09-12-2008, 08:20 AM
I always had the opposite problem, I could always solve it, usually by looking at the person who was least likely. Why? Hidden motives.
The trouble with mysteries like that, though, is you feel cheated by the red herrings.
It is a bit like Cold Case on TV--they start to follow the trail and it is always the last person they interview who has done it, with everyone who looks like the mosl likely suspect pointing to the next person as having a hidden motive no one else but that person had a clue about.
I sort of gave up on reading mysteries because I either knew who had done it within the first 10 pages, or, I kept reading, and the person who did it was so unfeasible, the whole book was just a pointless waste of time.
I also dislike most romantic suspense because they are neither fish nor fowl--not much mystery, and little credible romance.
As for dismissing Du Maurier, a lot of people dismiss 'romance' and yet it is over 50% of all novels sold in this country, and over 17% of men read it because they are looking for interesting characters.
She was great at creating atmosphere, which I think is one of the most important things in any novel, not just Gothic Romance-to make the reader feel like they are really THERE in the world of the book.
The trouble with mysteries like that, though, is you feel cheated by the red herrings.
It is a bit like Cold Case on TV--they start to follow the trail and it is always the last person they interview who has done it, with everyone who looks like the mosl likely suspect pointing to the next person as having a hidden motive no one else but that person had a clue about.
I sort of gave up on reading mysteries because I either knew who had done it within the first 10 pages, or, I kept reading, and the person who did it was so unfeasible, the whole book was just a pointless waste of time.
I also dislike most romantic suspense because they are neither fish nor fowl--not much mystery, and little credible romance.
As for dismissing Du Maurier, a lot of people dismiss 'romance' and yet it is over 50% of all novels sold in this country, and over 17% of men read it because they are looking for interesting characters.
She was great at creating atmosphere, which I think is one of the most important things in any novel, not just Gothic Romance-to make the reader feel like they are really THERE in the world of the book.