Are some stories too complex for you?

After writing my review of Jake Tapper’s new novel (last week’s post), I realized I could summarize it by saying it contains complexity but is lacking in plot. Like some of my own stories, it mixes real-world characters (Evel Kneival and Ronald Reagan, for example) and some based on real-world characters (Rupert Murdoch’s family, for example) with fictional characters. (My latest “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” and “Inspector Steve Morgan’ novels do that as well.) But mine are more than comple...