  Mystery
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“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle / Sherlock Holmes
"A reality is just what we tell each other it is."
Linda Styles, In the Mouth of Madness |
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Mysterious Details
Our mystery stories do not have to rely on a stiff body surrounded by a pool of blood, nor the size nine footprints that lead to the dumpster where an incapacitated survellience camera and a discarded firearm are found.
Personally, I find small details and off-kilter everyday experiences more mysterious and horrifying than graphic murder and mayhem. Not that CSI and NCIS are not beautiful shows to watch, what with their predictable opening scenes of destruction and the remaining hour a hunt for the inevitable well-wrapped case. The actors are convincing but my interest is held mainly because I do not have any real world experience in examining dead bodies. I, myself, have never snapped on plastic gloves and inspected a crime scene. I can only imagine being there with the other characters, trying to uncover a clue from my couch that Grissom or Gibbs may have either overlooked or have not been able to substantiate. These episodes are focused on mysterious crimes, but end up making me feel more intelligent than surprised or confounded - probably because I am looking at the scenes from a detached perspective.
What am I getting at? Basically, I would like to see more mystery in my mysteries. Real-life crime labs are very different from those showcased on TV. Although scientific fact is revered, I bet detectives and forensics experts have imaginations like the rest of us. They think up theories and cannot solve every case. Adding more human detail - more musings, vague paranoia, slight tinges of horror, even over everyday events might propel me deeper into the stories. Let me use some real life examples.
Have you ever been home alone and an object, let us say a glass that you left on the counter in the kitchen, had miraculously found its way into the sink? You might have experienced a stomach that believes it is on the first long way down of a roller coaster ride.
Or perhaps you have gone outside to find your vehicle is not where you left it. You remember coming home tired the night before - perhaps you parked it in a different place, maybe around the corner. But your legs feel rubbery and your brain heavy when you realize that your van has either spontaneously combusted or, more likely, your vehicle has been stolen outside your building while you slept silently inside.
These occurences are mysterious and, furthermore, shocking, because they are more likely to happen than you befriending a secret agent who asks you to hide a locked package for him and suddenly an ominous group of people weilding lead pipes attempt to persuade you to hand it over.
Not that that couldn't happen. It is just unlikely for most of us.
I think the reason that reality TV shows are so popular is that a large number of the population believes that they, too, could be the contestants. We imagine ourselves in the same positions and we understand the emotions of the contestants in various stages of success.
And it is important to bring these similar experiences to a story that is unlikely, in order to temper it and make it believable.
My favorite stories are those that are not quite what they seem. One of the first mystery books I read as a kid was, The Ghost of Hidden Springs. The main character, Meg, like many children, had heard that a particular run-down house is haunted. Her uncle implies that the house could be haunted...but also suggests, as many adults would, that ghosts may not exist. With a conflicted mind, Meg encounters the house and all its strange happenings. The reader keeps an open mind as well. However, the book ends with a disinherited family as the culprits - they rigged the house to scare the new inhabitants away. But it is up to the reader in the end as to whether or not all the strange occurrences were caused by humans or if some otherworldly hand was involved.
How is this book believable? First, it begins with a scene that enourages an open mind - and a child's imagination can go just about anywhere. Secondly, the ending captures people who embody greed and fear - very understandable traits. It is unlikely that anyone would go to the trouble of rigging a house to appear haunted simply to scare people away and I doubt many of us live next door to a purported haunted house whose owners are expected to receive a large inheritance. However, the book overall is believeable, based on the readers' experiences with imagination and real-life human traits.
Back to the real life occurrences, for those who are wondering. The glass that somehow jumped from the counter to the sink was not blown there by the wind, nor was it knocked over. My abode is not haunted (that I know of). It turns out I was incorrect in surmising that I was home alone. My roommate, a neat-freak, came home and felt compelled to place the glass in the sink as soon as he walked into the kitchen and before he left for the gym. What if I had never found out that he had briefly stopped home while I was in the shower?
Also, the van was stolen, but recovered by a friendly deputy. Someone I had never met before trailed me home and hotwired the van in the dead of night. Creepy, yes? And true.
So when you are writing a mystery, or reviewing one, please consider whether or not the story really is, well, mysterious. Perhaps adding some realistic details will make the story more intriguing and believable. |
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Mystery: April 09, 2008 Issue [#2330]
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