ALAN H.

GOLDMAN

The Appeal of the Mystery

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A crucial test for a theory of aesthetic value is its been largely dismissive, and their criticisms are
ability to explain the value of particular works, or serious and need to be briefly answered before an
better kinds of works, especially those that have explanation of the appeal of the genre in terms
been very widely appreciated over a significant of the great aesthetic value of its members will be
course of time. In music, for example, the theory initially plausible.
should be able to explain the wide use and appeal More specifically, mystery novels have been dis-
throughout the classical and romantic eras of the missed as having shallow, cardboard, stereotypi-
sonata-allegro form for large scale movements.1 cal characters and little atmosphere; flat style or
In literature, the most widely read genre for more no style at all (especially Agatha Christie); for-
than a century has been the mystery or detective mulaic, repetitious, or conventional plots; emo-
novel, and its appeal calls for explanation as well tional disengagement; and moral smugness or
if we are to understand the nature of literary aes- one-dimensionality, with pat defenses of the social
thetic value.2 My aim in this article is to explain status quo and little or no investigation or impli-
the source of appeal of such fiction, which lies in cation regarding the social causes of crime.3 Some
the kind of aesthetic or literary value the better of these charges are, of course, true of the worst
examples provide. The explanation will lend fur- members of the genre, as they are true of the worst
ther support to the theory of aesthetic value that members of any literary genre. But some, such as
I have previously defended. the extensive use of conventions, are not artistic
vices at all; those that are literary defects do not
apply with anything approaching universality and
I apply as well to other works considered serious
and worthwhile literature; some apply to one type
It will be objected immediately, as it has been by of mystery novel but not to another, and some are
literary critics on one side of a debate, that mys- simply not true even on average.
tery novels are merely part of popular culture, not These counterclaims are substantiated below in
true literary works of art. In its most dismissive explaining the wide appeal of good mystery nov-
form, this claim sees such “escapist” literature as els in terms of their aesthetic value, but I can ex-
worth no more aesthetically than mindless televi- pand in a preliminary way here in order to indicate
sion fare. But reading detective novels has been at the start why such an explanation is in order.
a passion of academics and other consumers of Consider the dismissals in the order stated above,
canonical literature, while mindless TV is not (not beginning with characters and atmosphere. Once
to suggest that all TV is mindless). Philosophers more, some characters, especially minor ones, are
may be quite comfortable with attributing real aes- indeed one-dimensional, and their moral natures
thetic value to popular art forms. In recent years, can be immediately inferred from their physical
aestheticians have given serious attention to such descriptions or even names. They only fill slots in
genres as horror films and rock and rap music. But plot developments and neither answer nor even
of the literary critics who have addressed detec- raise real questions about human nature. But the
tive fiction, several of the more prominent have same is true of characters in Dickens’s novels, for

The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 69:3 Summer 2011


c 2011 The American Society for Aesthetics
262 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

example, and such simple stereotyping may re- social criticism of the consequences of industrial
flect the way most people view others to whom progress. By contrast, as mentioned earlier, it is a
they are not intimately related. Dickens’s skill in standard criticism of detective fiction that it is un-
vividly sketching a character type in a short para- interestingly ideologically conservative in its de-
graph is a literary merit, not defect, and Christie, fense of the social status quo, in its assumptions
who is widely criticized for such sketches, is only that crime results only from individually bad char-
slightly less adept. acters who fortunately are always purged from
By contrast, in regard to depth of characteriza- society by the unquestioning and unquestioned
tion and memorability, how many better charac- upholders of justice. But this criticism too is sim-
ters in all of fiction than the archetype detective, plistic, if not outright false of much good and pop-

