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Romantic suspense novels vs. Mystery
My latest novel THE INFERNO COLLECTION, published in hardcover by Five Star/Gale went under their romance category. Actually, the novel is a strong murder mystery thriller with an element of romance. I've noticed that the men who've read my novel enjoyed it just as much as the women. When a mystery novel is categorized as "romantic suspense", does this mean the publisher is saying the book is only for women? Is it a way of saying that mystery is not really an important element in a book? In my case, I spent years writing a novel that I considered quality. Opinions please!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Morgan Mandel on -
Sometimes it depends on the market and who you're trying to reach. Romantic suspense seems to be stronger lately,so maybe your publisher wanted you categorized to take advantage of the current market.
My mystery, Two Wrongs, can be either categorized as a romantic suspense or a mystery. It depends on
my audience what I choose to call it, but my publisher has it under mystery, not romance. It came out 2 years ago, so tastes have probably changed since then.
Morgan Mandel
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Permalink Reply by Jacqueline Seewald on -
Morgan,
I read a lot of mysteries that I would consider romantic suspense as well. Faye Kellerman's work is quite romantic. J.A. Jance and Tami Hoag write mysteries that have strong romance elements. A number of men as well as women have enjoyed THE INFERNO COLLECTION. I would hate to think the audience was limited because the book was placed in a category. This is a problem with genre novels; publishers wants to pidgeon-hole the writing. Very medieval!
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Permalink Reply by Mary Dee on -
Mystery is a term that automatically attracts me. Romantic Suspense is something I would not touch (actually would avoid) unless very highly recommended by someone who likes the same sort of books that I do. That is just me, but I wonder if others have similar tastes. Most of my men friends do not read romantic anything in public.
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Permalink Reply by Jacqueline Seewald on
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Sometimes there's a narrow line separating mystery and romantic suspense.. Jayne Ann Krentz, for example, is a writer of romantic suspense. This means the romance is more important to the story than the mystery. However, she is an intelligent writer who writes quality fiction so there is always a good mystery in her novels as well. Many mystery writers have strong romances in their novels. It's something of a balancing act. The last John Sanford novel I read had strong romantic elements although it was a mystery thriller. With my novel, THE INFERNO COLLECTION, I also did a balance between the two genres. I confess that the mystery thriller aspect was what guided the story line. However, character development was also crucial. Kim Reynolds is a complex human being as well as a librarian sleuth. Dealing with her personal demons and finding love is a significant aspect of the novel as well.
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Permalink Reply by Joan Hall Hovey on
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Hi, Jacqueline, Morgan et al,
I also write suspense novels and they usually do have a romantic thread woven through, but the thrust is on the suspense. With a romantic suspense novel, it is generally a romance with a thread of mystery and suspense. Two of my novels Listen to the Shadows and Nowhere to Hide were published by Zebra Books and the bookstores sold them under horror, which they weren't. Go figure. A sales thing, I guess and not much you can do about it once the book is out of your hands.. My last novel was Chill Waters and the one I'm working on now THE PLAN is an entry on textnovel.com You can check out the trailer on this site. (Pen name Lillian Watts.) Definitely, romantic suspense doesn't mean the book is only for women, Jacqueline, or that the mystery is not an important element in the book. It's like a recipe for your favorite cake - all the ingredients, in just the right amounts, are not only important, but crucial. Hope this helps.
Joan Hall Hovey
www.joanhallhovey.com
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Permalink Reply by Jacqueline Seewald on
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Hi, Joan and All,
I believe Zebra puts out good quality mysteries and romances. Problem is publishers often put misleading genre labels on their fiction. My follow-up to THE INFERNO COLLECTION is THE DROWNING POOL which was published this year. It is truly a mystery novel not romantic suspense. It is, however, a romantic mystery, if there is such a category. There is also an element of the paranormal in it. Five Star labeled it romantic suspense under their Expressions line. It should have been placed under Mystery. When Publishers Weekly reviewed it, theyobviously gave it to a romance reviewer who stated that the romance flowed but there was too much mystery in it. I did much better with Booklist which gave excellent reviews to both novels. It's all rather frustrating! The good news is that the next novel in this particular series will be under the Mystery line at Five Star. The bad news is that THE TRUTH SLEUTH won't be published until 2011.
Joan, I will look for your "Lillian Watts" novels. They sound great. As for men reading mystery combined with romance, I know many who have enjoyed both THE INFERNO COLLECTION and THE DROWNING POOL.
I feel as comfortable writing from the male perspective as the female. Men seem to connect easily to my varied characters.
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Come on Over
I'm over at a few other blogs today. If you get a chance, come on over to see the Christmas Decorations at http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/At http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/ the topic is Spoiled Milk. Ever sit down to read a good book and been disappointed?
If you haven't yet, check out the post below about the Paper War.
Thanks,
Morgan Mandel
Paper War
I've been waging a war on paper the last few days. So far, paper is winning. The more I clean up, the more of it I find. The problem is, for much of it, I feel an obligation to do a thorough examination and decide whether or not it's worth keeping.The mailperson is my enemy. He, sometimes she, keeps leaving more paper in my mail box. I'm not talking about my Christmas cards, which I cherish, but all the other stuff dropped off for me to sort out. At times it's torture to come home and see the new pile the DH has set on the kitchen table.
I've discovered tons of magazines over a year old. They were trying to hide in a magazine holder on the side of the couch, but not doing a good job of it, since they were spilling over. Of course, I decided to check the headings on the covers to see if some of the information inside might prove valuable. Wouldn't you know it, I was right. Many articles seemed to good to give up.
I've already mentioned here before about how I also have a compulsion to print out emails that seem important to me. The result is I have lots of important pieces of paper. When there's an abundance, which is the most important? And, where's the one I really need? It is a quandary.
What about you? Is paper your enemy? Are you also waging a war against it? Who is winning?
Library Displays - See Make Mine Mystery Monday
Have you tried a library display? If you want to see mine, come on over to Make Mine Mystery on Monday.Thanks,
Morgan
Christmas Card Blues Is Up at Un:Bound Today
Hi Gang,I've written a short Christmas story which is being featured at Un:Bound today.
You may be able to relate to some of it.
I'd appreciate your going over to look and leave a comment.
Thanks,
Morgan
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