Mysteries: Perceived Unreliability as an Element

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I started reading the cozy mystery master Agatha Christie at a very impressionable age and loved the construction of her books and the characters she created.

There were a couple of elements of her books that especially stuck with me and they both involved unreliability of characters. Reliability, or perceived unreliability, can have a big role in mysteries.

Seemingly Unreliable Sleuths

Agatha Christie was a master at creating sleuths that could be easily underestimated. Miss Marple might come immediately to mind, but she intended her brilliant Hercule Poirot to be, as well…he could behave cartoonish at times and was considered a foreigner by other characters.

These unreliable, easily underestimated sleuths had the ability to fly under the radar. Instead of putting suspects on their guard, they tended to either lull them into confidences (Miss Marple) or just often not seem intimidating at all (Poirot). Suspects then could accidentally drop clues that might point to the murderer or provide gossip that could help better fill in a picture of other suspects.

Seemingly Unreliable Witnesses

This was another element Agatha Christie used in her mysteries. Often there was a character who the other characters would sort of roll their eyes over. They might seem scatterbrained or flighty or hesitant. They would offer a clue or some bit of information that everyone would discount because of who provided it. Unfortunately for the character, they'd usually get murdered because the killer would realize they did know something vital. The character would be eliminated before he or she could offer any other information.

These elements are still useful for mysteries today and provide great ways to uncover more clues in the story. As a reader, do you recognize these seemingly unreliable characters? If you're a mystery writer, have you used them (I have)?

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