery itself.
Is that true for you, too?
So how do we writers fix this?
The answer, for me as a writer, is to focus on suspense more than mystery.
A mystery is about the past. Who did it? Who killed so and so? Who left the unsigned note? Whose fingerprint is that on the dead woman's eyeball? Who made the ransom call?
Suspense is about the future. Will the killer strike again? Will James Bond defeat Dr. No? Will Jason Bourne survive a dozen attempts to kill him? And will he get the girl in the end?
In my novel, "The Disappearance of Maggie Collins," I tried to create suspense. Will Dupree rescue Maggie? Will they end up together? Will the killer go to jail?
This is not really a mystery. We know who the killer is. And we get to know him during the story. Maybe whether he gets caught is a mystery. Sort of.
Suspense works better for me than mystery.
Hope it works for readers, too.
Thanks for reading and thanks for being on Goodreads.
RA
I have been watching "Shetland," a wonderful British crime series on PBS. Each story takes two one-hour episodes to tell. So far, I have seen four, I think.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2396135/
In one story, we have a seemingly innocent young woman who appears to be a victim. (I will try not to spoil it here.) This character doesn't seem important for an episode and a half. A role player, they would say in basketball. A spear carrier, they would say in opera. Almost a background actor, they would say in Hollywood.
Then suddenly, out of the blue, she is the killer! Holy Christ, where in hell did that come from?
I think back over the two episodes and all the scenes she is in, and I can't see one hint or clue that she is dangerous or suspicious or even interesting.
I suppose the writers wanted to spring this big surprise, this big reveal, on us at the end. To fulfill the demands of the genre, I suppose.
But it didn't work for me. It was not satisfying. It wasn't up to the level of excitement of the rest of the story. It was a big let-down.
I find this kind of thing happens in a lot of mysteries that I read or see.
The explanation of the mystery is not as much fun as the mystery itself.
Is that true for you, too?
So how do we writers fix this?
The answer, for me as a writer, is to focus on suspense more than mystery.
A mystery is about the past. Who did it? Who killed so and so? Who left the unsigned note? Whose fingerprint is that on the dead woman's eyeball? Who made the ransom call?
Suspense is about the future. Will the killer strike again? Will James Bond defeat Dr. No? Will Jason Bourne survive a dozen attempts to kill him? And will he get the girl in the end?
In my novel, "The Disappearance of Maggie Collins," I tried to create suspense. Will Dupree rescue Maggie? Will they end up together? Will the killer go to jail?
This is not really a mystery. We know who the killer is. And we get to know him during the story. Maybe whether he gets caught is a mystery. Sort of.
Suspense works better for me than mystery.
Hope it works for readers, too.
Thanks for reading and thanks for being on Goodreads.
RA
