Mystery Novel Fans

Mystery novel fans all agree with one thing—there’s just something so gripping and addictive about solving an intricately woven mystery case. Whether it’s following the adventures of the protagonist, figuring out who the antagonist is, or putting all the clues together, the mystery genre encourages active mental participation of the readers. With every clue that leads to another clue (or a dead end), the reader is swept into an adventure that is thought-provoking in every way.

Mystery Novels Mental Participation

Reading other forms of fiction novels is like watching a series of life events unfold before your eyes. However, reading mystery novels is more interactive—the readers get to think with the protagonist and not just passively watch the events from a distance. Every clue, every lead, every suspect is studied by both the protagonist and the eager reader, and just as the sleuth wracks his brain to make sense of all the bits and pieces, so do the readers. In this way, the reader is engaged and challenged every step of the way.

It’s a psychological fact that human beings like the pattern of guessing, realizing that their guess is incorrect, and then guessing again. Mystery novels appeal to one human tendency: an intense need to solve something. Getting to the bottom of something requires a creative combination of intellect, observation, persistence, a person’s need to be right, and his need for closure — the mystery genre taps at the classic human being’s need to have everything figured out, no matter what it takes.

Protagonist Versus the Reader in Mystery Novels

Most mystery fans want to figure out the solution before the protagonist in the novel does. They think long and hard at the several clues that the protagonist has already gathered, and the reader desperately tries to make sense out of these independent pieces to solve the puzzle successfully before the protagonist arrives at the solution. Compelling mystery novels can keep readers lost and always incorrect with guesses throughout the story, and this drives the readers crazy. In the end, if the author delivers the solution with class and wit, the reader will feel he has succeeded in being a vital part of an adventure, whether or not his guess is the same as the solution.

Mystery Novels have a Distinct Quality

Let’s face it—it’s not every day that you get to be intimately connected with a murder, a ghost hunting, or a sudden disappearance. Unlike other novels, which write about love, loss, happiness, and other universal human experiences, mystery novels have a distinct quality—sleuthing invites the reader to take part in an unnatural adventure that only elusive detectives and secret agents get to experience in real life.

Mystery novels are interactive, and that is what makes readers come back for more. Being part of adventures which they will probably never experience in their lives is what makes readers more and more addicted to mystery novels and not putting one down until they guess how all the pieces fit together in the end.