This week I’m visiting the Sleuthsayers blog, with a blogpost about why murder mysteries are so popular in times of chaos and upheaval. Here’s the opener.
Why Do We Read Murder Mysteries?
By Anne R. Allen
I once met an aspiring writer who been forced to move in with Mom after a year of rejections and other catastrophes. He dealt with his humiliating situation by criticizing his mother to anybody who would listen.
One of her greatest sins? She spent every evening reading mystery novels and watching BBC murder mysteries.
“It freaks me out that she’s so bloodthirsty,” he said. “Why does she want to focus on death every night?” He added “They’re so unrealistic. How can there be any people left in Midsomer with all those murders every week?”
I hear this kind of negativity from readers, too. “Why do you want to write about murder and death? That seems like such a downer. Why don’t you write about something more comforting and uplifting?”
But here’s the thing: mysteries are uplifting. The classic mystery doesn’t focus on death, but what caused it. A mysterious murder causes chaos, but the sleuth finds out whodunnit, brings the culprit to justice, and order is restored. That gives us comfort, especially in times of stress.
Time reported that during the pandemic, booksellers had a hard time keeping Agatha Christie’s novels in stock. People were consuming them like tranquilizers.
To read the rest of my post, visit the Sleuthsayers blog.
What about you, scriveners? Do you read murder mysteries? Why do you like them?
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ARCs are available for Anne’s New Mystery!!
Okay, I’ve been a cybermoron this month and didn’t let you know there are free digital ARCs of my new mystery The Hour of the Moth.
The free ebooks are available at BookFunnel. Contact me at annerallen.allen@gmail.com, or leave your info in a comment, and I’ll send a code that will let you download the ebook to your device. Of course this is because my publisher and I would be ecstatic to get a few honest reviews, but a review is not required.
FREE EBOOK!
Contact Anne for a review copy of her new mystery, or leave a comment
NPR fans, there are Easter Eggs in this story just for you!
When Camilla Randall allows a neighboring business to hold a “Moth Hour” storytelling event in the courtyard of her beachy California bookstore, she finds an inconvenient corpse left in the audience after the event. The deceased, a storyteller famous for his appearances on NPR, turns out to have a shady past — and a lot of enemies. Unfortunately, Camilla’s boyfriend Ronzo is one of them.
Ebook and paper book also available at Amazon. Paper book also available at Barnes and Noble
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featured image–Young Lady Reading by Mary Cassatt (1878)
Crime fiction, like horror fiction, brings comfort in punishing the guilty and reinstating the status quo.
Besides, the best murder mysteries are puzzles challenging the reader to solve them alongside the protagonist. Interactive fiction at its best.
Hector–“Interactive fiction.” I never thought of mysteries that way, but you’re right. A good puzzle is interactive.
Anne, whatever happened to the complaining young writer? Did Mom kill him? 😉
Writing mysteries is one way to mete out justice that rarely happens in real life. Giving bad guys their just deserts is a major reason why I write crime fiction.
On a long plane trip yesterday, I read The Hour of the Moth. What a fun ride. Thanks for making the time fly by!
BTW, I wrote a 5-star review for Amazon and Goodreads but they haven’t shown up yet.
Debbie–I think the guy gave up writing, poor dear. A writing career is not for wimps. I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed The Hour of the Moth. And thanks so much for writing a review. You know how important that is to an author!
I don’t read often although I do watch that genre of movie. I don’t think there is anything horrific or creepy about them though. That guy wants real creepy, read or watch torture porn like Saw.