Adventures in Storytelling: Mystery Michele Leininger, State Library of Iowa Katie Dunneback, Southeastern Library Services

Objectives for class: Understand the history and evolution of the mystery genre Recognize current trends in mystery publishing Identify: Sub-genres and genre-blends Mystery publishers Review outlets Organizations and Awards Indicate methods to analyze a mystery collection Identify RA tools for mystery readers Discover ways to market the mystery collection

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 1440 B.C. (?): Cain and Abel Cain is jealous of Abel; Cain kills Abel; Cain is accused of killing Abel but denies it; Cain finally confesses; Cain is punished 1841 Edgar Allan Poe: Murders in the Rue Morgue Introduced the first detective, C. Auguste Dupin. Influences Charles Dickens (Bleak House and The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and Wilkie Collins (The Woman in White and Moonstone). Created standard for “locked room” mystery which is solved by a brilliant but eccentric detective using reasoning, logic and rigorous examination of the facts.

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: Cain and Abel Edgar Allan Poe

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 1887 Arthur Conan Doyle: A Study in Scarlet Sherlock Holmes, the most renowned detective Introduces the sidekick: Dr. Watson Begins decades of the popularity of the short story format 1911 G.K. Chesterton: The Innocence of Father Brown Father Brown, the non-detective, continued in Holmes footsteps 1920s The Golden Age of Mysteries Novel as story form becomes popular again

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes G.K. Chesterton Father Brown

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 1920s Continued… Perfected the form of locked rooms, red herrings and puzzles Authors from this period: Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1921) Dorothy Sayers, Whose Body (1923) John Dickson Carr, It Walks By Night (1930) Era also introduced youth to mysteries: Hardy Boys (1927) and Nancy Drew (1930) which also followed the same formula

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: Agatha Christie Dorothy SayersJohn Dickson Carr

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 1930s The Golden Age Continues and Expands Brit publisher moves best selling mystery authors into paperback Short format still popular: Ellery Queen (pseudonym of two cousins, Manfred B. Lee and Frederic Dannay) Legal mysteries make the scene with Erle Stanly Gardner’s Perry Mason titles (1933) Birth of the quirky and extremely eccentric detective, such as Rex Stout’s Nero Wolf (1934) 1940s The Rise of the PI Stories begin to reflect other parts of society Not as cozy and aristocratic; rougher, more violent Moves away from locked rooms and mysteries as puzzles

The History of the Mystery: Rex Stout A Timeline: Erle Stanley Gardner Manfred Lee + Frederic Dannay = Ellery Queen

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 1940s Continued… The era of the hard-boiled detective Began with the pulps in ’20s but came into their own in ’40s Detectives have many flaws and use violence as often as rational thought and logic to solve mystery Usually urban environment (most often NYC or LA), reflecting the grimier and poor sides of society Hard-Boiled Authors: Dashiell Hammett, Sam Spade Raymond Chandler, Philip Marlowe Mickey Spillane, Mike Hammer

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline:

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 1950s The Rise of the Police Procedural Professional detectives come into their own Shows the professional world of police Distinct difference between amateur sleuths and cops 1960s The Rise of the Spy and the Woman in Peril Beginning to see distinctions between men’s and women’s mysteries Espionage stories become very popular, taking a large market share of the mystery/detective sales ~ are largely read by men Ian Fleming: James Bond John LeCarre Len Deighton

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 1960s Continued… Romantic suspense and gothic mysteries become very popular with women: Phyllis Whitney, Mary Stewart, Barbara Michaels Stories begin to reflect more aspects of society, including their problems ~ diversity, generation conflicts, class differences First real update of juvenile series since 1920s: Donald Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown, Phyllis Whitney 1970s The PI in Vogue Again Hard-boiled has a softer edge: Robert Parker’s Spencer

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 1960s Men’s Novels:1960s Women’s Novels:

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 1970s Continued… Women writers develop their own brand of tough PI’s: Marcia Muller: Sharon McCone Sue Grafton: Kinsey Millhone Sara Paretsky: V.I. Warshawski Sleuths break out of past molds and expand into other places, times and jobs: Tony Hillerman: Indian cop on Navajo Reservation Elizabeth Peters: archaeologist, 19 th cent. Egypt Ellis Peters: brother, 12 th cent. British monastery

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 1970s: The New PIs1970s: The New Amateur Sleuths

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 1980s Women Writers Come Into Their Own Number of women writers and characters proliferate Cozies, mostly written by women, make a comeback: Virginia Rich, Joan Hess, Carolyn Hart Legal mysteries take the world by storm: John Grisham 1990s The New Golden Age of Mysteries For the first time, multiple mystery titles begin showing up regularly on the best seller lists Women sleuths keep getting stronger: Dana Stabenow, Nevada Barr, Jan Burke It’s all about forensics: Patricia Cornwell The rise of the author as celebrity: Patricia Cornwell

The History of the Mystery: A Timeline: 2000s The Bend of the Genre Mysteries become crime novels Reflects the society which tolerates more violence, blood and gore Mysteries/crime novels continue to bend and blend Changes in publishing has strong influence on mystery genre So, what’s going on now and what’s next?

