In praise of stand-alone mysteries

Publishers like series mysteries because readers like them. Once we get to know and like a character or a group of characters, we want to read about the same characters in different situations. New characters can make it more difficult to get interested in new novels. Thus, when we go to the bookstore, most of us are more likely a purchase a book with characters we are already familiar with than a book from a different, untried series or a stand-alone book, even if it's by an author we have read before and liked.

Writers, however, can be of two minds about series mysteries. On the one hand, they can provide a steady income, or a growing income as the series gains in popularity. They also give an author a framework of characters with which to start each novel. Much of the work of writing a novel is already done because the major characters have already been created.

Elizabeth George

The downside is that series books tend to become formulaic. There can be less opportunity for creativity and originality. Some writers, such as Elizabeth George, combat this by creating a group of characters and sometimes switching the focus from one to another. Her books are usually thought of as Inspector Lynley novels, but sometimes her main character is Barbara Havers or Simon Allcourt St. James, the forensic pathologist. She has said that she originally intended St. James to be her main character until Thomas Lynley took over the lead role.

Another way mystery writers try to feed their creative impulses is to develop a new series of books, sometimes written under a different name. Some writers have several different series going on at the same time.

Another problem with a series of books is that it challenges credulity. How many times can an aging spinster like Jane Marple, living in a quiet English village, realistically become involved in a baffling murder mystery?

Some writers manage to break away from their series and write successful stand-alone novels. Laura Lippman is a prominent example. She made her name with her series of Tess Monaghan mysteries, but now she writes mostly stand-alones like I'd Know You Anywhere and Life Sentences. These books may have, if anything, expanded her audience.

All this brings me to Nancy Pickard, another writer who was able to break away from the series rut and write successful stand-alones. For years she had moderate success with her Jenny Cain mysteries and then her Marie Lightfoot mysteries. Then in 2006 she published The Virgin of Small Plains, a stand-alone novel set in her native Kansas. Since then she has written The Scent of Rain and Lightning, now a motion picture. She has expanded her readership, to me at least, and freed herself to create outside the box mandated by established characters and storylines. Perhaps I will review The Virgin of Small Plains next time.