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I really enjoy mysteries. Recently, I read some that were overwhelmingly sad though beautifully written. I have been thinking about the suspects in mysteries and how many red herrings there are in the story and how many characters would qualify as the “usual suspects” and then are proven to be innocent.
Am I guilty of stereotyping characters? I guess so. I can’t name the books because it would be a major spoiler, but here are some thoughts about suspects.
Book number one had an unreliable narrator. I grew to like him though I could see he had had difficulties in his past. As the story continued both he and I began to realize that there were things he did not remember that might be pretty terrible.
He began to panic and so did I. Oh, no! Please not let it be this. It will destroy him.
The suspense was awful.
Book number two had a really, really mean girl and as the other characters did, I wanted to blame her. It was too easy so I knew better, but I was surprised how much I wanted her to be the criminal because she tormented other girls. Sad. The story was very poignant and the real criminal broke my heart. The book was very well written and I am not sorry I read it, but it was truly heartbreaking.
How often do mysteries point us to characters that are not very nice and seem to be the usual type of suspect? How many times is the real criminal a seemingly nice person who just lost it? How many times is there a dark purpose underlying the crime that is carefully exposed until we see the only person left who fits the puzzle?
How many times do we worry about a suspect and hope they are not the criminal?
Many times in a story, a suspect will be brought to the jail or even to trial while a detective or helper is valiantly trying to find the real criminal. The suspense is awful.
What if an innocent person is railroaded into prison or hanged?
Of course, this happens in true life, too. See this recent diary:
Supreme Court Gives The Exonerated The Shaft
by Bill Berkowitz
http://www.dailykos.com/...
What seems to cause someone to be accused?
1. They are in the area of the crime at the time it happened.
2. They seem to have a motive.
3. Someone accuses them.
4. They seem to act furtive or suspicious.
5. The police want an easy fix to the problem.
6. They are related to the victim.
7. They were seen to quarrel with the victim.
8. They are a stranger or outsider who no one likes.
9. They have no alibi.
10. They are too smarmy or slick so the reader wonders why they are so cheerful.
11. The clues seem to point their way and to no one else and they know too much. (Sometimes this is bad when the author suddenly pulls a different killer out of the hat with no explanation).
12. They had a suspicious background so they get rounded up as a matter of course.
13. They are lonely people who act strange, go out for walks late at night, or do other “suspicious” things.
14. They make a run for it.
15. They give different explanations each time they are questioned.
16. They admit they did it, but “forget” some of the details.
By reading mysteries, I am learning not to stereotype people so that is a good thing.
What kind of suspect do you enjoy discovering is the real one who did it?
Diaries of the Week:
Write On! is now old enough to start 1st grade.
by SensibleShoes
http://www.dailykos.com/...
If you missed this on Christmas Day, please go read!
Write On! 25 Dec 2014: Characters - The Standard & Cardboard Ones
by mettle fatigue
http://www.dailykos.com/...
'The Warmth of Other Suns,' a review
by Susan Grigsby
http://www.dailykos.com/...
The biggest public education win of 2014
by akadjian
http://www.dailykos.com/...
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