Puzzling Through My Obsession

Recently I was asked if I have always liked mysteries.  It's a natural question for someone to ask a mystery writer, but not one I have thought much about.  I said, "Yes" and the person who asked the question moved on with their life.  I, on the other hand, kept thinking about their innocuous question.

I own the complete Columbo Series on DVD.  I begged for the Thin Man series for my birthday one year. I get up early on Saturday morning if there's a marathon of Basil Rathbone playing Sherlock Holms on television.  CSI, 48-hours, Bones, or Lie to Me are constantly running in the background if I'm cooking or folding laundry.  Don't even get me started on my bookshelves.   But these were all recent acquisitions. How long have I been a mystery fan?

I remember watching Hounds of the Baskerville on a reel-to-reel projector rented from the local library when I was about 10.  I eagerly scrambled to the television set when the opening strains of Scooby-Doo started to play.  And when I think back on my favorite books growing up the first ones to pop into my memory are The Boxcar Children mysteries.

I'm obsessed with mysteries and have been for as long as I can remember.

Then I started to wonder why was I so enthralled with whodunit?   Do I have a blood lust?  A nefarious streak running through me?  Would I shank someone for the last coconut on a dessert island?  Is there something wrong with me?

Others don't seem to have the same desire for murder and mayhem.  No, others seemed able to walk past a riddle or a puzzle without even a second thought.  So why do I feel so strong in my need to solve everything?

After much debate with the voices in my head, I came to the conclusion that I have two inherent traits that all mystery fans share:

1) an overweening need for justice

2) a powerful curiosity

Mystery lovers are people who want to make sense of the world, and figure out where all the pieces, that have somehow come undone, fit.  We cannot pass up an opportunity to solve a puzzle or play a logic game.  Some people are just hardwired to want to solve puzzles and I'm one of them.  There is no need for me to worry. There is nothing nefarious or blood thirsty about me and I think everyone's coconuts are safe.

My two-year-old daughter just  waved a dog-eared piece of die-cut cardboard at me and said, "Play puzzle Mommy?"   Now how did she know that was an offer I couldn't refuse?