Good Mystery Books
With the plethora of choices people have on which books to read, it is necessary to weed out the mediocre works and spend time only on the well-written ones. If a mystery is your genre of choice, what are some characteristics you should look for in good mystery books that are worthy of your time and attention?
Here is a quick run-down on what makes for a true roller-coaster ride experience in reading good mystery books:
Good Mystery Books-Strong Character
“Strong” here doesn’t mean aggressiveness or loud—you want a protagonist who has an established character profile which readers can root for and believe. After all, this character is the one who
will sift through all the suspicious leads and tread all trails leading to the solution of the mystery. Nobody wants a wimpy, bland, empty character who does just the routine of passively asking questions. The protagonist must be feisty, perpetually curious, and fun to be with for readers to want to stick with him/her until the end.
Clues in Good Mystery Books
Everyone does love surprise endings, but good mystery books can be written in such a way that the author cunningly leaves deceptive clues here and there that will make the readers reread the entire novel and say, “I can’t believe I missed that one!” These clues could be a casual statement by a suspect, a detail in an apartment; science facts dropped here and there-anything that will all piece together to form a logical ending. Good mystery books encourage readers to use their brains, and if readers can actively participate in the mystery novel like this, it makes for a truly fantastic reading experience.
Good Mystery Books are Researched
Do not think for one moment that readers can be deceived into believing false facts just because these “facts” are too technical for an average person. There’s a large audience of mystery books out there—if anyone of them spots an error in a clue, the whole story will collapse. After all, these clues are the foundations that the protagonist uses to solve the case—if the story were led to a resolution by wrong or faulty information, the mystery book would lose its credibility and compelling impact.
Good mystery books can confuse the reader by making all suspects suspicious utterly. The author should be able to dig past stereotypes (such as the quiet one is the killer, the noisy one is innocent, etc.). If the writer can seamlessly develop character profiles of suspects that make all of them look innocent AND suspicious, you’ve got a winner mystery right there.
These days, people don’t want to waste their precious free time with mystery novels that fall flat regarding plot and character build-up. Good mystery books are brilliant, spotless, and mind-engaging. They can actively take readers through confusing but exciting trails of clues that will lead to a seemingly unexpected ending—until the readers read the book again and pinpoint all the story pieces that, put together, make absolute sense.
