Cookie-Cutter Mysteries

Cookie-Cutter Mysteries

 

Joyce Porter once quipped that the secret to successful mystery writing was writing the same book over and over again in ways that people wouldn’t notice.  There’s some truth to this.  There’s a basic pattern to most mysteries, though certainly not all.  Someone gets murdered, the detective investigates, and eventually solves the crime.  It a formula that works, but it’s surprisingly hard to get right, and really easy to get wrong.  

 

The best authors are sufficiently creative to shake up the pattern.  Agatha Christie managed to create a wide variety of solutions and situations that made her books distinct.  Other authors seem to be completely lacking in creativity.  Some of the lesser writers I’ve read seem to follow exactly the same template in every book, with exactly the same number of chapters, with the murder happening at the end of the first chapter, and the same number of suspects (none of which are in any way distinctive), and a solution at the end that’s revealed rather than deduced.

 

Part of the problem is unimaginative authors, but unfortunately, the issue is exacerbated by undiscerning readers and publishers who seem to be averse to risks.  Mysteries are already given precious little respect, and bland, disposable entertainment seems to be a common business plan.  It’s the equivalent of chain restaurants that provide a consistent, if mediocre product.  It’ll fill you up if you’re hungry, but it’s not all that nourishing, and if you have a palate for high-quality products, you won’t be satisfied.  Cookie-cutter mysteries are all over the place, on the bookstore shelves, and on television shows.  Follow the recipe and you’ll get a perfectly edible result.

 

But it’s nothing special.

 

 

–Chris Chan

 

 

Chris Chan’s first novel, Sherlock’s Secretary, will be released on November 5^th.  His book Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter was published by Level Best Books on September 7^th.  His first non-fiction book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” is available for sale at Amazon.com and the MX Publishing website, as well as at Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping there).  It is also available in a Kindleedition.