There are four main book categories:
Poetry, Fiction, Non-Fiction and Drama.
In this blog, we're going to zoom in on Fiction.
Fiction can be split into two categories:
Popular Fiction - Plot-driven fiction written with a particular audience in mind. It normally fits into a specific genre and can already have a firm fan base.
Literary Fiction - Character-driven writing, which is valued for its complex form, language or style.
We are going to zoom in on Popular Fiction which has five main genres:
Romance, Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Thriller & Suspense, and Mystery & Crime.
Today is the fifth and final category, Mystery & Crime.
Mystery novels have a puzzle. If you untangle it, it will lead you to the answer.
Amateur Detective - A mystery solved by an amateur, who generally has some profession or affiliation that provides ready access to information about the crime.
Child in Peril - A mystery involving the abduction of persecution of a child.
Classic who did it? - A crime that is solved by a detective, from the detective's point of view, with all clues available to the reader.
Comic - A mystery played for laughs often featuring a detective who is grossly unskilled, but often solves the crime anyway.
Cosy - A mystery which takes place in a small town, sometimes in a single home. All of the suspects are present and know each other, except the detective, who is usually an eccentric outsider.
Courtroom Drama - A mystery that takes place through the justice system - often the efforts of a defence attorney to prove the innocence of their client by finding the real culprit.
Dark Thriller - A mystery that ventures into the fear factor and graphic violence of the horror genre.
Espionage - An international spy novel - here based less on the action than on solving the puzzle. Often in modern novels, they are more focused on terrorists.
Forensic - A mystery solved through the forensics lab, featuring much detail and scientific procedure.
Heists and Capers - An anti-hero genre which focuses on the planning and execution of a crime, often told from the criminals perspective.
Historical - A mystery that takes place in a specific, recognisable period of history, with much emphasis on the details of the setting.
Inverted - A story in which the reader knows who done it, but the suspense arises from watching the detective figure it out.
Private Detective - Focuses on the independent snoop for hire, these have evolved from tough-guy hard-boiled detectives to the more professional operatives of today.
Psychological Suspense - Mysteries focused on the intricacies of the crime and what motivated the perpetrator to commit them.
Romantic - A mystery in which the crime solvers fall in love.
Techno Thriller - A spinoff from the traditional thriller mystery with an emphasis on High Technology.
Thriller - A suspense mystery with a wider - often international - scope and more action.
Young Adult - A story aimed at a teenage audience, with a hero detective generally the same age of slightly older than the reader, persuing criminals who are generally less violent - but often just as scary as those in adult mysteries.
Locked Room - A mystery in which the crime is apparently committed under impossible circumstances.
Medical - Generally involving a medical threat, i.e. viral pandemic, or the illegitimate use of medical technology.
Police Procedure - A crime solved from the perspective of the police, following detailed, real-life procedure.
Woman in jeopardy - Focuses on a woman put into peril by a crime, and her struggle to overcome or outwit the perpetrator.
I hope you found a new genre to read, or discovered the subcategory of your book!
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