Mystery vs. Thriller?

ILove2Write · Sep 25, 2007

How do you know if your book is a mystery or a thriller? Couldn't it be identified as both? What would you call that then? Or is it better to just say one or the other?

Also, I read that thriller is about suspense, but doesn't mystery have that too? Does anyone have a clear definition of the two that I could read? I would appreciate it.

rugcat · Sep 25, 2007

I've always thought of a mystery as a literal whodunnit. You don't know until the end who is actually responsible for whatever is going on, and hopefully it's a twist you didn't see coming.

A thriller is more of a how-will-they-do-it? Will the guy in the wilderness survive the hunters trying to kill him, and how will he do it? Will the CIA agent stop the terrorists for destroying New York, and how will he do it?

My first book was mostly a thriller -- what is my MC going to do, and will he get away with it?. But it also had a twist -- the MC's assumptions, from which he drew his motivations, turned out to be slightly askew, and there was a definite twist.

So I usually referred to it as a mystery/thriller.

cletus · Sep 26, 2007

This has been discussed in this thread:http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72988

My two pennies:

There are many books and many writers that stradlle the line between the two. Take a look at the membership directories of the Mystery Writers of America (or the Crime Writers Association in the UK) and the International Thriller Writers and you will see they share a number of members.

Go with whichever BEST describes your book, knowing you can easily hang out in either genre.

The publisher will call it whatever they think will help it sell the most copies.

Michael Murphy · Oct 2, 2007

I always thought a mystery was where the protagonist and the reader don't know "who done it?" In a thriller, the reader knows, but the protagonist doesn't know "who done it?"

Sunkissed27f · Oct 2, 2007

I second rugcat!

ILove2Write · Oct 2, 2007

rugcat said:
I've always thought of a mystery as a literal whodunnit. You don't know until the end who is actually responsible for whatever is going on, and hopefully it's a twist you didn't see coming.

A thriller is more of a how-will-they-do-it? Will the guy in the wilderness survive the hunters trying to kill him, and how will he do it? Will the CIA agent stop the terrorists for destroying New York, and how will he do it?

My first book was mostly a thriller -- what is my MC going to do, and will he get away with it?. But it also had a twist -- the MC's assumptions, from which he drew his motivations, turned out to be slightly askew, and there was a definite twist.

So I usually referred to it as a mystery/thriller.

Thanks for that info!

And thanks to everyone else.

Linda Adams · Oct 3, 2007

Unfortunately, there aren't any "rules" for identifying the two genres like there is for romance. I think at one point thriller became a catchall for books that didn't fit in mystery and that thriller itself never really got defined. There's at least one author out there who started out writing a private detective mystery series. She's still writing the same series, but now the publisher has been calling her thriller. So you may want to find authors who are similar, read them, and then check on their sites to see how they're being billed.

ILove2Write · Oct 3, 2007

Linda Adams said:
There's at least one author out there who started out writing a private detective mystery series. She's still writing the same series, but now the publisher has been calling her thriller. So you may want to find authors who are similar, read them, and then check on their sites to see how they're being billed.

Who are you talking about?

Linda Adams · Oct 3, 2007

ILove2Write said:
Who are you talking about?

Sue Grafton.

JJ Cooper · Oct 3, 2007

Check out the website in Linda Adam's signature line (above). Some great information on this subject and much more information on writing a thriller etc.

Thanks Linda.

JJ

Everlasting · Oct 16, 2007

What if the novel has a combination of elements? A Suspence/Thriller still has mystery. I've just completed a manuscript, that binds together all three elements. Like my first novel: Moon over Key Biscayne, my new manuscript: A Circle of Fear, brings a spiritual understanding to the Suspense/Thriller genre. I'm just starting to shop the manuscript around, and I hope, that everyone will enjoy the read.

Everlasting,

Moon over Key Biscayne
ISBN # 1-4241-6884-8

http://www.booksandmore.4t.com

Mystery vs. Thriller?

ILove2Write

Jaws has nightmares too

rugcat

Lost in the Fog

cletus

I'm a king bee

Michael Murphy

Sunkissed27f

ILove2Write

Jaws has nightmares too

Linda Adams

Soldier, Storyteller

ILove2Write

Jaws has nightmares too

Linda Adams

Soldier, Storyteller

JJ Cooper

.

Everlasting