What makes a good mystery?

Question

Also, if possible, its definition.

Answer 1

In my opinion a good mystery has lots of unpredictable twists and turns. It does a good job in misleading you...you think you know where the story is going then BAM...something unexpected happens. This is difficult to pull off though because you have to make sure you dont cheat the audience. You have to leave subtle clues so that when the twist occurs the reader can look back and figure out the mystery.

Answer 2

Finding clues to hint at the underlying truths.

A good writer can feed a reader clues to the people and events, and how they come together to tell the story, without coming right out and revealing everything.

When the novel is over, the reader should know what happened without having a sleuth stand in a room and tell all. These stories are fun and they do tell the reader that they were right or wrong-- but I still like the well written novel that tells you by showing you how it all comes together, James Patterson is a good example. In his Cross series, you are privy to the Dr. thoughts and evaluations to give you ideas on what could be going on. You find out who the bad guy is when s/he's arrested.

A mystery is something unknown, whether it is hidden information or lack of obvious explanation, there is at least one secret. And in a novel it is fun to figure out what that secret is, but then watch out for the twist--

Answer 3

If you look at a mystery from a logic (mathematical) perspective, it can be broken down into a good logic puzzle with some false information. Over time this false information is revealed and the picture starts to make sense. Clever use of this can provide a good foundation for a mystery story, although since I use logical processes to examine mystery stories, I can usually predict the end before it comes.

Answer 4

A good mystery needs a good detective, good clues, and an interesting plot. I like a mystery where its at least possible for the reader to solve the case, though it might not be probable. I don't like mysteries where the detective knows more than the reader, where clues are not available to the reader.

Answer 5

Character development. You give the reader the insight into the characters so that the reader can get an idea of plot end and come up with their own ideas, then you can throw in twists and turns that make the reader want more. Its all about the characters, if you don't care about the main character and are not shocked by the villains' actions then you don't finish the story.

Answer 6

when the reader can't figure it out until it is revealed by the author