Why Are So Many Bestsellers Mysteries?
Emma peeks behind closed doors for some answers.
If you’ve ever browsed the offerings on Acorn TV and BritBox, you’ve surely noticed how mystery-heavy the catalogs are. From time to time, a media critic will bemoan this, asking what is the fascination with murder all about? Why do people continue to watch, year after year? Why are so many bestsellers mysteries? Here’s my take.
For most readers and viewers, it’s not about the murder. I think it’s a rare person who tunes into Foyle’s War or reads my latest Lord & Lady Hetheridge book and eagerly looks forward to learning how the corpse lost its life. I’ve never heard anyone recommend a mystery by saying something like, “You won’t believe how the lady dies!” or “The murder weapon was a loaf of pumpernickel bread.” (The latter actually happened, or so it’s claimed, and I wrote about it in my book, A Death at Neptune Cove [Jem Jago Mysteries #3] Read more here.)
“AMAZING story! I just loved the humorous banter. Five stars!”
I think for some mystery fans, it’s all about the puzzle. They enjoy matching wits with the killer, anticipating the detective’s next move, and mentally selecting a prime suspect. For those readers, the cardinal sin is an investigator who knows less than they do. That’s why it’s essential to offer characters who are at least as smart as the average reader, and that’s probably the key to Sherlock Holmes’s enduring appeal. No one ever threw down a Holmes book with the words, “That idiot is wasting my time!”
However, I submit that the primary reason British TV catalogs (and American ones) are filled with mysteries, and why mystery novels remain bestsellers year after year, is that curiosity about other people (non-sexual voyeurism, if you will) is a cornerstone human trait.
Who isn’t seduced by the allure of learning what goes on behind closed doors? When Lord Hetheridge enters the crime scene, it’s often a private residence with eccentricities. The furnishings, the paintings on the walls, the photographs on the mantel—all these irresistible details are presented for the reader/viewer to take in. A mystery is our ticket into someone else’s private world.
Of course, the big secret in every mystery is whodunnit. But it’s the little secrets discovered along the way that make the story sing. Was the grandmother quietly preparing to leave her husband of 40 years? Why? Is the schoolteacher next door a serial shoplifter? If so, does petty theft make him more likely to be the killer? And what about the dead man’s outwardly perfect career? Will questioning reveal that all his colleagues loathed him, especially the women? If so—why?
Mystery programs and novels invite us to delve deeper than the curated surface our fellow humans present. What could be more addictive than that?
“Wow. I love A Death at Neptune Cove… So fabulous that I stayed up
half the night finishing it! Joy!”
You can find a handy listing of all of Emma’s books here.
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