The Typology of Detective Fiction
The Typology of Detective Fiction makes a very interesting point about the difference between mystery genres. I always thought of "mysteries" as one genre and I was shocked that I didn't realize how diverse mystery novels are until now.
my question is what makes a mystery novel? because I always felt that mystery novels were stories where something happens (usually a murder) and the rest of the book is about figuring out the clues that lead to the identity of the murderer. This is basically the whodunit style, but I'm not sure if thrillers are the same. The point of thrillers seems to be to keep the reader on edge. This is very different from the whodunit style which is meant to make the reader think about the clues and try to figure it out for themselves. I'm sure that some thrillers can be mystery novels, but surely not all are. I agree with the authors point at the beginning of The Typology of Detective Fiction that detective fiction shouldn't need to be improved upon or changed because it starts to get rid of the point of a good mystery story.
my question is what makes a mystery novel? because I always felt that mystery novels were stories where something happens (usually a murder) and the rest of the book is about figuring out the clues that lead to the identity of the murderer. This is basically the whodunit style, but I'm not sure if thrillers are the same. The point of thrillers seems to be to keep the reader on edge. This is very different from the whodunit style which is meant to make the reader think about the clues and try to figure it out for themselves. I'm sure that some thrillers can be mystery novels, but surely not all are. I agree with the authors point at the beginning of The Typology of Detective Fiction that detective fiction shouldn't need to be improved upon or changed because it starts to get rid of the point of a good mystery story.
Even though all whodunnit's end the same way ( for the most part) with having the case solved I still found them suspenseful. I waited to see what clue would come forward nect or who would try to throw the main character off course. I wanted to see if my predictionswere right and this would keep me turning page after page. Maybe genres might have different qualifications, but if I interpret a genre a different way, does that mean genres can be classified per person and not by work?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your points. I actually discussed similar points in my blog posts. I never realized how diverse a genre mystery novels were. I also don't see all thrillers as mystery novels. I think there us a distinct separation between the two.
ReplyDelete