Chart Continuity

Dogged by health problems again, in continuous pain, I was at stupid o’clock this morning, pottering with bits and pieces and I learned that Murder at the Murder Mystery Weekend has now been in the UK Kindle Crime, Thriller & Mystery/Mystery/British Detectives top 100 for 21 continuous weeks.

It’s not on its own.

The Filey Connection and A Murder for Christmas entered the same chart within a week or two of Murder Mystery Weekend, and both have been there ever since. By the end of January. The I-Spy Murders and A Halloween Homicide had joined them, meaning that all five STAC Mysteries available at that time were in the British Detectives top 100.

My Deadly Valentine eclipsed them slightly when it was released in February by entering the same chart on the day of its release, but it never really caught the imagination like other titles and it peak position was number 22.

The Chocolate Egg Murders was a different proposition altogether. This title also entered the top 100 on the day it was released, but it really took off, and within a week of the launch it sat at number 7, ultimately climbing to a peak at number 5, a position it held for almost a week. It’s beginning to fall off now, languishing in the 25-35 area, but it’s been creditable performance.

I’m sure that serious number crunchers could build a range of theoretical models to account for these performances, and I’m equally certain that my own ideas will fit in somewhere. If I knew why it was happening, I’d bottle it and make a fortune selling it to other writers.

But to be truly honest, I’m not asking why. I’m simply grateful that my characters, situations and their inbuilt puzzles have caught on.