Writing Thoughts: The Evolution of the Mystery Genre

All genres have evolved over the years. The language in fiction has changed, but a lot of the structure has as well. Certain aspects of a character and plot are more prominent than others, we all know this. Today, I want to share my thoughts on a genre that has changed from classical mystery to pulp fiction, to a genre that’s taken on a new form entirely.

Here is what I have to say about the evolution of the mystery genre.​

Pin for Later!

The Topic

The mystery aspect of a story has always been interesting. Many classic stories, although not written as mysteries, include an element of mystery to make a story more investing, to keep the reader turning pages. In later fiction, it was included as an element of a character’s career, but still not a genre, such as a sheriff or police officer making sense of a crime.

As the genre developed, you had characters specifically designed for solving mysteries. It was a highly intellectual activity, making use of not just clever deduction skills, but ingenious ways of resolving the conflict once the puzzle was solved. The genre was truly coming to life but was still severely limited in the technology and techniques that were used.

As we work our way up the 20th century, these techniques developed and the characters diversified. The detective in the mystery genre became more eccentric and less cold. Brilliant characters didn’t need to be so utterly dedicated to their craft that they forgo the aspects of life that made them more human.

The stories got with the times as well, switching from horses to cars, from telegrams to cell phones. More modern mysteries were set in cities, with many interesting gadgets that helped one lift fingerprints, track electronic signals, and so on. The modern-day detective had so many advantages, but so did the villain. Everyone became smarter in order to keep up with the times, but at the end of the day, the same crimes were still being committed.

However, there was another change when it came to the mystery genre.

The popularity of the standard mystery, be it a detective, cunning individuals, or a group of nosy teenagers, was altered to create a more dark, gripping story. The most popular form of a mystery today is mystery thrillers, which dominate the mystery genre with dark scenes, down-to-earth characters, and terrifying antagonists. Mysteries were about tracking down criminals and maniacs who broke the law for the wrong reasons, so it made sense for the villain to be a dangerous individual and the best way to convey that was to make the story scary.

Thriller by itself is a popular genre, but with the added mystery, you could pick the novel up as a mystery reader or a thriller reader and still leave you satisfied with the story. The two complimented each other, making one side feel more engaging. A detective after a dangerous antagonist sounds like a great mystery, and a thriller story with the threat of the unknown and an intelligent antagonist sounds like a great thriller!
​

My Thoughts

My thoughts on this topic are varied. I have nothing against mystery thrillers, but those of you who have watched my videos for a while know that I am a huge fan of the classic mystery genre. I enjoy the cliches, I freely admit. Most are just interesting themes that worked well with the genre, but a little too well, and the genre was saturated with the same ideas.

While I can appreciate a mystery novel where the character isn’t a professional puzzle solver, I still believe that the best forms of mystery fiction are the ones where there is an intelligent individual involved, or even a professional, such as a police detective. I also believe that you can have an antagonist that does terrible things, but is just an average person when the detective confronts them, rather than a dungeon–in-the-basement dwelling, chainsaw-wielding, I’m-so-twisted psychopath.

Quite often, crimes are committed by people like you or me, it’s just that they think they can get away with it.

Most crimes are committed in anger, or through greed. These are common human failings that take a person too far across that moral line, making them bad people at the end of the day, but still people. These are the same kinds of people the protagonist will encounter along their way toward solving the mystery.

You have read it in classic Sherlock Holmes, your standard Agatha Christie, your favorite Columbo episodes, or if you want to talk about younger fiction, your Nancy Drews and Famous Fives, or even scooby-doo episodes. At the end of the day, most of these stories end with a frustrated criminal in handcuffs, a criminal who thought they were so smart.

Now, some of these read as adventure books and others as crime fiction, but for a while, they were dominating stories in the mystery world. Even though many remain as classic mystery reads or watches, mystery-thrillers are leading the charge in the mystery genre by a long shot.

Now, there are many reasons for this, as I have mentioned earlier, from having a combination of mystery and thriller readers to having more down-to-earth characters and stories, albeit quite often having a truly evil antagonist. I also believe readers today enjoy a darker story over a light-hearted one, which also gives these kinds of stories a boost. Darker stories tend to be more engaging than light-hearted ones because the situation is so nerve-wracking.

However, I could be wrong about these beliefs, and this is the natural course of the mystery genre; to become an enjoyable element in stories rather than what the story is all about.
​

Conclusion

And since these are only my thoughts and opinions, I would like to hear yours! What do you think of the evolution of the mystery genre? Do you think I am wrong on certain points? Let me know in the comments!

I release blog posts such as this every week and while I have plenty of topics to discuss, I would love to hear your ideas as well. Is there some aspect of the writing world you want to share your thoughts on, be it writing novels or reading them?

Thank you for reading and as always,

Good day, goodnight, and happy writing!
​