7 Characteristics of Today’s Modern Mystery Novels

Crime and suspense fiction has changed a great deal over the last twenty-five years. The old traditions are still present but the stifling constraints of the past have been shattered. Here are some elements that will ensure a mystery writer’s novel will appeal to a modern audience.

1. Private eyes are in vogue again. Female detectives and sleuths are extremely popular. Consider Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone and Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone.
2. Historical mysteries have risen in popularity as have supernatural tales.  P.N. Elrodd’s Dark Sleep is an example of an historical mystery. A Navajo vampire is the protagonist in David Thurlo’s supernatural tales.
3. Sleuths of various ethnicity and professions, some unrelated to police work, abound in bookstores. Robert O. Greer’s  black bail-bondsman and reluctant sleuth, C.J. Floyd, solves crimes in The Devil’s Hatband.
4. Social, sexual, religious and political issues are being explored openly in ways never done before.
5. Use of some profanity and vernacular dialog is now a standard in most mystery writing, even in the traditional cozy.
6. Realistic descriptions of murder scenes have replaced antiseptic, bloodless, one-bullet death scenes.
7. Mysteries laced with humor have risen in popularity. Consider Janet Evanovich’s bungling, inept heroine, Stephanie Plum.

A mystery writer should sample several types of modern mysteries to get a good feel for what sells in today’s market.