3.  Neither reader nor protagonist (detective, amateur sleuth, etc.) know who the killer is. Goal is to find the bad guy.  Basically a puzzle waiting to be solved.  Crime has already been committed but heroine/hero, and reader, must figure out by whom.  Protagonist drives the story & is usually not in danger.  Slower-paced story telling and heroine/hero must confront a series of red herrings.  Readers take pleasure in the intellectual exercise of puzzling out a crime.  Mysteries are usually part of a series.

4.  Hero has a mission to foil evil/wrong-doing.  Reader often knows who villain is & object is to outwit and stop the killer before he kills others.  Thrillers are action-packed with chases, eruptions of violence and any type of event that gets the reader’s “fight or flight” response going.  Protagonist is often in danger.  Villain drives the story.  Plotting is fast-and-furious.

5.  A sub-genre of thriller with an important focus on the unstable emotional state of the characters.  Characters are exposed to danger on a mental level rather than merely a physical one.  Motives and intentions are more important than the technical aspects of how a crime is accomplished.  Readers expect the story to focus around both the hero and the villain, via changes in point of view and scenes involving each separately.  Protagonist must beat the antagonist using their wits, not physical skills.  They exploit the uncertainty over characters motives, honesty and how they see the world.

6.  A real page-turner. Readers have a hard time putting book down to go to bed, prepare dinner, etc.  Intensity increases as protagonist faces deception and danger while devising ways to overcome threats from the villain.  Readers expect surprises in storyline that is a threat to a person, group or the world.  Key elements include conflict, suspense, drama, surprise and resolution.  Emotion and feeling are paramount as opposed to thinking.

7.  Louise Penny (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache)  G.M. Maillet (Vicar Max Tudor)  Elly Griffiths (Archaeologist Ruth Galloway)  Jacqueline Winspear (P.I. Maisie Dobbs)  Peter May (Detective Fin Macleod)  Charles Todd (Inspector Ian Rutledge) & (Nurse Bess Crawford)  David Mark (Detective Sergeant McAvoy)  Kate Atkinson (Private Detective Jackson Brody)  Alan Bradley (11-year-old Flavia de Luce)  Michael Robotham (Psychologist Joe O'Loughlin)  Denise Mina (Reporter Patricia (Paddy) Meehan)  Michael Koryta (Various Protagonists)  Tana French (Dublin Murder Squad)  Linwood Barclay (Various Protagonists)  Val McDermid (Dr. Tony Hill)  Stephanie Pintoff (Detective Simon Ziele)

8.  Annual RASD Author Breakfast  October 6 th @ Carlyle on the Green ~ Bethpage State Park  Mystery Author of Orient, Christopher Bollen  Register this summer