Is a mystery a mystery if everything happens off stage?
I love lots of kinds of mysteries–historical, traditional, cozies, and once in a while a thriller. To me, it breaks down like this:
Traditional mysteries focus on a crime, clues, and solving who did it. I think of Agatha Christie as a traditional mystery writer. Everything was about adding up clues to solve the crime. And traditional mysteries can be set in different countries and cultures, which makes them more fun. Scottish settings, the southwest with Indian lore, and British mysteries. I love most British mysteries.
Thrillers are more about adding tension to solving the crime. I’d put Louis Kincaid in this category. The crimes are more grim, more gruesome, more unique, (sometimes too unique?), and we always know someone else is going to die. The stakes are high. My blog friend, Mae Clair, loves thrillers and writes wonderful reviews for them. If you scroll down her list of blogs, a lot of them are thriller reviews. https://maeclair.net/ They all have, I think, a ticking clock of when is the next person going to die?
When I want something that’s going to take longer to read and demand more from me, I read a historical mystery. First, I love history. I’ve read Egyptian mysteries, Roman mysteries, Regency mysteries. Each plops me into the time period they take place in. Second, they have such a different feel than contemporary mysteries that I like that, too. I’m not sure if Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper or Nevermore (a take on Edgar Allen Poe, featuring Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle) would fall into historical or thriller, but I don’t care. They were fun reads. Some of my favorite historical series are Anna Lee Huber’s Lady Darby series, P.B. Ryan’s Nell Sweeney series, and C.S. Harris, my automatic buys, but there are many more I dabble with.
Every once in a while, when I want to challenge myself a little more, I read a literary mystery. I put Elizabeth George in that category. Her mysteries are as much character-driven as plot-driven.
There are many, many more types of mysteries, but I’m only adding the ones I’m drawn to the most. And one of my top loves are cozies. Hardly any angst. I read them for fun, sort of literary popcorn. And I think they differ quite a bit from any of the other types. Cozies, to me, are as much about the characters and their lives as they are about the crime. Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala is as much about being Filipino as it is about the mystery. Krista Davis’ Diva series is about life after divorce and lots and lots of family and cooking. Come to think of it, my Jazzi and Ansel series is as much about family and cooking as the crime. I’ve loved Lynn Cahoon’s Tourist Trap series, set in South Cove, California because of her characters and their lives, but when the mystery becomes the subplot and offstage to what’s happening at the bookstore and in town, is it still a mystery?
I really enjoyed Cahoon’s latest, Songs of Wine and Murder, but I kept having to remind myself that I was reading a MYSTERY. The murder happened offstage. I actually almost forgot about it among all the doings of getting ready for a band competition that weekend. Even solving the crime happened offstage, and that surprised me. The characters’ lives overshadowed the mystery. Don’t get me wrong. The book was still entertaining. But was it a mystery? I don’t know. What’s the balance for a cozy? Any opinions?
