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A Morbid Taste For Bones Suspense Essay

565 Words3 Pages

What makes a good mystery? Is it suspense? Mood? Satisfaction? While each of these on their own will add an element of mystery, all three must be combined to make a truly good mystery. Information must be given or kept in a suspenseful manner, managing a delicate balance between too much and too little. The background must be written in a way that is full of possibilities. Most importantly, the guilty party must eventually be found and brought to justice. Firstly, a good mystery must have suspense. When reading a story centered around the solving of a crime, it cannot be solved immediately; the reader’s mind must be given time to operate. The detective in charge of the crime must be able to put clues together quickly enough to keep the reader interested, but the information must be gathered slowly enough to keep the reader wildly curious. Although A Morbid Taste for Bones fulfills this requirement, the Father Brown stories do not. Brother Cadfael slowly gathers his clues, which are just specific enough to point accusing fingers but just vague enough to leave a healthy degree of doubt. Father Brown, on the other hand, always seems to know exactly what is happening, while the reader is left guessing wildly until the end of the story when all is explained. …show more content…

If the story is set in a happy, sunny world where no secrets or motives are hinted at, there is no potential for interest, doubt, and clues. It must be written with a mysterious sense, lightly hinting at this or that suspect or revealing a new, vitally important clue. Both A Morbid Taste for Bones and the Father Brown stories fulfill this requirement. They create a mysterious setting full of potential, and introduce a cast full of motives. The mood is the perfect backdrop for a crime, and so the reader’s attention is still

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