The Top 5 Reasons I Write Murder Mysteries:
Entertainment for readers
A great many readers enjoy murder mysteries, largely for the escape value. They want to be transported into a different place, where they can watch as someone solves the crime—and they can even attempt to solve it themselves as they read. When the world is stressful, it’s nice to have written something that will provide people with a few hours of diversion.
Brain health
Studies show that solving mysteries is good for the aging brain, stimulating critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Common sense tells me it must be equally healthy to write such mysteries. When I’m masterminding fictional crimes, suspect lists, clues, and red herrings, I can almost feel my synapses firing.
Offering a sense of justice and control
I don’t know about you, but the trajectory of society over the past years has left me with a decreasing sense of power. Sure, there are things I can do to influence the direction of my community, and I do what I can. But when I write, that’s a whole different story (pun intended). In my books, I can establish complete justice. I can build a world where right wins, and I can make sure the evil doers are caught and prosecuted. Can you think of anything more empowering?
Killing people—fictionally, of course
I try very hard to keep anger and hatred out of my heart, but when I come across someone who makes that especially difficult, I can write them in a book and, well…you know. There they go. It’s perhaps the most cathartic and therapeutic part of writing murder mysteries. It is so much easier to achieve inner peace after I’ve indulged in fabricated retribution. Not to mention that it is imminently safer and morally more acceptable.
Creating heroes
The flip side of fictionally eliminating the baddies is constructing good, honorable human beings who bring those criminals to justice. I write amateur sleuth mysteries, which means the individuals who ultimately solve my fictional crimes are normal, everyday people. But my, how they rise to the occasion—overcoming obstacles despite their self-doubt, fear, and other limitations. What a joy it is to manufacture characters who continually strive to do the right thing. When I write about them, I believe it helps me to be a better person myself.
What are the reasons you write (or read) murder mysteries?
The Callie Cassidy Mystery series is available on Amazon Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and paperback.
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Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in Rock Creek Village, Colorado, and the soon-to-be-released Seahorse Bay Mysteries, set in a Texas cruise port town. To find out more and to sign up for her newsletter, go to www.lorirobertsherbst.com
The fictional killing of certain people is definitely therapeutic. Years ago, a former friend either turned into a jerk or was one all along and it took a while for my husband and I to realize it. Anyway, I was carrying around way too much anger and resentment to be healthy. So I wrote him into a book and killed him in a method suitable for my grievances. The next time I saw him in public (where he always came across as all smiles and charm), I was able to smile back and give him a polite greeting... all the while thinking "I killed you. You are dead." Yes, very therapeutic!
ReplyDeleteAnd did you visualize him with the knife in his chest (or displayed to show how ever you did him in)?
DeleteOh, I know that feeling, Annette! The question is: did he recognize himself in the book? (Or does he even read?)
DeleteA terrific list, Lori. One more item to add for me is learning new things. Sometimes it's from research and sometimes it's learning new things about myself.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely true, which for me can be a mixed blessing...lol.
DeleteConsidering what my day job was, this provides me as a reader with an easy mental release and as a writer with a legal means of having fun.
ReplyDeleteLove that: legal means of having fun...
DeleteI read mysteries to discover who did it and why. I particularly enjoy art crimes: fraud, theft, and history of ownership.
ReplyDeleteIt's so fun to immerse ourselves in a world of intrigue!
DeleteI write because "people" show up in my muddled brain and insist that they have a story that must be told.
ReplyDeleteI love that, Kathleen!
ReplyDeleteWonderful insights, Lori. There is one additional reason I read and write mysteries. I enjoy puzzles, creating them, and solving them. And if you’re a pantser like me, you know that the hardest thing about writing is getting toward the end and needing to figure it all out!
ReplyDelete