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Sherlock Holmes? We remember him more for ular mystery fiction.
his habits, his obsessions, and his skewed but im- Police, as the official defenders of the social
mense body of knowledge than for his feats of status quo, are most often portrayed as bumbling,
detection. And just as Holmes is far more than if not corrupt. Even when the detective heroes
a thinking machine, so the American archetype, are themselves police, as are Simenon’s Maigret,
Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, is far more Colin Dexter’s Morse, and M. C. Beaton’s Hamish
than a tough guy cynic. We repeatedly return to the Macbeth, there are conflicts with less competent
same authors as much for their main characters as underlings or superiors, or the police hero him-
for the ingenuity of their plots. Multidimensional self is somewhat corrupt and incompetent, as is
characters include not only detectives, but culprits Michael Dibdin’s Aurelio Zen. It is true that there
or villains as well, as Chandler’s Vilma, for exam- are competent police who work well with detec-
ple, a multiple murderess, proves to be morally tives, such as Janet Evanovich’s Joe Morelli, and
complex at the end of Farewell My Lovely. Among somewhat more common, aristocratic police and
prominent contemporary mystery writers in the detectives, such as Ngaio Marsh’s Roderick Al-
British tradition, P. D. James is arguably better leyn, Dorothy L. Sayers’s Peter Wimsey, as well
at characterization and atmosphere than puzzle as those with aristocratic tastes, such as Dexter’s
and plot. And few contemporary writers are bet- Morse. But the earlier examples are among the
ter at creating emotionally charged atmosphere more numerous, and thus the generalization re-
than American mystery writer Thomas Cooke. garding social conservatism is more than suspect.
In regard to style, no one accuses the classic Equally to the point, detectives themselves often
American writers Chandler and Dashiell Ham- bend or break the law. Both Sherlock Holmes and
mett of wanting. Chandler’s terse, staccato di- Hercule Poirot let murderers go free after solving
alogue and action sequences, his creative wise- their crimes. And as early as Sherlock Holmes, de-
cracking, and his cynical similes and metaphors tectives have treated the aristocracy with the same
are a perfect fit for the superficial toughness but or greater disdain than socially lesser clients.
more subtlely romantic idealism of his hero and This tradition certainly continues across the At-
first-person narrator in his violent and corrupt ur- lantic. Philip Marlowe’s rich clients are effete or
ban setting. But then Christie’s much-criticized corrupt, and the novels are not misdescribed as lit-
simple and somewhat flat, though elegant and erature of social protest.4 Marlowe may eliminate
gently humorous, prose make an equal fit for a single killer, but violence and corruption con-
the atmosphere of English country life she de- tinue to pervade his world, similar to the Italy of
scribes. And her lack of emotive crescendos helps Aurelio Zen. Then there are other contemporary
to mask her casual droppings of crucial clues in British and Scandinavian writers, such as John le
the complex games she plays with readers. Like- Carré, Peter Hoeg, and Stieg Larsson, who attack
wise, Georges Simenon’s straightforward and un- the evil influence of big business with Dickensian
derstated French vernacular perfectly describes fervor.
the character of Maigret and the Parisian neigh- Turning to the next dismissive objection, it is
borhoods he patrols. true that mystery plots tend to be somewhat for-
I earlier compared Christie’s character sketches mulaic and that they rely on certain relatively
with those of Dickens. But although Dickens’s fixed conventions. I shall have more to say about
characters may be morally transparent and one- specific conventions below, but it can be noted
dimensional, his novels certainly contain penchant here that classical tonal musical composition
Goldman The Appeal of the Mystery 263

relies even more heavily on conventional formu- Patricia Cornwell, the classic British who-done-
las, such as sonata-allegro or theme and variations, it and American hardboiled forms survive and
but is never criticized on that ground alone. By a thrive in contemporary form in such writers as
kind of Shenkerian analysis of mystery plots, we Colin Dexter, P. D. James, and Ruth Rendell on
can uncover nearly universal bare-bones plot out- one side and Elmore Leonard, Robert B. Parker,
lines: a detective, often retired or on vacation, is and James Lee Burke on the other. Detective anti-
hired to look into some problem such as a missing heroes, such as Aurelio Zen or Charles Willeford’s
person or blackmail; a murder ensues that initially Hoak Mosley, continue the tradition in another
either seems unsolvable or points to an obvious way, instead of undermining it. Together with fem-
culprit; further events and more murders refute inist, black, and Continental detectives, we now

