I would like to know what readers want from a good mystery

[bluemel4]

What I want from a mystery novel is to be surprised. I want to be taken for a ride with a lot of twist a turns and characters I care about.

[Mamberu]

I haven't read many mystery novels yet, but I have seen a lot of mystery television shows to know one thing. I like a mystery that I can solve. NOT something that's easy to solve mind you, but something that lets me have the opportunity to work out who done it by myself.

And as I've said, I haven't read many mystery books, so without much experience in this type of work my next analogy will be between television shows.

A good mystery show is "Psych", all you know at the start of the episode is who died and that is all. As it goes on the main character "Shaun" discovers clues both helps the audience and the fictional character figure out the culprit.

A mediocre "mystery" show would be "Columbo", it's not really a mystery as you know who both the victim and the culprit are at the very beginning of the episode. What drew people to this however, were the steps that led to the main character figuring it out. A good show, but not a good mystery.

[TammyO]

The best example of a very good mystery novel would be Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I never knew what was going to happen. When I thought I knew, the plot took a completely different turn. Great plot twists with likable, complex characters is a perfect place to start. I didn't enjoy the ending of Gone Girl, the characters or the first few chapters, but overall, the book is an excellent example of what a good mystery looks like. A great beginning that draws you in is an added bonus.

[gorbe+]

I want a lot of action, and I do not want to be able to know "who did it" before I finish reading the book. I like real people and also non-human characters. I like murder mysteries and police mysteries.