Genre Discussion: Mystery Novels

[Shiloh Adlar]

There are different kinds of mystery novels out there for us to read such as the kind that are based on conspiracy such as Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code and detective novels such as the Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene to name a couple. I was curious as to which sort of mystery would fall under your favorite.

I really enjoy the conspiracy type mysteries and last term wrote in the SerpenTimes about a mystery book I read called The Map of Fates by Maggie Hall. (I forgot to post about it in here though. Oops.) This book takes the reader and the characters on a journey to find these clues in order to save Avery's mom from a group known as The Order. Avery is part of a group known as The Circle and is very important to them because she is part of the mystery to finding the entrance to the tomb of Alexander the Great. Like a true conspiracy novel, we have this poem or a message that parties believe in and are trying to solve. Avery knows that what The Circle believes is wrong and she must try to find a way to save her mother while also keeping herself safe from both parties. When they discover the true meaning of the message, Avery's world is sort of turned upside down even more and she and her friends learn something very powerful about everyone involved.

While I love guessing ahead to try to figure things out on my own, it's so hard to do with conspiracy novels. Sometimes I can call it ahead of time, but it's very rare. Usually the entire story and the riddles catch me by surprise and suck me in even before I realize what's happened.

So what do you think? Do you like mystery novels, and if so, what kinds and recommend a book under that classification while you're at it!