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the initial hypothesis; an insight based on some have pathologists, computer geniuses, and others
previously overlooked fact occurs to the detec- trained in new technologies of evidence gathering
tive, who does not yet reveal his suspicion; the full to add to the list. It is the postmodern disdain for
solution is revealed and fully explained. But, as truth or hard fact that has come and gone as a
in listening to music in the classical style, we look philosophical style, while the appeal of the mys-
for and derive pleasure from the way such formu- tery remains to be largely explained by a theory
las are varied, infused with original elements, or of aesthetic value (which is not to deny other sorts
violated to create surprise. A tradition of formal of value).
conventions can be used to stimulate an author’s At the same time, there are contrasts between
imagination and originality instead of stifling it.5 mystery novels and other literature deemed more
This objection can be dismissed as well. serious that I attempt to elucidate. The ways that
It will finally be objected to an explanation we are cognitively and emotionally engaged with
of popularity in terms of aesthetic value that mystery novels are different. I claim that these
the golden age of the mystery novel, roughly contrasts indicate a difference in the type of aes-
1920–1960, has long passed and that a properly thetic value produced and not in the quantity. Our
historically oriented but contemporary aesthetic conclusion so far is simply that there are no ob-
theory will therefore not concern itself with the stacles to explaining the great appeal of mystery
genre’s appeal. The British tradition is seen to novels in terms of their aesthetic value. Before
culminate in Christie, Dickson Carr, and Ngaio providing that explanation and as a final prelim-
Marsh, and the hardboiled American tradition to inary, we might note the diverse explanations of-
end with Ross Macdonald.6 It is also claimed along fered in passing in the critical literature on mystery
these lines that postmodern mystery writers, such fiction. That literature has been mainly concerned
as Jorge Luis Borges and his counterpart Umberto with the history, structure, and ideology of these
Eco, signaled the death of the genre in their de- novels, but critics, in noting the novels’ popular-
constructed versions of it. Detectives in mystery ity, have offered brief explanations. Some of these
novels seek the truth and the restoration of social mirror the dismissive criticisms of the genre, while
order in the face of crime. If, as in the postmod- others are more positive.7
ern versions, the search for a single truth and the They include the following. Mystery fiction pro-
preservation of or quest for a rational social order vides relaxation through intellectual games or
are doomed along with these detectives to fail, puzzles much like crosswords or like magic tricks
then the necessary presuppositions of the mystery when the puzzles cannot be solved.8 It relieves
novel are exposed as pure myth. Then only such anxiety by showing that justice prevails. It pro-
comic spoofs of the genre as are found in the likes vides an exciting escape from humdrum reality. It
of Janet Evanovich or Carl Hiaasen could con- exhibits narrative purity and intelligibility, having
tinue the otherwise moribund literary tradition. fully coherent stories with clear beginnings and
But a quick glance at the space of any present closure at endings, in contrast to other modern
commercial bookstore will show that debunking fiction.9 It affirms the power of reason, symbol-
authors and critics no more killed off the mys- izing the knowability and lawlike nature of the
tery novel than Richard Rorty killed epistemology world, the existence of hard facts, and the power of
(as opposed to offering a different version of it). scientific reasoning or inductive inference, ubiqui-
Along with such recent offshoots as the feminist tous in mental life but clearly exhibited here.10 It
detective novels of Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, or bridges the gap between obscure scientific method
264 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

and the layman, showing that the former can serve initially, but in the end, he provides a full explana-
moral purposes.11 It legitimates and reaffirms the tion of what happened and why. The British story
values of the social status quo or privileged class may move backward from an initial murder, but
by segregating the criminal, at the same time ex- other murders invariably follow. The murder in
orcising guilt from upper-class readers.12 And it the American story may not be in focus in the
provides a vicarious outlet for violent, homicidal, beginning, but it will have happened well before
or sadistic impulses, simulating voyeurism of the the end. A central crime must always be recon-
criminal class. I omit more bizarre Freudian ex- structed from clues often uncovered in the ongo-
planations. Of the ones mentioned, I have already ing action, and it is in the reader’s experience of
dismissed the appeal to social conservatism. Oth- this reconstructive process that the value of the

