Stereotypes in Mysteries by E. B. Davis

In paging through mystery series available on Kindle Unlimited, I ran into the Maggody series by the late Joan Hess. Since all sixteen books were available for free, I decided to reread the series. It was influential in forming my love and affinity to mysteries. I remember reading them out of the library. The first book was published in 1987 and the last in 2017, the year Ms. Hess died.

 

Many of the mystery series I tried to read before the Maggody series seemed dry, dark, and dreary. They were about the unpleasant topic of murder, who did it, how they did it, and how they were caught. Yes—seems obvious, but when I read the Maggody series, the books weren’t confined to those narrow investigative topics. They were about the characters and the development of the backstory. I had never read a mystery series that was actually pleasant, enabling me to identify with the characters, which I now know is the basis of cozy mysteries. In addition, the Maggody series was funny, as I remembered.

 

I started reading from book one. I read the first eleven of the sixteen-book series and stepped back. They weren’t quite as funny as I had remembered. They reminded be a bit of the Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross. Both series were set in the South, Arkansas and North Carolina, respectively. The Miss Julia series was published from 1990 to 2021. The last few books of the Miss Julia series, I remembered weren’t quite as fun as the first.

Was it the South? Was it the similar publishing dates—or an era of publishing? I soon realized that perhaps it was both of those similarities, but it was also the use of stereotypes. Ms. Hess and Ms. Ross both used stereotypical characters, like the conniving religious leader out for his own goals, the upright and competing church ladies bent on punitive self-righteousness, mettlesome mothers, disenfranchised single women, dirty and morally corrupt mountain people, and unattractive, overweight people. I don’t mean to be too critical—I did read eleven books before I put the series down, but all the while reading I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

 

Thirty-five years ago, when these books were published, authors often used stereotypes to give readers instant familiarity with the characters. Their use streamlined character development, especially in mysteries, in which the plot and investigation were the priority. Their use was acceptable. But somewhere in the last thirty-five years, stereotypes not only became unfashionable as we were encouraged to develop those odd quirky characters (which oddly enough sometimes also became stereotypical like the gay BFF sidekick), but more so, they became politically incorrect—now more of a faux paux than the trusted familiars they once were. They used to be funny and somehow true. Now, not so much.   

 

How do you feel about stereotyping? Does their use prevent you from enjoying books from yesteryear? Do you double-check your work to prevent the inclusion of stereotypes?