Mystery

Whodunit? How? Why? These three questions are universal in mystery stories.  Most adult mysteries revolve around an unexplained, usually suspicious death.  Normally, by the story's conclusion, a motive has been discovered, the instrument of death has been found, a murderer has been identified, and all loose ends have been tied up.  While all mystery stories are not tidy affairs, there is almost always a murder, and a logical conclusion reached by a protagonist who discovers and follows clues.  Mystery protagonist may be hard-boiled private detectives, gritty ex-cops, bumbling gardeners, or curious widows, but they usually have nothing to gain from solving a crime but the satisfaction of a job well done.  Because mysteries are logical, they rarely have psychopaths, serial killers, random acts of violence or supernatural elements.  Because they use some of the same plot devices, particularly the feeling of suspensefulness, there is much cross-over appeal between mystery and psychological suspense, spy stories, horror and police stories.  Recurring characters in series are especially common in mysteries.  The following brief description of several mystery subgenres, which include major authors and their recurring characters, are meant to be used as a starting point of exploring the genre.  Many of the author listed have more than one series with different protagonists, and may write in more than one of the subgenre categories.