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ers are partially true, but only very small parts of mystery novel largely lies.
the total explanation, as will be made clear below.
Still others apply to one kind of mystery fiction
but not to another. II
I have been appealing to the standard distinc-
tion among kinds: the classic British who-done-it The explanation of the appeal of mystery fiction
versus the American hardboiled kind. This distinc- that I offer derives from a theory of aesthetic value
tion is not hard and fast: John Dickson Carr and and a theory of interpretation that I have defended
Rex Stout, for example, are Americans who write elsewhere.14 According to the former, the value of
in the British tradition (Nero Wolfe being a near a work is measured by its capacity to engage fully
clone of Carr’s Gideon Fell), while Dick Fran- and simultaneously all of our mental capacities—
cis is British and writes in the tough guy Amer- cognitive, emotional, imaginative, and perceptual.
ican style. And there are more contemporary Other kinds of objects, of course, engage us in
offshoots that combine traditions or fit neither. several of these ways as we interact with them in
But the contrast is nevertheless real. The English the course of pursuing our practical goals in the
country house contrasts with the mean American real physical world. But in the appreciation of art-
urban streets, the orderly society with the violent works, these faculties interact to grasp rich layers
and corrupt, the intellectual master of observa- of meaning among the representational, formal,
tion and inference with the tough man of action. and expressive elements in the works. Imagina-
The British who-done-it moves backward from a tive identification or sympathy, for example, con-
crime to its reconstruction; the American detec- nects us to expressive properties in works, which
tive story moves forward to crimes as they occur.13 in turn create higher levels of formal relations re-
The explanation cited above in terms of violent vealed in perception. And a major goal and effect
impulses therefore fits the American type but not of great artworks, I claim, is to so fully challenge
the British, where violence is downplayed. The and engage our mental capacities operating to-
explanation in terms of an intellectual puzzle or gether as to seem to create alternative worlds for
game fits the British but not as well the American us to occupy, however briefly. The reward is first
kind. the intense enjoyment of being so challenged and
But I claim that there is a broader and deeper engaged, especially when the challenge is success-
explanation for the mystery’s appeal that applies fully met—when, for example, perception makes
to both kinds. For these typical differences, while sense of complex form and cognition uncovers
real, are differences in emphasis and setting, and subtle thematic content. Second, there is the ex-
the different emphases mask important common- pansion of our experience in many dimensions,
alities. Sherlock Holmes acts when he needs to, including moral, and, third, there are the compar-
does not shrink from danger, and is tough when isons afforded to the real world. I will attempt to
he needs to be. Philip Marlowe finds out crucial show how this theory of aesthetic value can ex-
facts by “stirring things up” through violent ac- plain the appeal of mystery novels in a detailed
tions from which inferences about who did what way that other theories—for example, the claim
to whom follow naturally. But while his inductive that aesthetic value lies in the intrinsic value of
thought processes may be less explicit, they are the experience that artworks produce—cannot.15
there, and they uncover many complex entangle- According to my theory of interpretation, inter-
ments of secrets. Marlowe may follow hunches pretation of a work is a kind of explanation of its
Goldman The Appeal of the Mystery 265

elements. Critics explain why those elements oc- a single causal chain will prove correct, at least
cur in the work as they do—that is, how they con- in standard mystery novels, and the reader’s in-
tribute to the aesthetic value of the work (since, terpretation of events and descriptions must be
I take it, they occur in the work in order to en- measured against this final coherent narrative.
hance its value). Interpretation itself then aims to The detective will reason as a scientist—
enhance or maximize the value of a work, to make observing, applying knowledge of causes and
it comprehensible so that its value can be fully ap- causal laws, inferring to best causal explanations,
preciated. This theory of interpretation contrasts eliminating initial hypotheses by further observa-
both with that which limits it to uncovering mean- tional testing, and arriving at the end at the single
ings in the usual sense and with that which limits it coherent narrative that captures all the data. The