Current Trends in Mysteries Audio books: mysteries top of sales for most publishers and all about the “long tail;” also more simultaneous releases. More mid-list authors are showing up in newly revised formats of Large Print. Trend of foreign print best-selling mysteries continue to well with American audiences ~ kicked off with Hoeg’s Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1993). Mysteries that follow TV show genres still popular, but may be waning: CSI/forensic science, Ghost Whisperer/paranormal, Buffy and Moonlight/vampires

Current Trends, cont. Historicals keep growing ~ in all genres; also becoming more strongly focused on a secondary sub-genre: Forensic science: Franklin’s Mistress of the Art of Death and Knight’s Sir John De Wolfe mysteries Police procedural: Drake’s Nefertiti: Book of the Dead and Akunin’s Erast Fandorin mysteries Amateur sleuth: Downie’s Medicus and Stanley’s Nox Dormienda Other classic sub-genres still doing well: Cozies Legal Sleuths of all kinds: detectives, PIs, amateur Culturally-diverse mysteries

Current Trends in Publishing Less traditional “mid-list” authors ~ mostly publishing best-selling, or nearly best- selling authors Less long-term relationships with publishing houses and authors Most large publishing houses have disbanded their mystery imprints and are no longer really supporting author tours (except the biggies) More smaller publishing houses that specialize ~ particularly in the mystery and crime area; “new talent” starts here More self-published titles ~ which may become best-sellers and no longer the just the unpublishable titles Trend toward more “print on demand” titles Move toward small publishers getting into audio Big growth in author sites, blogs, podcasts, etc. Online is where the reviews are going

A Few Publishing Tidbits: In 2007, mystery/crime titles had 17% of the market share, followed by romance with 11% and science fiction with 5.5% Top publishers of mystery titles are St. Martin’s Minotaur, Poisoned Pen Press and Berkley Prime Crime Most major publishing houses do not have a mystery imprint Many publishers have mystery newsletters: Minotaur’s The Labyrinth Random House Mystery Newsletter Berkley Prime Crime Newsletter Soho Press’ Crime Newsletter

So what are the new blends? Continued importance of the series and the main characters More distinct sub-genre blends where they get equal billing A rise of the cross-genre blends, particularly in the areas where the authors are cross-overs. These, too, get equal billing: Fforde’s Thursday Next series: science fiction, classic literature and mystery Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series: romance, humor and mystery Robb’s Eve Dallas series: science fiction, mystery and romance T. Harris’ Silence of the Lambs: horror and mystery C. Harris’ Southern Vampire series: mystery, humor, and science fiction

Any new blends you’ve noticed?

Today’s Mystery Collection: A few classic benchmark authors: Allingham, Carr, Chesterton, Christie, Doyle, Gardner, Hammett, McBain, Poe, Queen, Rinehart, Sayers, Spillane, Stewart, Stout, Van Dine, Whitney More contemporary benchmark authors: Barr, Higgins Clark, Cornwell, Grisham, Grafton, Hillerman, James, Kemelman, Mosley, Paretsky, Perry, Peters, Rendell Long-running popular authors: Block, Braun, Burke, Connelly, Elkins, Evanovich, Francis, Hess, Jance, Kellerman, King, McCrumb, Parker, Robinson, Sandford, Stabenow And a few up-and-coming authors: Abbott, Blunt, Box, Child, Connolly, Lippman, O’Connell, Finally, some brand new ones: Bissell, Erickson, Krueger, Logue, Penney, Wolfe What does it look like?

What mix is your mystery collection?

Tomorrow’s Mystery Collection: Maintain balance among classic, contemporary, long-running, up-coming and new authors/series. Create a “core” collection of what you should have to help with the balance. Check Resources on Web site for ideas. Dollars and space reflective of circulation. Weed what is no longer popular; replace old copies of what is. Recognize that weeding mysteries is more difficult due to series. Assess your community of mystery/crime readers to make sure your collection is reflective of changing tastes and new readers. Change buying habits to reflect any changes in space, budget, community, readers, requests, etc. Expand viewpoint of selection process. What should it look like?

