I was catching up on some magazine reading last night and came across a great article that I thought I'd share with the mystery lovers out there. The article is The Great Escape: Mystery Preview by Wilda W. Williams and is from the April 15, 2009 edition of Library Journal.
The mystery genre is apparently doing quite well. I was particularly intrigued by some of the reasons stated in the article for the current success of this market, especially the idea that in tough times we turn to mysteries. Subgenres within this category have slightly differing reasons for appealing, like:
Historical Mysteries: "[B]ecause it's comforting for readers buffeted by tough times to know that others have survived equally bumpy historical periods."
Espionage: "[B]logger Sarah Weinman tied the espionage renaissance to the current mood of uncertainty and cynicism."
Literary Mysteries: An inexpensive from of entertainment is the book club and literary mysteries appeal to many of these groups.
Included in the article is a fantastic list of possible reads. I encourage you to check out this article!
I love mysteries but have some trouble with the espionage type. I just read Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir wich is an Icelandic mystery. It was pretty good.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. Interesting ideas. Mysteries are certainly my "escapist" choice.
ReplyDeleteHey, I just read this article myself. I ran across it online somewhere. It did give me the desire to run out to the library...
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