This post comes courtesy of Lori's Reading Corner and Great Escapes Virtual book Tours. :-)
NOTHING
TO SNEEZE ABOUT
Remember the last time you sneezed? There
was that little itch that sent your nose into high alert. This could be the big
one, you think, a real head-bobber, or it could be a tiny little nothing sneeze.
Or it could be a false alarm. You just never know what to expect. There's the
build-up, then the sneeze and, finally, the feeling of relief. And then it's
over, or at least you hope so. I always sneeze three times in a row, but that's
just my thing, a little author trivia.
So, how is a sneeze like reading a
mystery? Well, I'm glad you asked. Like
a sneeze, the plot of a mystery starts out slowly, the tension gradually builds
while the reader wonders, is something about to happen? Is this a clue? Is this
a major plot development? Or is it a fake-out? For every build-up of tension in a mystery,
there must be a release afterwards, a resolution to the problem and then a
period of low-tension. In most books, this pattern will happen many times
before the final resolution (the big sneeze!) which signals the end of the
story.
Without conflict, there is no story,
of course, so the writer wants to keep putting the characters in dangerous or
stressful situations. A good writer keeps the reader on edge by dangling the
prize in front of the protagonist and then snatching it away at the last
minute, or by throwing roadblocks in the way. The author has to be subtle about
it, so the obstacles vary constantly. Maybe the protagonist loses faith in
herself, or is physically detained. Maybe someone she cares about has a crisis
and she has to stop what she's doing to offer help. Or maybe she's sent on a
wild goose chase or follows the wrong lead. She may wind up in physical danger,
or some other kind of trouble.
Here's an example of a best-selling mystery plot. The novel begins with the murder of a beautiful
prosecutor in her apartment. The protagonist, also a prosecutor, was her co-worker,
and is assigned the case. Nobody knows that the victim was the protagonist's
former lover (raising the stakes). The protagonist's boss is up for re-election
and the murder of one of his people is embarrassing. If he loses the election,
the protagonist loses his job (raising the stakes some more). The election is lost
and suddenly the protagonist finds himself accused of the murder. There's lots
of evidence to implicate him: calls made from his home to hers the night of the
murder, a glass with his fingerprints on it, carpet fibers, etc. The courtroom
drama raises the tension even further; taking many turns along the way. But the
expert testimony proves unreliable. The protagonist learns the judge had a
relationship with the victim and also that the judge, the victim and his former
boss all took bribes from suspects. A crucial piece of evidence for the
prosecution disappears and the judge dismisses the case for lack of evidence.
But the reader still doesn't know
who killed the prosecutor! Was it the protagonist? He's the narrator, but is he
reliable? Yes, he is, and he figures out who murdered his former lover…dun dun
dun! It was his angry, betrayed wife who tried to frame him. Recognize the
plot? It's Presumed Innocent by Scott
Turow.
The challenge for the mystery writer
is how to build the tension to a crescendo and timing is everything. Think
about that horror movie trick where the girl (and the audience) is terrified because
we know something bad is about to happen. We're on the edge of our seats, our
hearts are racing, and, suddenly, something scary jumps out at the girl--and
it's just a cat. Everyone lets down their guard, shakes off the nervous tension
and--WHAM--the bad guy/monster/psycho/alien then attacks the girl. That twist
worked great the first time we saw it, but now we've come to expect it.
In my Jamie Quinn mystery series, Jamie
is a reluctant family lawyer who keeps finding herself involved in murder
cases. In Death by Didgeridoo, her
disabled cousin is accused of murdering his music teacher; in The Case of the Killer Divorce, Jamie's
client is accused of murdering her husband, and in Peril in the Park, Jamie and her boyfriend are in danger from an
evil jester who has already murdered one person. The tension rises and falls in
each book while Jamie tries to figure out what's really going on, while, at the
same time, there are mysteries to solve in her personal life. Because these
books are part of a series, the tension isn't completely resolved at the end of
each book. Certain story lines continue through to the next book and, in fact,
each book ends with the first chapter of the next book as a teaser.
Now, I think you understand how a
good mystery can be just like a sneeze. And who doesn't like a good sneeze? It can
be energizing and unexpected. But, at all costs, you want to avoid books which don't
have tension; the kind that go on and on, the ones you wish would hurry up and end
already. They are like having the hiccups and nobody wants those!
