Welcome to the crazed musings of mystery novelist
Sammi Carter
author of the new Candy Shop mystery series featuring Abby Shaw, owner of Divinity, where the candy is heavenly in Paradise, Colorado.
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There's been a lot of talk lately on internet listserves about murderless mysteries, and though I've been mostly lurking on all the lists I subscribe to, I'm curious to know what readers think. Does a mystery novel need a murder? Or will any puzzle that needs to be solved do?
Personally, I lean toward the Murder-Is-A-Must side, but that's probably because most of the non-murderous mysteries I've read over the years haven't had enough at stake to keep me interested. Or maybe it's because what makes someone want to steal jewelry or pull an art heist doesn't interest me as much as what would make someone commit the ultimate crime of murder. There's only so much you can say about greed, I guess. Isn't that the usual motive?
With murder, though, greed is just one possible motive. And it can be mixed so deliciously with so many other motives, it keeps things fresh. As fresh as they can be when you're dealing with dead bodies in the library, that is. Even when the murder is prompted by greed, it's often even about the money. Not really. With a jewelry heist, that's all there is.
That's just my opinion, though, and I'm certainly no expert. Maybe there are wonderful non-murder mysteries out there that I haven't heard of. I'm always eager to find a good book, so when you're weighing in on the question of murderless mysteries in general, if there's a murderless mystery you'd recommend, please share!