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Open or Closed Mystery

Stewart

Stewart

Active Member
Which type of murder mystery do you prefer? Open (think Columbo where the audience knows the murderer from the start) or closed (think Murder She Wrote where the audience learns who he killer is at the end) mysteries?
 
I agree with Zolipara - I personally prefer closed mysteries, to me disclosing the identity of the murderer at the beginning defeats the object.
 
I prefer closed mysteries because for me if you know from the start it just spoils it! :)
 
Definitely closed. I don't like to know the ending at the beginning. Now, I do enjoy Columbo but it does take away something by knowing who the killer is when the show opens. But it is kind of interesting to see the kind of deduction Columbo has to go through to prove who the killer is and think about how you would go about proving it as well.
 
But, by knowing who the killer is, is it not fun to watch how the perfect murder (as percieved by you and the murderer) is deconstructed so that you see the vital mistake?
 
I prefer the closed as long as they give me all the information I need to find out who did it.
 
I prefer the P.D. James type wherein you are led through a labyrinthine tale that can take you absolutely anywhere at all. You can take nothing for granted with James.

And has anybody here read any of Barbara Vine's psychological suspense mysteries? You remember her characters for ever. Or how about Philip Maitland Hubbard?
 
Closed without a doubt. I want to try to outguess the detective! I love it when Sherlock Holmes breaks down his reasoning at the end on how he solved the case. I don't like certain closed mysteries where in the end the detectives solves the mystery, but it's based on some information that wasn't narrated in the story.

ds
 
direstraits said:
I love it when Sherlock Holmes breaks down his reasoning at the end on how he solved the case.
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One of these days I'm going to buy my birthday mate a drink. ;)


Though I can appreciate the talent it takes for a writer to hold ones interest in the other style.


RaVeN
 
For the most part, I prefer closed. I like my mysteries to be... a 'mystery'!

RaVeN said:
Though I can appreciate the talent it takes for a writer to hold ones interest in the other style.
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Good point, though!
 
There is so much more to Columbo than deconstructing the way the killer worked. The viewer is treated to a predictable, but funnier for that, Columbo mannerism of "just one last question" as the killer is walking through the door; his working-class "got-yous" over the portentious arrogant rich; and the comic totally unbelievable evidence coincidences that would never hold water in a real court. We watch it to relax and be amused.

I enjoy working out who really did it by sussing out the clues the writer litters. However, many writers, like me, plan out the plot but the characters and action become their own, take over the plot and away it goes. It's all I can do to rein them in near the end. I'm glad to finish writing them so I know how they finish!

Geoff
 
I enjoy both open and closed (although by open you really mean an inverted mystery). You can get brilliant examples of both, notably The Twelve-Thirty from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts and The American Gun Mystery by Ellery Queen. Excellent examples of both types.

~MonkeyCatcher~
 
I prefer closed, but I'll read open, if it holds my attention. I love trying to figure the mystery out along with the "detective".
 
I prefer the closed sort, but only if I am presented with all the facts. Sometimes an author will spring a factoid or reasoning out of thin air at the end, and I have to say it irritates me no end! :(

Someone above mentioned Sherlock Holmes, also the newer additions by Laurie King i.e. The Beekeepers Apprentice are mostly in keeping with that closed line of writing. BTW, the last two of hers are not up to snuff IMHO.
 
For me, it depends on who the writer is. I never really thought about this, but open mysteries can get frustrating for me because I'm silently yelling "it's right there in front of your face!".
 
The "mystery" in an open mystery is how the perpetrator will be caught, instead of whodunit. I actually prefer the open kind. The Demolished Man is a classic example that combines open mystery with science fiction.
 
Closed mysteries are always better for me. It's more fun to use your own deductive skills and see if you can guess the perpetrator before the dectective figures the mystery out.
 
i prefer closed. i've read books where the killer is basically announced in the first chapter [ie: lovely bones] but still really liked the book. a closed mystery just grips my attention span more
 
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