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to uncovering what is explicitly intended by an au- reader will be mimicking this process as she reads,
thor. But in the case of mystery novels, as we shall but in actuality her inferences will not be causal
see, correct interpretation is more circumscribed in the usual way, but aesthetic. Like the detective,
than it is in other genres. Here too, however, in- she will be matching clues or physical traces to
terpreting a work, necessary to its appreciation, testimonies. Like him, she will be constructing ex-
is also part of its appreciation since it is a large planatory hypotheses from an initial set of clues to
part of our cognitive engagement with it, so that be tested against further evidence, trying to sepa-
a work that is richly interpretable, all of whose rate real clues from misleading evidence that the
elements can be seen to contribute in one way or author, in the guise of the criminal, throws her
another to its overall value, is to that extent a good way. But unlike the case of ordinary causal infer-
work. Such cognitive engagement, however, must ence, here the most obvious explanation of the
lead to engagement in other mental dimensions as most prominent facts will invariably turn out to
well. be wrong. It will be the seemingly insignificant
To explain the broad appeal of mystery novels and offhand remarks that will point the way to the
in terms of their aesthetic or literary value is thus correct interpretation. The reader is inferring to
to explain why works of this kind tend to engage the narrative that makes the best mystery, not to
our mental capacities in all these ways.16 We may the one that is most probable in terms of ordinary
consider the tendency of such novels to stimulate causal laws in the real world. Hence she is en-
each mental capacity in turn. As mentioned, cog- gaged in literary or aesthetic interpretation. Like
nitive engagement consists mainly in attempts to the author, she seeks a coherent, all-inclusive nar-
interpret. In the case of a mystery, the right inter- rative that is surprising and aesthetically pleasing,
pretation will consist in a fully coherent narrative not one that is realistic and prosaic. The detec-
into which all the events and descriptions in the tive’s final reasoning pattern, of course, is really
novel fit. This correct interpretation emerges at that of the author, and therefore the aim of the
the end and is put by the detective in the form reader’s reasoning as well will be to construct the
of an argument as to why and how the crucial aesthetically best solution to the mystery.
events took place. The correct interpretation is The main point here is that a reasonably well-
the full solution to the crimes and its complete written mystery will literally force the reader to
explanation. This is the correct interpretation be- engage constantly in this interpretive activity. Like
cause every described event and character trait in the detective hero, the reader must pay close at-
the novel will be either a clue to how and why the tention to even seemingly insignificant details (es-
crimes were committed, a red herring, or part of pecially to such details), attempting always to fit
a subplot that ties into the crimes but delays their them into a coherent explanatory narrative. As
ultimate solution. The world of the novel will be Miss Marple notes, “The point is that one must
constructed so as to be ultimately maximally in- provide an explanation for everything.”17 And
terpretable in this way. Everything will fit the final Sherlock Holmes adds, “It has long been an ax-
explanation of the crimes. Every element will bear iom of mine that the little things are infinitely
interpretation as a clue to the solution or a detour the most important.”18 Initial clues will point to
on the way to it. This is what Edgar Allan Poe’s more than one interpretation; but ultimately only
often cited line about an author’s constructing a one, and not the first suggested, will prove to
mystery backwards refers to. The detective’s final be correct, and it is this interpretation at which
inferences as he organizes scattered effects into the reader constantly aims. All novels present
266 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

interpretive problems of disambiguating initially cess requires attention to detail, inferential abil-
ambiguous signs in aiming at completion or clo- ity, memory, and imagination. There may be in-
sure, but mystery novels do so most insistently, terlocking narrative lines and disjointed positive
posing interpretive questions to readers directly. and misleading clues to be ordered into a coherent
The aim here is not to find the meaning of obscure pattern. Sometimes the final pattern emerges only
language, an often tedious task, but to find a place after an ingenious twist that reverses initially plau-
in the final overall narrative for all the elements sible hypotheses, as in the contemporary stories by
described. Jeffrey Deaver. Only in the mystery novel is this
All elements of the mystery novel are made interpretive process a competitive game. It comes
meaningful or significant by this interpretive activ- to a head when the detective announces that he