Where is your collection heading?

Today’s Mystery Reader: What readers like about mysteries: A morality play: good triumphs over evil and justice prevails; opposite from “real” life where this doesn’t happen as often. Structure: crime happens, it’s investigated, the guilty punished. Resolution: a concrete, firm ending ~ nothing is vague. Plot: a puzzle, a locked room, a challenge. Character: series allows us to really get to know them and see them change and grow in their lives Setting: often adds spice and variety to the plot. Something new: allows reader to learn something. Variety: mysteries can be wildly different! What does she look like?

Today’s Mystery Reader: Look at the appeal factors of the main sub-genres: Amateur Sleuths: ordinary citizens, no real authority, limited number of suspects, learn about another field. PIs: underdog, a little cynical, seamier side, social conscience, strong characters of both genders, diversity, lone wolf. Police Procedural: behind the scene, realistic methods, team work and variety of characters, justice ~ catching a crook/killer. Historical: no “modern” methods ~ employs logic and wits, variety of sleuths/criminals/motives/ways to die, ambience, learn something. Suspense/Thriller: its own genre? ~ how instead of who. Legal/Medical: procedurals, behind-the-scenes. Serial Killers: cat and mouse, realism. True Crime: why ~ the psyche. How can we help him?

The Mystery Advisor: A interview checklist: General appeal of mysteries: puzzle, relate to character, theme? Sub-genre preference: only want the one or blend ok? Other genre preferences: another genre that has mystery elements? Elements of appeal: mood, setting, character, plot, action? Realism: death, violence, blood and gore, language, sex? Gender or occupation: male/female, police/PI/sleuth/criminal? Author/Series: get involved with repeat characters? Burnout: is it time to move to something new? What should we ask?

Helping the Mystery Browser: Booklists and Pathfinders/Readers’ Maps: Print only the sub-genres/authors that are really popular. Move online: add lists to Web site. Borrow: links to others, including Iread. Annotate: pitch the books you love. Displays: make general (Scene of the Crime) or specific (PIs to Love); also look at displays in the stacks. Programming: Mystery Book Group Author visit or “party” Book talking to community groups Marketing the collection to those who don’t ask for help

Resources for Readers and Advisors: Reviews: Library reviews: Library Journal, Booklist (print, EBSCO, online) Popular reviews: People, newspapers (print, online) Web sites: ClueLass, Reviewing the Evidence Bloggers: Detectives Beyond Borders, I Love a Good Mystery! Booklists and recommendations: Iread, library Web sites, reader Web sites Print Sources: Make Mine a Mystery, Murder in Retrospect, Read On…Crime

So, what did you read?

How do YOU define a mystery?

How do OTHERS define a mystery? From Beneath the Cover (book industry blog): Mystery: usually a murder to be solved, but could just be a crime Crime fiction: a crime, who did it and who solved it Detective: investigators/sleuths and the crimes they solve From “The Mystery of the Thriller” by P. Cannon, published in PW: Thrillers: heroes trying to save the world from villains Mystery: murder solved by sleuth; reader tries to figure out From Who Dunnit (review site): Mystery: “mysterious, unresolved and unexplainable circumstances with which the hero or heroine comes in contact;” motive is critical to the story

How do OTHERS define a mystery? From Make Mine a Mystery by Niebuhr: Mystery: reader is asked to solve puzzle; includes crime and detection Detective: mystery where character tries to solve before reader; inherent concept that the author “plays fair” with the reader by providing clues; the central idea is “who dunnit?” Crime: “observes the undertaking of a criminal act, but does not necessarily have a detective who pursues either the criminal or a sense of justice.” Thriller: “designed to keep the reader interested through the use of a high degree of action, intrigue adventure and suspense.” reader is emotionally involved. Suspense: keeps the reader waiting for outcomes, usually through putting the narrator in danger; central question is “what is going to happen to who?”

Any new thoughts on definitions?

So, what’s next? Create a mystery “core collection” list Get to know your mystery collection Use the class Web site for links to authors, reviews, awards, organizations, bloggers and resources Find one new way to market your collection to users Make a review, book list and readers’ map for extra credit Watch for the next announcement in June for the next Adventures in Storytelling class, which will be Fantasy

Important Items: Extra credit for Mystery class is due by 5:00 on June 19. The Fantasy class will be held on July 9, 15 and 29. Registrations for Fantasy class will begin following the last Mystery class (which is June 10). Announcement will be to this group first.

Thanks! Class Web site: Michele Leininger: or Katie Dunneback: or