It’s a Mystery
Everyone likes to cuddle up with a good mystery, right? Mysteries draw readers in by bringing suspense and intrigue to their already uncertain lives.
Mysteries, like all genres, are formulaic. There is the creation of an ordered, sometimes very elaborate, universe to serve as the backdrop for the story. In a world of shifting time and shape, such as that in The Eyre Affair, there is at least consistency. As the stories evolve, we inevitably delve into the lives of the victim, the criminal and the detective. Even those mysteries that deal with the supernatural are studies of human nature. They are also morality plays and, as such, good always, ultimately, triumphs over evil.
Still, there are the differences and it is these that distinguish genres and their fans. To begin with, there is an increasing diversity of mystery sub-genres. There are the classic, complex, who-dun-it puzzles. Think P.D. James. There are the thrillers, as well as the science fiction, fantasy, horror, historical, western, romance and literary mysteries.
I have two weaknesses. The first is for the Sherlock Holmes-type consulting detective who uses observation, deductive reasoning and inference to solve difficult cases. Holmes’ intellectual prowess is, admittedly, in your face. That of G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown is more subtle and rather more humbly provided.
My other weakness is the literary mystery. I have previously reviewed Shadow of the Wind, a beautifully written novel by Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón (please see Out of the Shadows). In it, I introduced Literarian readers to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.
My first literary mystery was The Rule of Four, authored jointly by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. Two students discover that the key to solving a murder lies in the decoding of the extremely rare, very beautiful and very mysterious Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. The Rule of Four is a bit heavy-handed and not especially suspenseful. That said, the Hypnerotomachia is an intriguing document worth pursuing for lovers of early Renaissance romances. It is an incredibly complex allegory in which Poliphilo pursues his love through a dreamlike landscape. Look for it at your corner bookstore under its original name: Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, ubi humana omnia non nisi somnium esse ostendit, atque obiter plurima scitu sanequam digna commemorate. (I try to be helpful.)
Somewhat less arcane is The Sign of the Book by John Dunning. Antiquarian book dealer and reluctant private investigator Cliff Janeway is sent to the mountain town of Paradise, Colorado, to look into the murder of a mysterious figure with a secret collection of signed first editions. Number four in Dunning’s Bookman series, it is a classic detective story with an incidental love interest and characters in constant danger.
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde follows the adventures of literary detective Thursday Next, who lives in London with her pet dodo, Pickwick. Thursday investigates the theft of the original manuscript of Charles Dickens’s Martin Chuzzlewit. She loses her first confrontation with arch-villain Acheron Hades; he would, in fact, have done her in had his bullet not been stopped by the copy of Jane Eyre she had in her breast pocket. Coming to her side was none other than Jane Eyre paramour, Rochester. This wonderfully absurd story flips between historical eras and slides easily in and out of literary classics.
As you no doubt know by my previous posts on Shakespeare (see Ten Things You Don’t Know About William Shakespeare and Where There’s a Will), few documents exist written in Shakespeare’s own hand. Finding one in – where else? – an antiquarian bookstore sets off a deadly chase in The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber. It is an international conspiracy in which you can hardly tell the good guys from the bad. My scholarly friends tell me the premise is ridiculous, so to maximize the suspense, you’ll need a willing suspension of disbelief.
Less of a thriller, perhaps falling into the category of historical fiction, is People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. To authenticate a rare, illuminated Passover Haggadah, Australian rare book expert Hanna Heath travels the globe, following clues like missing silver clasps, blood stains and butterfly wings. In the process, she maps out its perilous journey through the centuries; the Sarajevo’ Haggadah survived the ravages of war and outrages of the auto de fe only by dint of the determination and uncommon dignity of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This is a heart-rending story by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. It is a great book if not the best mystery.
Top pick: Shadow of the Wind. Most fun: The Eyre Affair.
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People of the Book is on my list, and I’ve been reading the Jasper Fforde series and have found it very enjoyable. Have you read Matthew Pearl’s books? You might really like The Dante Club.
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