Elements of a Review / Time Periods / Types of Mysteries (Subgenres)

ELEMENTS OF A REVIEW:

I have a mental list of elements for which I look when reading a book for review. They are:

1. Hook – Does the story grab you from the beginning
2. Setting/Descriptions/Sense of Place – Is it evocative
3. Characters/Character Development – Do they come to life, do you know their back story, are they fully-developed
4. Dialogue – Does it work and provide a sense the character
5. Plot – Does it work, does it make sense
6. Devices – Well-done effective twists, coincidences that are acknowledged.
7. Cadence/flow/style – Does it keep you involved
8. Originality – This is an extra points element for when I find a story that is truly original
9. Overall quality of writing – What is my immediate reaction upon finishing the book.

The things which may cause me to lower my rating are:

1. Unnecessary or spoiler prologue
2. Portents and end-of-chapter cliff-hangers
3. Too many characters, and too many with similar names or initials
4. Too many POVs - more than two starts to annoy me, but I prefer none
5. Flashbacks

My favorites are stories that begin on page one and take you, compel you, to read straight through to the end.


TIME PERIODS:

It often helps to have an idea of the time period in which a book is set.  Here's how I break them out.

- Up to 5th Century - Ancient Times
- 5th Century to 1588 - Middle Ages
- 1588 - 1603 - Elizabethan
- 1603 - 1725 - Jacobean
- 1714 - 1830 - Georgian (George I, II, II - 1714-1830, George IV - 1820-1830)
- 1811 - 1820 - Regency
- 1837 - 1901 - Victorian
- 1901 - 1910 - Edwardian
- 1901 - 1914 (Beg. Of WWI) - Gaslight
- 1914 - 1818 - WWI
- 1918 - 1939 Golden Age - between the wars
- 1939 - 1945 - WWII
- Post-1945 - Contemporary

- 1880 - 1920 - Arts & Crafts
- 1890 - 1910 - Art Nouveau
- 1915 - 1930 - Art Deco

TYPES OF MYSTERIES/SUBGENRES:

Everyone seems to have their own definition.  To me, Charles Todd, Patricia Wynn, Susanna Gregory, as well as Anne Perry, are traditional mysteries.  A cozy is one with an amateur sleuth and tends to be very light.  I don't read cozies, so I can't really think of any that are historical.  Even the first Deanna Raybourn had the protagonist teamed with a licensed investigator.  Traditional mysteries-again, my opinion-may not have sex, graphic violence and or profanity, but deal with more serious crimes/issues in more serious ways.  Even Agatha Christie's Miss Marple is a traditional mystery.  After all, the body count, by the end of the book, is far above normal.  I classify books as:

- Cozy - generally warm, fuzzy, feel-good set in a small town with an amateur sleuth

- Traditional Mystery - current or ex-cops, judges, lawyers, medical personnel, PIs, licensed investigators, journalists, etc.; someone who has some background or expertise in solving crimes or mysteries

- Hard-Boiled - traditional mystery with sex, graphic violence, profanity

- Noir - Contains the above, but more.  Dark, the protagonist can be an anti-hero.

- Suspense - The protagonist is in grave danger and must prevent something dreadful from happening to himself

- Thriller - The protagonist must prevent something dreadful from happening to someone else (John Grisham, Tess Gerritsen's medical thrillers)

Contemporary or historical mystery can fall into any of these categories.  Then, of course, there are all the other areas such as paranormal mystery, etc.