  Mystery
This week: Edited by: MaryLou  
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Mystery stories are so popular because they fulfill one of humans' deepest instincts - the need to explore, to question, to find out. Humans are incessantly searching for answers to life's greatest mysteries. Since those mysteries are so difficult to unravel, we can find comfort in reading and writing mystery novels and short stories. Thus, our need to discover is satisfied...until the hunger strikes again.
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Last month, I was asked about the cozy mystery novel, so I thought I'd dedicate this NL to describing the differences between hard-boiled mystery novels and soft-boiled (or cozy) novels.
Cozy novels do not have graphic violence, and little or no sexual content and abusive language. Society is "viewed as orderly and controlled, and the crime is a failure of the society to function correctly" (Niebuhr 7). In this type of novel, right and wrong are clearly defined, and the murder is considered to be an aberration, not something that is seen on a daily basis.
The detective in these novels is usually an amateur, although there are exceptions such as Agatha Christie's Superintendent Battle of the CID. And the murder victim tends to have some inherent moral flaw that leads to his or her death. This doesn't mean that the murder victim must be a monster. Take, for example, the character of Mrs. Argyle in Christie's Ordeal by Innocence. She was a wonderfully kind woman who turned her home into a safe haven for children during World War II. After the war ended, she adopted five of the children. She loved and cared for her adopted sons and daughters very much and did everthing she could for them.
Everyone spoke highly of her...but she ended up murdered. Her moral flaw - she was too arrogant in believing she knew the best for everyone around her. She was never cruel to anyone, at least outwardly, but she made her entire family dependent upon her...financially and emotionally. They all felt imprisoned by Mrs. Argyle, and so she died.
In cosy mysteries, there are no innocent victims. In one way or another, the murdered person contributed to his or her own death. It might be nothing more than a lack of judgment in trusting the wrong person, but there must be some kind of character flaw.
For that reason, children should not be used as victims...usually. As with any rule, there are exceptions. If you do use a child as a victim, make sure it is not brutal and it'd help if the child could not be thought of as "innocent." An example is Marlene, in the novel Hallow'en Party. Marlene, at the tender age of fourteen, was already an established blackmailer.
At the conclusion of cosy mysteries, the murderer is brought to justice and society returns to its orderly and controlled ways.
In hard-boiled novels, the detective is a professional, working for some law enforcement agency. The action is fast-paced, and includes graphic violence, sexual content, and adult language. This type of world is "a society where everything is suspect, including established institutions and the people who work for them - even the legal forces" (Niebuhr 7).
The detective-protagonist in these novels can be morally ambivalent, and can include characters whose actions are driven by circumstances out of their control. Morality is not black and white in the hard-boiled world, and justice isn't an inevitable expectation in these novels.
The setting of your novel has much to do with what type of mystery your readers will expect. For hard-boiled novels large, metropolitan cities are usual. It would be incongruous to set a cozy in someplace like Miami, for example.
Cozy mysteries tend to be placed in a small, restricted society. Even if set in some large city, such as New York, you should make it obvious that the perpetrator of the crime could only have been committed by a few individuals, say, guests at a posh dinner party.
Refences from: Make Mine a Mystery: A Reader's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction by Gary Warren Niebuhr
See ya next month,
MaryLou
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Here's a few items for your reading pleasure. I hope you enjoy and don't forget to rate and review! 
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Feedback
April Sunday : Your take + hints on setting is quite realistic. Setting makes a story for me, so does weather. Your true account is grand!
Thanks! 
Mini Mystery
Practice your deductive abilities; 1000 GPs for your correct answer.
"The Case of the Dubious Drowning" from Great Book of Whodunit Puzzles
"A drowning at Duncomb residence, 857 Whippoorwill Drive. Victim middle-aged woman. Ambulance and unit en route."
Inspector Matt Walker and Thomas P. Stanwick listened intently to the terse announcement on Walker's police radio. Whippoorwill Drive was only minutes away, so without a word, Walker, who was giving Stanwick a ride home, turned his car toward it.
The ambulance and a police car arrived just before them. Walker and Stanwick followed the commotion to the swimming pool, about 60 feet in back of the formidable Duncomb mansion. The emergency crew had just pulled Marjorie Duncomb from the pool and was trying to revive her. A moment later they hoisted her, still dripping in her swimsuit, onto a stretcher and rushed her to the ambulance.
"No life signs, sir," one medical technician said to Walker as he hurried past. Walker turned to the two police officers and a disheveled, graying man standing by the pool.
"Mr. Duncomb?" he asked, flashing his badge. "Did you call this in?"
"Yes," replied the disheveled man, still staring toward the departing ambulance. "I found Marjorie face-down in the pool. The poor dear must have had a heart attack during her swim and drowned."
"Were you looking for her?"
"Yes. I knew she was late getting back from her swim. It was after three."
"Did she swim every day, then?"
"That's right. Even now, in October. It's getting chilly, though, so we were going to close up the pool for the season next week. Only next week!"
Stanwick glanced around. The pool was well maintained, but the furnishings were few: three lounge chairs and a small table. A pair of sandals lay beside one of the chairs, and a book and a pair of sunglasses lay on the table.
"Did your wife have a weak heart, Mr. Duncomb?" asked Stanwick.
"Just a bit of angina, but she took medication for it. Poor dear!"
"Matt," said Stanwick quietly, drawing Walker aside. "If Mrs. Duncomb cannot be revived, will an autopsy be required?"
"Of course."
"Well, I think you will find little or no water in her lungs. This is wrong. She didn't drown. She died elsewhere and was moved to the pool, which indicates murder. Until the autopsy results are in, I think you had better keep an eye on the husband."
Why does Stanwick suspect that Mrs. Duncomb was murdered?
Answers to the last mini-mystery:
Margaret : Re the mini-mystery: I'm not as sure on this one, but my guess is that the flaw is in Manlich's description of what the thieves were carrying when they fled. If no physical evidence was left behind and their arms were full of the stolen trays - what happened to the tools they used to break in?
Great newsletter!
MichaelMollroney : Those two burglars would have used some kind of bag to store their tools of trade, since there was no possibility to hide it under (in?) their leotards. But Manlich only mentioned the trays and there was nothing found in the library. Right?
Christine L. : Regarding your Mini-Mystery: I'm not sure if this is the correct answer, but I am wondering about all the tools involved---the saw, picks, safe-cracking tools, etc. Manlich states that the men were only carrying trays of stamps. Where were the tools? Even if the robbers left most of them at the door, they would have had to stop and pick them up and Manlich, supposedly being right there with a bat, could have stopped at least one of them... Hmmm... Can't wait to find out!
nimue : The question here is: where are the tools? The burglars were on foot, their arms full of loot and yet no tools were found to crack the safe, pick the lock and saw of the deadlock bolt! I do believe Mr. Manlich has been telling tales.
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| ASIN: B083RZJVJ8 |
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Mystery: October 26, 2005 Issue [#684]
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