I saw a list of interview questions for authors the other day and one of the questions was “What genre do you secretly wish you could write and why don’t you?”
If I could do it, I’d like to write mystery stories. I like reading them (and watching them on film or television). I like trying to figure out “whodunnit” before the end of the book. But I don’t write it.
What’s stoping me? All the bloody red herrings, that’s what. My mind just doesn’t work like Agatha Christie’s or Arthur Conan Doyle’s. I start with a perfectly good idea, then can’t think of any clues for the investigator to follow. I guess I’m just not sneaky enough–or maybe I’m too sneaky and what seems obvious to me might not be that obvious to a reader. Whatever the reason, I can’t seem to get the clues lined up and tossed along the trail.
I’m reading a nice mystery story now: Still Life by Louise Penny. It’s the first in a series about Inspector Gamache, a Canadian policeman. So far, I’m enjoying it. The characters–both police and suspects–are all quirky and interesting. The reason for the murder is suitably inexplicable (as yet). It looks as if they’ve found the murder weapon–but I’m only about halfway through the book so I’m sure there’s some twist in their findings. The inspector will realize they forgot something essential and off he’ll go …
I’m also working on a series by Harry Bingham of Jericho Writers. His heroine is called Fiona Griffiths and she’s a UK policeman who has suffered from a rare psychological condition where she thought she was dead (it’s a real condition). This gives her a quirky, skewed outlook on life which makes the books interesting.
And yes, I do read several books at once. Sometimes, I’ll hit upon a story that I just have to rush right through and finish at once (The Ten Thousand Doors of January). Mostly, I read a little bit here, a little bit there, whatever I’m in the mood for when I have a few minutes of free time. I might have two or three mystery tales, a historical romance (guilty pleasure), some science fiction, and maybe even a contemporary novel or two. My moods change frequently, so I have to have something interesting in my Kindle at all times.
Perhaps in the future, I can figure out how mystery writing works. For now, I’ll stick to historical fiction where all I have to do is research the time period and put in enough action for my lads.