Literary fiction is known for, among other things, deep delves into what is in the hearts and minds of its characters, revealing myriad kinds of people.
But the same kind of light is shone on characters, what makes them tick and how that mandates things they do, is found in other types of fiction.
One of the mystery series I love best is the Three Pines series written by Louise Penny. I have long called them whydunits instead of whodunits. Although the solution to the murder is a central part of the story, it’s the close examinations of the characters that keeps me coming back. I’m rereading the series now and am just getting into the sorrow of what makes Peter Morrow tick, one of the ways in which Penny takes what appears at first to be a fairly normal character and smashes all reader expectations as he is revealed more and more.
Another novel that I have been enjoying because of what it says about a character is Nita Prose’s second crime novel, The Mystery Guest. The main character (and amateur sleuth) is Molly, head maid at a small luxury hotel.
Molly doesn’t look at the world or react to it the way a lot of people do. She loves big words and loves spelling them out loud, in a compulsory way. As a girl, she was precocious, which meant bullying by students and teachers at her school. Called to pick her up one day, her grandmother, who raised her, just starts taking her to work. To a storied manor of a fabled mystery writer, where Gran is the maid.
Gran helped Molly keep the world from spilling out of control by pithy sayings and copious amounts of cleaning. Given a room full of silver to polish by the lady of the manor, Molly is thrilled. Being able to read in the afternoons makes her even happier.
The past is brought into the present when said fabled mystery writer comes to the hotel where she works to make an important announcement. As with any decent Golden Age mystery (although this one is modern), the fabled mystery writer drops dead before he make that announcement.
The novel goes back and forth in time, between the current aftermath of the writer’s murder and Molly growing up at the manor. Both contribute to the whodunit part of the narrative. But it is the depiction of how Molly sees things that make the novel both entertaining and a lovely way to remember that we don’t always see things the same.
For example, the first time Molly and the mystery writer (appropriately named Grimthorpe) meet, they have this exchange:
"Reading helps me understand things," I say. "And people. I also like to visit other worlds."
"Don't like the one you're in?"
"Not always, no."
And while discussing Grimthorpe’s problems plotting his latest novel, child Molly gives him a way to do it. And they both realize something true about fiction.
"I made it up, kind of. Gran told me a true story, but then I changed it just now. What do you call it when there's truth in a story but it's not a fact?" I ask.
...
"A novel," he replies. "You call it a novel."
Doesn’t matter what genre fiction is, it has the ability to tell truths about the human condition.
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