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ity, relating to past crimes or their future solutions. knows the answer to the crime puzzle but delays
The reader is constantly projecting backward revealing it, challenging the reader to complete
and forward, predicting future developments the interpretive process.
from interpretations of past events. The pro- The detective is, in the end, an infallible in-
cess is two-stepped: clues must first be identified terpreter of the clues, but the seasoned reader
(corresponding to observation by the detective) has one advantage over him in their competitive
and then explained. Everything that happens calls game. The advantage lies in the reader’s knowl-
for interpretation, and so the reader is cognitively edge of the narrative conventions used by the au-
engaged on every page, seeking ordered narrative thor in other novels and those used by other au-
patterns in the textual data. thors in similar novels. These conventions guide
Thus, the explanation of the mystery’s appeal the overall process of interpretation and also allow
in terms of an intellectual puzzle or enjoyable for shorter partial games—for example, predicting
game played between author and reader is par- who will turn up dead next. Once they are well es-
tially correct, since the author is always challeng- tablished, they can be reversed to create surprise
ing the reader to develop a correct interpreta- or complication, becoming variations on themes.
tion of the story as a whole. This challenge or They derive mainly from the genre’s traditions,
competitive game can be more or less complex, the author’s style, or aesthetic considerations, but
the puzzle solvable by the seasoned reader, as in also partly from conformity to the real world—for
most Agatha Christie novels, or not solvable by example, the fact that detectives are usually hired
the reader (namely, me), as in mysteries by John to investigate lesser crimes than murder.
Dickson Carr or Colin Dexter. In the latter cases, Some of the more widely used conventions are
the trick is to understand the final explanation of- the following.19 An early apparent solution to the
fered by Gideon Fell or Morse and to appreciate crime will be false, especially if put forth by the
the ingenuity involved in putting all the pieces to- police; the initially most obvious suspect will be in-
gether. But even when the reader, if reasonably nocent; a missing person will turn up dead, as will
astute, can solve the mystery before the detective anyone other than the detective who announces
does, the aim is not simply to know the solution that he or she has knowledge of the crime without
to the puzzle. What the reader wants to know is revealing it; if something strikes the detective as
not simply who did it, but how the detective deter- not right, it will turn out to be a significant clue;
mines who did it and the extent to which her, the anything mentioned in passing without apparent
reader’s, inferences match those of the detective. reason, especially if mentioned more than once,
The detective’s final narrative is not simply the will be a significant clue; an unidentifiable vic-
solution to a complex puzzle, but an explanation of tim will be identified but will not be the obvious
how it was solved, and the reader wins the compe- one; an undecipherable dying message will be de-
tition with the author (or detective) to the extent ciphered and will be a significant clue; the culprit
that she anticipates that explanation in her ongo- will be among the known suspects, although they
ing interpretations. What we readers enjoy are not will all claim that the culprit is an outsider; a vocif-
solutions to puzzles or what the solutions repre- erously feuding couple will really be cooperating;
sent or symbolize (the triumph of justice, preser- seemingly unrelated characters will turn out to be
vation of order, or affirmation of reason), but the related, often by past events or obscure family
process of interpreting as we read, with all the ties; physical description will match moral charac-
obstacles placed in our way. This cognitive pro- ter; an apparent intended victim who survives may
Goldman The Appeal of the Mystery 267

well be the culprit. As in tonal music, these genre- III

specific literary conventions facilitate the reader’s
following and predicting overall structure while We noted that in interpreting a mystery novel, a
allowing for original variation. Giving readers a reader must imagine possible reconstructions and
competitive edge in their interpretive games with outcomes. An equally or more important role for
detectives and authors, they further explain why imagination to play in appreciating fiction con-
readers repeatedly return to the same authors. sists in imaginative identification with the fic-
I have said that solving the puzzle posed by the tional characters and with the author’s point of
author, engaging in the competitive interpretive view. By so doing, one expands one’s experiences
game, is a large part of our cognitive engagement and outlooks and develops empathy and sympa-

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with mystery novels. Thus, those who locate the thy for different character types, a major value
appeal of the mystery in the attempt to solve its to be derived from reading fiction. Novels them-
puzzle are partially correct. But cognitive engage- selves have value to the extent that they facilitate
ment is only part of the story, and the interpre- such imaginative identification, even with less ad-
tive process challenges us on other levels as well. mirable characters, at least to the extent of think-
I have also said that the right interpretation will ing as they do, since there is still value to be gained
take the form of an all-inclusive narrative, encom- by understanding their motives. There is another
passing all the described events, with emphasis consideration, however. Identification is easiest
on the crimes. This narrative will constitute the when a character is most like the reader, but then
underlying form of the novel as well as its con- there is less value to identifying with the character
tent, although the more superficial form consists since the reader’s experience and viewpoint will
in the events of the investigative process as it un- undergo little expansion. What is most engaging
folds. As hinted at earlier, the latter will resem- to our imaginations and most broadening of our
ble sonata-allegro form in music: the posing of horizons is to be able to identify with or think like
the problem, an initial seeming solution, compli- characters very different from us. This is normally
cations, insight, and confirmation with revelation. difficult, but it is exactly what mystery novels en-
The best mysteries will, in the end, exhibit a deeper courage.
formal structure that satisfies Aristotle’s criterion The detective hero is, on first appearance, very
for good form in art generally: closure when it different from us. He or she is almost invariably an
comes will surprise at the same time as seeming to outsider, something of a loner, being unmarried,
be necessitated by the parts that make up the form. divorced, or widowed, and either near infallible in
In interpreting, the reader must try to antic- observing and reasoning or super tough and sar-
ipate this completed and closed form in imagi- donically witty: a unique combination of Enlight-
nation, thinking in quasi-perceptual ways (quasi- enment rationalism and Romantic heroism. The
perceptual because large-scale form is inferred British version will lean toward the former and the
rather than directly perceived, quasi-perceptual American toward the latter, but both will combine
because form is imaginatively perceived with vi- these features. The archetype, Sherlock Holmes, is
sual images rather than simply being conceived or an eccentric bohemian, a violin-playing, cocaine-
described). She must anticipate how all the nar- using, obsessive manic-depressive. Even when
rated parts will fit into the whole that makes up later detectives are policemen, they are far from
this formal structure. She will try to imagine the ordinary, being published poets, like Adam Dal-
most aesthetically pleasing structure into which gliesh, or alcoholic opera lovers, like Morse. Other
the already experienced elements fit. Here the de- amateurs are obese curmudgeons, like Gideon
tective’s causal explanations will finally coalesce Fell or Nero Wolfe, or strange, anal little foreign-
with the reader’s sense of aesthetic form. Thus, the ers, like Hercule Poirot. Whether artistic bohemi-
interpretive process already engages the reader ans like Holmes, man-of-the-people tough guys
imaginatively and even perceptually, as well as like Marlowe, Ross Macdonald’s Lew Archer,
cognitively. But there are more obvious imagina- or Robert B. Parker’s Spenser, or life-risking,
tive and perceptual processes involved in appre- wisecracking female bondpersons like Stephanie
ciating novels that mystery novels are especially Plum, they are always out of the mainstream.
apt to elicit. We may turn to those, along with Their most notable features will almost surely
emotional engagement. differentiate them clearly from most readers.
268 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

