The mysterious success of mystery stories
When I was 10 years old, I found a book in my mother’s stash of books she used to buy every now and then. She was a member of a book shop where she took advantage of special offers so she got in the habit of buying lots of books that interested her. Mostly knowing that she didn’t really have the time to read them. So, in the basement of our house, all those books started piling up in a cupboard, and I would head down there on occasion and explore what there was on offer. The cover of the book I found didn’t look particularly eye-catching or intriguing. It was a simple painting of a young, blonde girl sitting in an armchair in front of a reception desk, reading a book. The book in question was Hotel Paradise, by Martha Grimes. I still don’t know what possessed a 10-year old to pick up this book and start reading it, and even though I found it a little slow-going back then, I couldn’t stop reading. I was fascinated by it, the story-telling, the secrets emerging, and the faint string of mystery slithering through the story without ever making me jump out of my seat with fright. I remember finishing it and wondering whether that was it - the young protagonist, Emma, had nowhere near solved the many questions surrounding the death of a woman. Even though I found the story and its ending peculiar, I never forgot the book and it was one of the first books I took with me when I emigrated to the UK.
Fast forward some 25 years later, and I am commuting to work every day for 2 hours. Audiobooks have become my constant companion during those long hours stuck in traffic. One of the first books I downloaded was Hotel Paradise. I loved listening to it and quickly downloaded its successors, having only recently discovered that Hotel Paradise was only the start of a mysterious and strange story that kept me hooked and eager to get back in the car because I wanted to know more.
Mystery stories don’t need to have the nail biting effect of fear and jumping out of your skin. The constant wondering of what may be next which silently works its way through the story is enough to keep us going. So what makes mystery stories so popular? The human race isn’t one for being happy with the unknown, but we seem to be infatuated with stories that present one riddle after the next to us.
Mystery stories - What are they?
According to Goodreads (2022) “Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term that is often used as a synonym of detective fiction — in other words a novel or short story in which a detective (either professional or amateur) solves a crime. The term "mystery fiction" may sometimes be limited to the subset of detective stories in which the emphasis is on the puzzle element and its logical solution (cf. whodunit), as a contrast to hardboiled detective stories which focus on action and gritty realism. However, in more general usage "mystery" may be used to describe any form of crime fiction, even if there is no mystery to be solved. For example, the Mystery Writers of America describes itself as "the premier organisation for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre".
Although normally associated with the crime genre, the term "mystery fiction" may in certain situations refer to a completely different genre, where the focus is on supernatural mystery (even if no crime is involved). This usage was common in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, where titles such as Dime Mystery, Thrilling Mystery and Spicy Mystery offered what at the time were described as "weird menace" stories – supernatural horror in the vein of Grand Guignol. This contrasted with parallel titles such as Dime Detective, Thrilling Detective and Spicy Detective, which contained conventional hardboiled crime fiction. The first use of "mystery" in this sense was by Dime Mystery, which started out as an ordinary crime fiction magazine but switched to "weird menace" during the latter part of 1933.”
Agatha Christie and other famous mystery authors
According to Cabag (2022) the 14 best mystery authors and their works range from a variety of backgrounds and decades are as follows:
“1. Robert Galbraith
Bestselling author J.K. Rowling writes her now famous Cormoran Strike mystery novels under this pen name.
Must-read title: The Silkworm
This second book in the Cormoran Strike series follows detective Cormoran Strike as he tries to find out what happened to novelist Owen Quine, who has gone missing. As he investigates, he unearths a manuscript that may leave many people wanting him silenced.
2. Dashiell Hammett
The New York Times dubbed Dashiell Hammett the screenwriter, as a leader in the “hard-boiled school” of mystery novels.
Must-read title: The Maltese Falcon
This story follows Sam Spade, who works for Miss Wonderley on an assignment to find her sister, who has run away to elope. Instead, he finds himself on a search for the gem-laden Maltese Falcon, and becomes not just the hunter but also the hunted.
3. Stieg Larsson
Swedish journalist Stieg Larsson is the author of The Millennium Trilogy, a crime novel series published after his sudden death, beginning in 2005.
Must-read title: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
This bestseller combines elements of murder, love, financial problems, and family ties, with disgraced journalist Mikael Blomvist and tattooed hacker Lisbeth Salander trying to solve the mystery of Harriet Vanger’s disappearance 40 years ago.
4. Mark Haddon
English novelist and illustrator Mark Haddon writes novels, poetry, radio drama, screenplays, and children’s literature. He has also won several awards, including the Whitbread Award, Guardian Prize, a Commonwealth Writers Prize, and the Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award.
Must-read title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Haddon’s bestseller follows an unusual main character, Christopher John Francis Boone, who uses Sherlock Holmes as his model to find the culprit behind the mysterious killing of Wellington, his neighbour’s dog.
5. Patricia Highsmith
A writer known for psychological thrillers, Patricia Highsmith’s first novel, Strangers on a Train, was also made into a film adaptation by Alfred Hitchcock. Many other thrillers that Highsmith wrote also followed that path and became popular films.
Must-read title: The Talented Mr. Ripley
This psychological thriller follows Tom Ripley, who has trouble making a living in New York and turns to swindling to survive. Tycoon Herbert Greenleaf then approaches him with a request to bring home Greenleaf’s son Dickie. Ripley becomes obsessed with living Dickie’s life and ends up murdering Dickie and assuming his identity.
