NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

A group blog featuring an international array of killer mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense writers. With premises and story lines different from your run-of-the-mill whodunits, we tend to write outside the box. We blog several times a week on all topics relating to romantic suspense and mystery, our writing, and our readers. We welcome all comments and often have guest bloggers. All our authors can be contacted separately, too, using their own social media links.

We find our genre delightfully, dangerously, and deliciously exciting - join us here, if you do too!

NOTE: the blog is currently dormant but please enjoy the posts we're keeping online.


Julie Moffet . Cathy Perkins . Jean Harrington . Daryl Anderson . Nico Rosso . Maureen A Miller . Sandy Parks . Lisa Q Mathews . Sharon Calvin . Lynne Connolly . Janis Patterson . Vanessa Keir . Tonya Kappes . Julie Rowe . Joni M Fisher . Leslie Langtry

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

A Mystery, Sans Murder


When I was in elementary school, the PTA put on a play for the kids. It was a mystery play! My mom tried out and got to be a suspect! However, both my mom and I regretted that the mystery only involved a stolen necklace. The PTA thought a murder mystery wouldn’t be appropriate for elementary school kids. I was already reading mysteries involving murders, even some that were geared toward a younger audience, so this seemed dumb to me (as must adult things seem to a 10-year-old). How can you have a mystery without a dead body!   

While my fictional interest in spooky and deadly stories remains rather strong, I have come to realize that there are many different kinds of mysteries. I’m certainly not the first to say that a large part of the success of Harry Potter had to do with the fact that the books were set up as mysteries. Readers wanted to collect clues, along with Harry, to figure out what the heck was going on.

I recently took a softer approach to a mystery in my book RED BLOODED. There is no murder or blood and guts, but Peyton must circumvent the media and her mom’s presidential campaign staff to investigate the truth about her family. As she uncovers clues, she realizes how much more there is to know. So, while there aren’t screams and chalk outlines, the reader still needs to help Peyton solve the mystery around her family.

What mysteries have you enjoyed that don’t have involve a murder?

5 comments:

Rita said...

I can't name a mystery without a murder. I don't read cozys but I'm thinking there are several in that genres that don't go all chain saw massacre. We live in a wonderful 'book' time when we can all find the kind of stories we want to read.
Nice post.

Caitlin Sinead said...

Thanks Rita :)

Anne Marie Becker said...

I'm with you - no murder? How can that be a mystery worth solving? LOL I grew up on Nancy Drew, though, so I'm sure I read some along the way. ;)

jean harrington said...

How about DeMaurier's (sp?)Rebecca? Would that count as a bona fide mystery? And of course, my old favorite, Jane Eyre. I mean, who IS that person in the attic?

An intriguing final question, Caitlin.

CathyP said...

I'm coming at this from a different direction. Writing two series, I'm trying to avoid the "Cabot Cove" syndrome of dead bodies all over a small town. While the first in each has a murder, I'm also wondering it those "softer" mysteries you mentioned could involve a puzzle other than "who dun it."
Let us know how your new release precedes!

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