Things I Learned About Mysteries
I've been reaching out of my usual reading genres (a lot of science fiction and fantasy), and dipping into others. One of those genres is mystery. Here are some things I've learned about mystery novels.
1. Classic Mysteries are Fun
Classic mysteries have a real simple setup. You need an event that happens in a location with a small cast of characters as suspects. The details on all of these are up in the air, and that's kind of what makes it work. You can make the characters as wacky or serious as you want. The location can be practically anywhere, but the bulk of the story needs to be enclosed in some way (like a building, small town, or boat).
This limited freedom gives you all sorts of results. I read one where the vicitm solved their own murder, and the protagonist had to think like the victim to solve it. It was pretty good.
Generally, the violence and gore are pretty low by modern standards. There's often a dead body, but it's usually death by mundane item that leaves little more than the body and some blood. The fun part is sussing out everyone's motives and personalities to decide if they're lying or not.
2. Detective Mysteries are Depressing
I'm not sure if it's just the two detective mysteries I've read or all of them, but they are a real bummer. They almost feel like they're a character study about how people are as ugly as the murder itself.
In both books I've read, the main character is a depressed alcoholic that's down on the their luck. By the end of the book they're the same person, but with a check that they can cash for more booze. They both had shit ways of looking at situations and people. Both came from bad upbringings that made them not trust people. They assumed themselves to fail, but tried their darndest not to fail. In both cases, almost everyone they interacted with also sucked. Just a lot of terrible people. The exceptions where one person that had some kind of honor code that helped in one or two ways, and another person that served as a maybe love interest that didn't (and won't) go anywhere (because we can't have a happy protagonist, can we?).
They just feel like no fun to me. Granted, I'm a good news person. I need a happy ending because real life sucks hard enough that I need to pretend there are places where everything ends up alright.
3. Cozy Mysteries are Boring
I can't tell if a cozy mystery was originally a luke warm romance novel that wanted more excitement, or a mystery novel that wanted more romance. Either way, if it's not handled well, it won't be enough of either and make the whole story fall flat (which happened with one of the books I read).
There are three crucial tropes that seem to define a cozy mystery. First, the inclusion of a B plot of the personal life of the protagonist. This is usually a slow burn romance that stretches across several books. Second, everything exciting (sex, violence, etc.) happens offstage. No bodices will be torn and no bodies will be murdered in front of the reader. Third, the protagonist's whole personality is defined by a job or hobby that they have. It could be anything. I read one where the main character was the town's first and only cheese monger. I can't be sure, but I think the author spent more time intimately describing cheese than they did on the mystery. It was the same for one I read about an interior designer.
These books often have terrible pun names themed around the protagonist's obsession. Those are great, and my favorite part.
Cozy mysteries aren't bad, per se, but they aren't for me. I feel they're targeted at suburban women that think romances are too pornograhic, mysteries are too violent, and wheat bread is too spicy.