Six Reasons Why I Write Mysteries

People often ask why I write mysteries. And when they do, I sometimes suspect what they’re really asking is, “Why don’t you write something more important?”

I believe mysteries are important, though. And here’s why I write them.

1. Right always wins. No matter how bad the crime, the bad guy eventually gets caught—at least in my mysteries.
2. Mysteries make me wonder—not just about means, motive and opportunity, but about life, and values, and relationships, and suffering, and faith, and God’s sovereignty, and man’s selfishness, and greed, and arrogance, and…need I go on?
3. The tragedy comes suddenly. Characters don’t have time to brace themselves. Their reactions are raw. The evidence of their faith—or lack of faith–is real.
4. God’s truth is powerful when it’s embedded in story.
5. Mysteries are what I enjoy reading.
6. God wired my brain to think in questions.

Do you write mysteries? Or read them?

Why are they important to you?

Jayne E. Self writes quirky mysteries set in Nova Scotia, Canada.

You can visit her on Facebook or at jayneself.com