What makes a novel a mystery?

Hi all,

I started this post awhile back and didn't post it. 

I was thinking about our Mystery Book Club meeting where we read novels by Brad Thor in the Scot Harvath series. One person said several times, she didn't consider these books mysteries. I am a person that can usually find a mystery in most books I read and to me, that makes it a mystery. But I decided I wanted to see what "they" say makes a mystery novel. 

I came across this article with a nice list of what makes a mystery published by Master Class. They offer classes in writing. If you want to read the full article it is here:

 https://www.masterclass.com/articles/essential-elements-of-a-mystery-story#10-elements-of-a-mystery-story

Here is their list of what makes a mystery compared to some of Lions of Lucerne.

1. A strong hook: Uh, the president of the U.S.A. gets kidnapped by gunmen - pretty good hook

2. An atmospheric setting: Set in Switzerland, starts of with a big cloak and dagger scene - check

3. A crime: kidnapping the President of the United States - check

4. A sleuth: Scott Harvath - check

5. A vilain: several involved in the plot to kidnap the President, his daughter and people are shooting at Scot Harvath

6. Narrative Momentum: Yep. Scot constantly being shot at, hit over the head etc.

7. A trail of clues: check

8. Red herrings: plenty of those

9. Foreshadowing: that don't do that feeling

10. A satisfying ending: Yes! Leaves enough questions to make you want to read the next.

I started listening to The Last House on the Street today. It was recommended by a friend and presented as "a really good book." Once I started it, I said to myself, "This sure seems like a suspense, thriller, historical mystery." I looked at a couple of websites to see what categories it is in and one site said historical drama only, then historical and finally also saw "mystery".

Just proving to myself what I thought all along - a mystery novel can come in several shapes and sizes.

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

 For our May Mystery Book Club, we read Moonflower Murders (Susan Reyland #2) by Anthony Horowitz. We had read book #1, Magpie Murders a few years ago.

About: "Retired publisher Susan Ryeland is living the good life. She is running a small hotel on a Greek island with her long-term boyfriend Andreas. It should be everything she's always wanted. But is it? She's exhausted with the responsibilities of making everything work on an island where nothing ever does, and truth be told she's beginning to miss London.

And then the Trehernes come to stay. The strange and mysterious story they tell, about an unfortunate murder that took place on the same day and in the same hotel in which their daughter was married—a picturesque inn on the Suffolk coast named Branlow Hall—fascinates Susan and piques her editor’s instincts. 

One of her former writers, the late Alan Conway, author of the fictional Magpie Murders, knew the murder victim—an advertising executive named Frank Parris—and once visited Branlow Hall. Conway based the third book in his detective series, Atticus Pund Takes the Cake, on that very crime. 

The Trehernes' daughter, Cecily, read Conway’s mystery and believed the book proves that the man convicted of Parris’s murder—a Romanian immigrant who was the hotel’s handyman—is innocent. When the Trehernes reveal that Cecily is now missing, Susan knows that she must return to England and find out what really happened."

You may or may not know that this book and Magpie Murders, are really two books in one. Moonflower Murders follows the format of Magpie Murders.

The book starts out with Susan Ryeland living in Greece, running a hotel with her boyfriend. When she is hired and travels back to England to work on the mystery of a murder from years ago and the disappearance of a young wife and mother, Susan needs to read Moonflower Murders (Atticus Pund) by Alan Conway for clues.

I liked it a lot. It is very long, because it is two books in one. But I felt like it read quickly. It seems like almost everyone in the MBC liked the book. I asked which book did they like better: the main story or the book inside the book. Most including me, liked the book inside the book. It is written as traditional English mystery and Atticus Pund reminded me of Poirot. 

The more we talked about the book, the more we found we did get some of the characters confused: was so and so in the main book or the Moonflower Murders? 

In general everyone liked it but was somewhat confused with so many characters to keep track of in two books.

Magpie Murders has been made into a T.V. series and is showing on Brit Box.It is to come to PBS in the U.S. in 2022. One person in the group has seen the series and said is was very well done, that all though it goes back and forth from the main story to the book inside the book, it wasn't confusing.

I do recommend it. It is a good mystery.

Anthony Horowitz is the creator of Foyle's War and wrote some of the Poirot episodes and some Midsomer Murders episodes. He also was designated by the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle to write a new Sherlock book. The House of Silk was published in 2011. I think I need to look for that book now.

Stripped Bare by Shannon Baker

 I was introduced to the Kate Fox series by Shannon Baker through Audible. The first book in the series, Stripped Bare, was/is one of the "free" extras. 

About: 
"Kate Fox is living the dream. She’s married to Grand County Sheriff Ted Conner, the heir to her beloved Nebraska Sandhills cattle ranch, where they live with Kate’s orphaned teenage niece, Carly. With the support of the well-connected Fox Clan, which includes Kate’s eight boisterous and interfering siblings, Ted’s reelection as Grand County Sheriff is virtually assured. That leaves Kate to the solitude and satisfaction of Frog Creek, her own slice of heaven.

One night Kate answers a shattering phone call from Roxy at the Bar J. Carly’s granddad Eldon, owner of the ranch, is dead and Ted has been shot and may never walk again. Kate vows to find the killer. She soon discovers Ted responded so quickly to the scene because he was already at the Bar J . . . in Roxy’s bed. And to add to her woes, Carly has gone missing.

Kate finds out that Eldon was considering selling his ranch to an obscenely rich environmentalist. Some in town hate the idea of an outsider buying up land, others are desperate to sell . . . and some might kill to get their way. As she becomes the victim of several “accidents,” Kate knows she must find the killer before it’s too late ."

I liked this book well enough to want to move on to book two. Good start to a series with a strong female lead. Kate is trying to investigate a murder to get her sheriff husband cleared of suspicion of the murder. Kate finds out that maybe her happy marriage isn't as happy as she thought.

Not unlike other first in a series books, it was a little slow in places and lots of characters. But all the characters needed to be introduced for future books. 

This book reminded me somewhat of the Joe Pickett series but with a female main character fighting lots of despicable people in a similar location. 

I liked Kate's ability to pick herself up and do what needs to be done. And I LOVED the ending. Great hook into the next book.

)Hint: Be sure to use the author's name if you search for this book. There is another book of the same name but with a headless naked torso on the cover. Not this book. lol)

There are six books in the series. 

Shannon Baker also writes the Nora Abbott series (three books), Michaela Sanchez Southwest Crime Thrillers (two books) and has written a standalone - The Desert Behind Me. They all look pretty good to me.

https://shannon-baker.com/