The curious case of the bad coffee

Have you noticed how you can’t find a decent cup of coffee in the whole crime/mystery genre? Or that the cuppa is always weak and quite possibly scorching?What is wrong with beverages in the literary world?

I miss crime/mystery novels, it used to be the only genre I loved reading besides Literary fiction. Nowdays my library is filled with diversity and while I am glad I open my arms to different kinds of books I miss my old time friend.

I am picky though. I know what elements I need my crime/mystery novel to contain and I am going to walk you through them.

A) Weather.

I wholeheartedly believe a book in this genre need some bleak weather. It craves rain,wind, and bone breaking cold. It just goes well with murder.

B) Location,location,location.

Since I am a huge UK lover, I prefer my novels to be set in a close-knit British (or Scottish and Irish will do) community. I think it is better for the plot to have a smaller area to move about since it is a lot more sinister and a lot easier to work with people that know each other. Secrets are unearthed, cover-ups are exposed, and all this goodies!

C) Well written characters.

Genre fiction has always been a red flag for literary critics. I, for once, love it but a lot of people don’t think much of it. Crime/mystery books can be as equally good as any other genre if the writer pays as much attention to building the characters as they pay in building a good air tight plot. God it is good when done right! A good bad guy and a bunch of interesting characters can lift a crime/mystery book to paradise.

And last but not least

D) A good murder.

To get my approval I need a good victim. Great suspects. And please God two good,caring and not annyoing detectives. When they solve the murder I want them to do it step by step and for it to be believable all the way through.

These are all I need to enjoy a good mystery novel.

What are your favourite crime/mystery novels?

*  Be kind English is my second language.