6. Gillian Flynn
All of American writer Gillian Flynn’s three published novels have been adapted for television or film, with Flynn herself writing the adaptations for Sharp Objects, made into an HBO limited series, and the 2014 film for Gone Girl.
Must-read title: Gone Girl
Nick and Amy seem to have everything together, but on their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy suddenly goes missing. Everyone suspects Nick, but as the investigation goes into full blast, you will discover neither Amy nor Nick was who everyone thought they were.
7. John LeCarré
British espionage novelist David John Moore Cornwell, who used to work for the Secret Intelligence Service and the Security Service, goes by the pen name John LeCarré.
Must-read title: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
This story follows Alec Leamas, who intends to end his career in British intelligence, but gets swept back in when his master sends him straight into East German intelligence to lure the enemy to downfall.
8. P.D. James
Phyllis Dorothy James, who was also a Baroness, is a well-known writer of crime and police mysteries starring the fictional Adam Dalgliesh.
Must-read title: The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories
Two of the stories in this book feature Adam Dalgliesh, whose godfather asks him to relook into a notorious murder to ease his mind about an inheritance. The stories are described as ingeniously plotted while being playful, with the author’s humour showing up in the narrative.
9. James M. Cain
Despite his dislike of labels, James M. Cain was always closely associated with the hardboiled detective genre. He wrote several crime novels that were adapted into successful films.
Must-read title: The Postman Always Rings Twice
This psychological thriller comes with a healthy dose of violence and sexuality, which led to it being banned in Boston at the time it was published. But since then, it has made its way to Modern Library’s list of the 100 best novels.
10. Raymond Chandler
Having made his debut in the pulp magazine Black Mask, Raymond Chandler moved on to write more mystery novels, as well as film adaptations.
Must-read title: The Big Sleep
Set in Los Angeles, this crime novel has spawned two film adaptations. The book introduces us to detective Philip Marlowe, hired by General Sternwood to deal with his blackmailer, Arthur Geiger, the local bookseller.
11. Agatha Christie
Legendary writer Agatha Christie gave readers two iconic detectives in the fictional characters of Hercule Poirot of Murder on the Orient Express, and Miss Marple, the amateur detective who first appeared in Murder at the Vicarage.
Must-read title: And Then There Were None
The sheer volume of books that Agatha Christie has written, with Poirot appearing in more than 50 mystery novels and Miss Marple in 12, makes it difficult to pick just one must-read title.
Christie’s And Then There Were None, which uses completely different characters, tells the tale of 10 strangers who are guests on a private island, and one by one they are mysteriously killed.
12. Dorothy Sayers
This classic mystery writer also created an iconic detective in the person of Lord Peter Wimsey. Dorothy Sayers was known as a poet and English crime writer, and also for studying modern and classical languages.
Must-read Title: Whose Body?
This first title in the Lord Wimsey series will help you get to know this unique character, whose first murder case revolves around the strange corpse left in the tub with a pair of gold pince-nez, and which had obviously been shaved after being murdered.
13. Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes is one iconic figure that comes to mind when we think of mysteries, so we can’t complete this list without paying tribute to his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle.
Must-read title: The Hound of the Baskervilles
This novella is a great introduction to the works of Arthur Conan Doyle. It traces the mystery of Charles Baskerville’s death, possibly linked to the legend of a giant demonic hound said to haunt the mires of Dartmoor as part of a curse.
14. Wilkie Collins
Classic author Wilkie Collins was known for writing his stories in weekly serials, with one chapter published each week in the newspaper. He is the early master of mysteries, and known as the pioneer of detective fiction.
Must-read title: The Moonstone
This mystery novel was dubbed as the first modern English detective novel. Collins writes from the point of view of several key people in the story, so readers will find themselves dumbfounded as to what really happened to the Moonstone, the priceless diamond that suddenly disappeared from Rachel’s wardrobe.”
What makes a good mystery story?
It depends what kind of mystery is your cup of tea. Does your mystery need to entail a dose of crime? Do you prefer a story with a detective a la Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot? Or is suspense and violence an ingredient of a successful mystery story, as served up by Stieg Larsson? The genre is broad and as you have seen from Cabag’s list you are sure to find something for you. Personally, I have to add Martha Grimes and her Emma Graham novels (Hotel Paradise, Cold Flat Junction, Belle Ruin) to the list. Whichever type of mystery story or novel is for you, there are some ingredients that are a must:
The plot has to be excellent and your reader has to believe and invest in it. It needs to be fast-paced enough so your reader stays hooked.
If the mystery includes a crime and villain, then they have to be appropriate for the story. The crime shouldn’t be committed too late into the story and the villain needs to have a credible motive that adds to the mystery.
The detective, be it a professional one like Hercule Poirot or an amateur, as in Emma Graham, should be followed by the reader throughout the story. It helps if he, she or they are likeable and the readers start rooting for them.
The more mysterious the setting, the better. A lot of atmosphere can be generated by choosing an ominous place in which the story is played out.
Final thoughts
Mystery stories have been enticing readers for many years and it’s a genre that will continue to hold its popularity. As readers, we love suspense, the unknown and the efforts of a detective or amateur detective to figure out what has happened. There is a wealth and breadth of literature to choose from - something for anyone’s taste and level of tolerance of crime and violence. And as my personal experience has shown: there are mystery stories out there for nearly every single age group.
References:
14 Best Mystery Authors to Read Now - TCK Publishing
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