Murder Mystery Mystique

After one murder mystery having been published and one about to be published, I was interested in many of the reviews I have received about Evil in the Mirror, my first novel. There seems to be a morbid fascination among murder mystery readers concerning the graphic details of the act of murder. OK, so what's the problem?

Well, if readers are morbidly fascinated, what about the author? Crap, I really didn't want to self-analyze, but it's a compelling question. Am I a really sick puppy like the readers have expressed concerning my book?

Determined to find the answer, I started with the basics. What does the Wikipedia encyclopedia have to say about the subject? Click on the title of this blog and see for yourself. I read the whole explanation as to what murder is and how it is dealt with in society. Some interesting facts, but as a whole, not anything surprising. Murder is a bad thing and if you commit it, you will suffer society's wrath.

It is obvious I must dig deeper. Are murder mystery writers sicko in the heado? Don't worry, I am not going into Freudian theories about sex being the cause of all human ills, whether true or not. I am only going to dig into my pea-picking brain and see what pops out.

Let me see; I am a loving husband and father, I love animals and would never abuse one, which is the first sign of a true sicko. I treat others as I would like to be treated, I obey the laws of the land, I don't lie (maybe only withhold incriminating information is all), and I believe in my vision of God. Don't you think the above statements are normal human behaviors? I do.

If I am normal, where do all the ideas come from when I am writing murder mysteries? Enter my wife's explanation. She simple says, "It is called imagination!" Come to think of it, I have always had a vivid imagination. So vivid, in fact, that as a young person I would get in trouble for daydreaming in classrooms, or when girls were rejecting me, and when my parents would try to scold me. I still daydream when my wife is talking to me sometimes, which is a much more serious situation than when I was young.

Final analyses? I am normal, folks! The sickness must be in the minds of the people who read murder mysteries, not the writers. I can only hope the illness becomes a worldwide epidemic!

I'm just saying,

Mittster