|
|
Joined: 4/26/2011
Posts: 6
|
What if there is no bad guy? What if the protagonist accidentally kills the victim - who is the actual villain? The story's tension is in the reader's sympathy and worry for the protagonist's cover up as clues point to a terrible occurrence that justified the killing .
In the reveal, the murder is discovered with its painful consequences for all involved.
Any examples of books with similar structures so I can make sure I'm not headed down a faulty path?
|
|
Joined: 4/28/2011
Posts: 60
|
I can't think of any off the top of the my head, but I personally like books where the "villain," or rather culprit, really isn't very villainous at all. There's something very tragic in that and very realistic. I actually find books where the villain is villainous to be rather silly, more like a cartoon than anything resembling the real world and real people. Make your readers cry by revealing the tragedy of both of the crime and the perpetrator of the crime.
|
|
Joined: 3/11/2011
Posts: 156
|
No, a mystery novel doesn't have to have a villain. In fact, it doesn't even have to have a murder. And sometimes the murder victim can be more villainous than the killer. Some of the best mysteries challenge the reader by making them understand why someone would want to murder the victim.
But you're correct in seeing that a big part of a mystery novel is the unveiling of secrets, the digging up of little white lies, the fact that it gives someone a reason to pull back the curtain of privacy and see what everyone is like underneath. And of course as a reader, part of the fun is trying to put the clues together to see "whodunnit." Even if the murder was accidental, those clues would still need to be there. The problem of course is that motive might be lacking, though you could have all sorts of false motives as red herrings. Or even just have the detective frustrated by lack of motive.
But if you're going to try this, one book I recommend looking at is Aunt Dimity, Detective by Nancy Atherton. Because I'm not sure the device she uses in that particular book works.
> Don't read the next paragraph if you don't want to know who the murderer is.
A pot of geraniums. No, you didn't read that wrong. The geraniums dun it. Though the book involves a lot of village gossip and all sorts of secrets being discovered, in the end, it's revealed the victim accidentally clobbered herself with her hanging geraniums. For me that fell flat. It's hard to feel hatred or sympathy for a pot of geraniums. So, even if the murderer isn't evil, you've got to make us feel some emotional connection with what happened. (Okay, easier to do with people than plants.
>
|
|
Joined: 2/27/2011
Posts: 353
|
I think you need to RUN - don't walk - RUN out to buy Val McDermid's A Place of Execution right now. She pulls off something in that book that haunted me for years and it does speak to what you're asking about in your comment.
TRUST ME ON THIS. =)
Colleen
|
|
Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 279
|
I'll second Val McDermid's A Place of Execution. Hands down, that's my favorite book in the genre. If you have a kindle, I can lend it to you with their lending program. It's one of the few titles I have that's able to be shared.
|
|
Joined: 4/26/2011
Posts: 6
|
Wonderful advice, thank you! Yes, I do have a Kindle. I would love a loaner.
|
|
Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 279
|
All I need is your email address and I send it straight to your kindle. danielle@deekadoo.com is my email/spambucket
|
|
Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 21
|
Allow me to disagree, just a bit. While I love the concept of there being no villain, I have to think back to all of the mysteries I have most loved...and they all have a villain. Granted, the villain may be a concept (a la Romeo and Juliet) or a law. But in my mind, there is always a person who personifies the concept. I tried writing one with no real villain, and it confused the heck out of people. Now, I understand that my hero gains strength in proportion to my villain. My heroes have to have villains...
|
|
|
|