The Appeal of the Mystery Novel

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE DA VINCI CODE. SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS BOOKS IN THE WORLD ARE GROUNDED IN THE DESIRE TO SOLVE A PUZZLE.

THIS POPULARITY IS UNSURPRISING: MYSTERY NOVELS HAVE SEVERAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE UNIQUE TO THEIR GENRE.

1:10-1:30 [Prof. Clay Cogswell] They’re really just immediately engrossing. And then also stories like this tend to do a really good job of weaving the plot into aspects of culture and pressing political questions that are. You know, kind of current at the moment of, of their writing.

THAT’S PROFESSOR CLAY COGSWELL. HE’S A VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT NORTHWESTERN WHO TEACHES AN ENGLISH SEMINAR TITLED “MURDER ON THE BESTSELLER LIST.”

0:26-1:05 [CC] The interest for me goes way back. I’ve kind of always been attracted to detective stories from when I was a little kid. Um, and then later reading Poe’s detective stories, I don’t know if you know, but he essentially invents the genre of detective fiction in the 1840s. And there’s just three amazing stories. Um, and then interestingly in the 1940s, Vorhees who does a total overhaul of the detective story writes three stories that are exactly a century later. Anyways, I read those really early on and then got totally hooked by Sherlock Holmes, and so I’ve kind of just always read and loved them–detective fiction and murder stories.

PROFESSOR COGSWELL ENJOYS MYSTERY NOVELS FOR A SOMEWHAT ACADEMIC REASON–THESE NOVELS OFTEN REFLECT THE UNCERTAINTY AND CONCERNS PERVADING SOCIETY AT THE TIME OF THEIR WRITING. FOR CARSON LARRY, THOUGH, THE INTELLECTUAL CHALLENGE OF READING MYSTERY NOVELS MAKES THEM APPEALING.

0:06-0:09 [Carson Larry] I’m Carson Larry, and I’m a freshman.

0:23-0:32 [CL] I like the fact that it’s kind of like a big knot when you start, and then slowly but surely it’s unraveled and you get the whole story at the end.

THERE’S ALSO A COUPLE PSYCHOLOGICAL REASONS WHY PEOPLE ENJOY READING MYSTERIES. ACCORDING TO AN ARTICLE FROM THE BRITISH PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, PEOPLE ARE INHERENTLY CURIOUS BEINGS, MYSTERIES OFTEN OFFER A TOTAL ESCAPE FROM READERS’ EVERYDAY LIVES, AND IT CAN BE SATISFYING TO ATTEMPT TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY ALONGSIDE THE CHARACTERS AND THEN HAVE ONE’S SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED. BUT DO THESE THEORIES PLAY OUT IN REAL LIFE?

2:08-2:42 [CC] There’s definitely an analogy between the work being done by the quirky, eccentric genius detective in the story and the investigative work that’s done by readers who are trying to analyze the story really deeply and understand how it works. Finding the criminal is a little bit like a version of coming up with an argument about how things fit together, how we can make sense of a somewhat jumbled and complicated, maybe messy text, and then maybe also complicated messy cultural context that the story is, um, bringing into play.

THIS CULTURAL CONTEXT IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF MANY MYSTERY NOVELS. THERE’S PLOTS ON THE SILLIER SIDE–HOPE NEVER DIES COMES TO MIND. THAT’S A FANFICTION STYLE BOOK PUBLISHED DURING TRUMP’S PRESIDENCY THAT FOLLOWS OBAMA AND BIDEN ON A QUEST TO SOLVE THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF BIDEN’S FAVORITE TRAIN CONDUCTOR. OTHER BOOKS, THOUGH, ADDRESS POLITICAL AND SOCIETAL ISSUES IN A MORE SERIOUS MANNER.

4:21-4:45 [CC] Pauline Hopkins, this wonderful writer who writes what’s generally considered to be the first black detective story called Talma Gordon in 1900 is talking about questions of U.S. expansion and questions around the ways in which racial difference is policed through marriage laws through this early detective story.

PROFESSOR COGSWELL ELABORATED ON TALMA GORDON’S UNIQUE STATUS AS A BOOK, WHEREAS IF IT WAS WRITTEN TODAY IT WOULD LIKELY BE A SCREENPLAY ULTIMATELY TURNED IN A MOVIE.

4:54-5:08 [CC] This story, which comes from a time before there were any films about these sorts of things, is capturing something of the experience of debating these questions of politics through the lens of a murder mystery.

AS PROFESSOR COGSWELL IMPLIED, TODAY’S MOST POPULAR MYSTERY STORIES ARE NOT CONSUMED AS BOOKS. IN THE 2019-2020 TV SEASON, ALMOST 20% OF SHOWS WERE CATEGORIZED AS CRIME SHOWS AND ACCORDING TO AN ABC SURVEY, 44% OF PODCAST LISTENERS LISTEN TO TRUE CRIME SHOWS.

PROFESSOR COGSWELL AND CARSON ARGUE, THOUGH, THAT NOVELS OFFER A UNIQUE AND MAYBE EVEN BETTER WAY TO DIGEST MYSTERIES.

5:24-5:44 [CC] The complexity of identifying with the protagonist from the inside is maybe one of the main differences. That a novel can portray the interior conflicted experience that leads up to the moment of a horrific crime in ways that is maybe just more challenging for a podcast.

0:45-0:51 [CL] It lets me have more creative freedom and what I think of the characters.

PROFESSOR COGSWELL AND CARSON ARE BOTH DIE-HARD MYSTERY FANS, SO I COULDN’T LET THEM GO WITHOUT ASKING THEIR GO-TO NOVEL.

6:58-7:04 [CC] I’m gonna say Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith. The movie adaptation that Hitchcock does is also excellent.

1:58-2:01 [CL] Sharp Objects by Jillian Flynn.

2:05-2:18 [CL] Basically, a reporter with scars from her past goes back to her hometown and suddenly it is plagued by murders upon her return.

I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I’LL CERTAINLY BE LOOKING FOR THOSE THE NEXT TIME I GO TO THE LIBRARY. FOR WNUR NEWS, I’M PAZ BAUM.

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