What Classifys a Mystery?
The phrases like “Who dun it?” or “Du Du Dun!” or
even “The murderer is here in this room”, are just a few of common thoughts associated
with Mystery.
Mystery, it’s everywhere. Every time you ask a
question, watch a show, movie, or read a book, I’d bet a million dollars that
there was a mystery buried deep inside. A mystery in short, is anything that
has made you ponder. “How many stars are there in the sky?” “Who killed that
man?” “And the winner is…” “Who are you?” These are all mysteries. There is a
question in everything, the want or need to explore the unknown. Every day we
solve these mysteries, and when we do we just find more secrets to uncover. To
be inquisitive is in human nature, and I guess that’s why so many authors write
about it.
Jessica Warman does just that. In her book Beautiful Lies, there are tons of
mysteries throughout the book, even if I’m only half way finished. [See my last
blog for basic book premise]. So far I have tons and tons of questions. First
of all is of course, where is Rachel? Was she kidnapped, just lost, or running away?
Why is her Aunt and Uncle seemingly unworried about the kidnapped twin? Just
who is Robin, and why is his past so mysterious? Why did someone leave stolen
money in a duffle in the cellar? Why is Officer Martin, different from all
other police officers? What gossip did Rachel and her friend’s trade about
Alice? I NEED to know this, solve the mystery, gain closure. These questions
are just a few of the things you would want to know if you read this book.
Every character holds a story, and it’s our job as readers to discover it.
Of course this drive doesn’t start over night. When
I was younger, I read a LOT. My mother and father introduced me to the mystery
genre and I was hooked. It started innocently enough listing to a book on tape,
Hank the Cowdog, by John R. Erickson
to and from vacations. Then I read The
Boxcar Children, by Gertrude Chandler Warner. Then I graduated yet again to
Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keen, and then The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon. Then my grandpa gave me Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham. These are strictly
Mystery Genre, but there are soooooo many books that can fall under this title,
but are often left in the dust or are put in a subgenre.
Harry
Potter by J.K. Rowling fits this. In the first Harry
Potter, he has the mystery of who broke into the vault at Gringotts. This then
leads him on a journey of who’s steeling the philosopher’s stone. In Harry’s
second year, he’s on the lookout for who’s opening the Chamber of Secrets. Harry’s third year he’s busy solving why Sirius
Black want to kill him. During The Goblet
of Fire, Harry need to find out who entered his name in the competition.
For Harry’s fifth year, he figures out what his dreams were meaning, and why
the ministry is interfering at Hogwarts. In the Half Blood Prince, the golden trio is on the path to finding out
who the half-blood prince is, and what Tom’s past is. During the Deathly Hollows, we need to find all of
Tom’s horcruxes. Though Harry Potter is categorized by Fantasy, he clearly
faces a mystery in every book, and tons of books can fit this bill. Genres like
this, just might make you wonder what else can fit, and that my friends, is a
mystery.
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