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Reader's Paradise

Is this fair?

18 years ago

I am a big fan of mysteries. For several months, I have been plowing through all the Inspector Wexford mysteries by Ruth Rendell. After the early books in the series, I notice that she ends each book with a complicated solution to the mystery that requires information she has never supplied to the reader.

Is this fair?

I have always believed that mysteries were meant to be a sort of battle of wits between author and reader. The trick is for the reader to sift thru all the false leads and dead ends, and to pick up on perhaps one tiny tidbit, to come up with the solution to the puzzle. Some authors are better at this than others but I am feeling a bit miffed at Rendell for her deus ex machina endings--tho I must say I'm enjoying the Wexford series. What do you think?

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Comments (10)

phyllis__mn
18 years ago
....and sometimes now I feel that that the "villain" is not going to get his comeuppance!
dynomutt
18 years ago
Well, I've never read Ruth Rendell mysteries but I always thought that the Ellery Queen mysteries were neat in that he DID (or so he says he did) provide all the clues to the reader. In some of his books (not all of them) he actually has a section called "Challenge to the Reader" where he challenges the reader to solve the mystery.

Granted, the solutions are quite complex at times but ..... that beign said some of them are neat.

So, if you're thinking Ruth Rendell's no fair, try some of the early Ellery Queen books. Yes, some of them are set in the 20s and 30s (Ellery drives a Duesenberg, the root of the term "doozy") but it's still neat.

And, to answer your question, if Ruth Rendell expects the reader to be able to solve the mystery, then no, it's not fair.
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disputantum
18 years ago
I surmise that Rendell is more interested in the psychological aspects of murder than in setting a puzzle. But I agree that it can be irritating. I watched a movie about magicians this past weekend that was resolved by some sci-fi nonsense when I was expecting an elaborate but plausible solution.
cindydavid4
18 years ago
She certainly is more interested in the psychological aspects, esp as she writes as Barabara Vine. If she is expecting tho for you to get it without being upfront with the clues, then I am not sure she's writing a mystery. But then, this is why I never cared for whodunit. I was always mroe interested in the whys than the whos (which is why I read her as Vine and not Rendell)
ginny12
Original Author
18 years ago
It's the Inspector Wexford books I have been reading. I gather she has different approaches in different series and under different names. But the question is general, not just about Rendell. Should a mystery writer give enough information, however cleverly disguised, so the reader has a chance of coming up with the solution?
ccrdmrbks
18 years ago
I think so. In fact, that is how the head librarian where I volunteer separates mysteries from thrillers...in a thriller, the reader all ready knows "who done it" and is watching the "good guys" chase the "bad guys" and the tension is all from will they catch them? Sometimes a good guy turns out to be a bad guy or vice cersa, but the reader knows most info up front. A mystery, on the other hand, forces the reader to assess and evaluate clues and try to solve the "who done it" before the detective in the book. She feels that the reader must be given a fair chance, no matter how subtle.
Kath
18 years ago
I am a firm believer that the mystery writer should supply enough information for the reader at least not to feel miffed at the end *g*.
I recommend that people don't buy The Lighthouse by P D James. because the murder is solved by the policeman (can't remember his name) having a fever and the answer coming to him in a dream!!!!!!!!!! I was seriously p*ssed off by that.
I know that Agatha Christie has a habit of very firmly leading the reader down the garden path, but usually the clues are all there, just whispered.
ginny12
Original Author
18 years ago
I agree, Asrokath, and that was one of the great things about Agatha Christie. It was there, but oh so cleverly hidden. That's my problem with Rendell. She reveals some bit at the end that is critical to the mystery and which the reader could never have guessed. Live leaving boxes out of a crossword puzzle.
phoebecaulfield
18 years ago
Most detective stories/mystery stories follow a formula, according to which the sleuth is generally just a step ahead of the reader--so that the reader will be prepared to mutter, "Oh, of COURSE!" when the "solution" is revealed at the end.

Then, if the reader looks back over the story carefully, he/she will find that everything needed for him/her to figure the mystery out is all there--but cunningly slipped in, where it wasn't overly conspicuous.
papillon41
18 years ago
Using the supernatural to solve the mystery always annoys me as well.

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