Nevertheless, as emphasized earlier, in playing integrity in imaginatively identifying with these

our interpretive game we must try to match the de- detectives.
tective observation for observation and inference Our imaginative activity of this type does not
for inference. Both the detective and we attempt end there. The fictional detective, we noted, must
to read the culprit’s mind, predict his future ac- get inside the culprit’s mind, must try to identify
tions, and reconstruct his crime by inferring from with the criminal, or at least think like him, in or-
traces he left. In assuming the detective’s task and der to decipher his actions. In playing the role of
imaginatively engaging in his actions to fulfill it, in the detective, then, so must we. To solve the crime,
assuming his interpretive role, we naturally tend we must think like the criminal, as must the detec-
to identify with him, to imagine ourselves possess- tive, so we imaginatively identify with the fictional

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ing his other traits. And of course we all want to criminal’s mind as well. But the criminal’s rela-
identify with him as the defender of loyalty, truth, tion to the detective parallels the author’s relation
and justice. The often present bumbling sidekick to the reader, since the author, like his creation,
or corrupt colleague will strengthen our desire to the criminal, both constructs the crime and throws
put ourselves in the detective’s place, if anyone’s. misleading evidence in the way of its solution. The
And despite what was noted above, this imagi- reader must think like the detective and the crimi-
native identification of reader with detective will nal, but ultimately like the author in trying to find
be easier for the type of reader who is a likely the right interpretation.22 In trying to construct a
devotee of the more sophisticated examples of the coherent final story from what has come before,
genre, especially the academic, who often engages the reader assumes the task of the author, and
in complex inductive reasoning.20 based on her knowledge of the author’s style and
Professors are not as different from detective use of conventions, she anticipates what remains
heroes (especially those in the British tradition) to be written. Just as she must imagine why the cul-
as other readers might be. Although there may prit would have acted as he did, so she must imag-
be little similarity in physical prowess, the men- ine why the author would have mentioned certain
tal activity at the heart of identification through (fictional) facts in the places and ways that he did.
common interpretive endeavor will be familiar. I The reader must reconstruct the thought pro-
noted earlier that inference to the best explana- cesses and therefore possibly imaginatively iden-
tion is ubiquitous in mental life. Sherlock Holmes tify with both the culprit and the detective, but
describes it as “systematized common sense.” It above all with the author in trying to anticipate
occurs even at the perceptual level and includes the outcome of the aesthetically best mystery that
as well the most complex levels of scientific rea- fits as much as she has read. Once more it is mys-
soning. But the detective and the professor uti- tery fiction above all other kinds that forces so
lize specialized forms of such inference more of- much imaginative activity on the reader as nec-
ten than others do. One critic who has written on essary to the activity of interpretation. Cognitive
this scholarly audience for detective fiction de- engagement in interpreting these novels is indis-
scribes academics as “detectives of thought,” ob- solubly linked to imaginative identification with
sessed with creating mental order out of puzzling both characters and authors.
or chaotic data.21 Neither the professor nor the fic- I can be briefer in regard to emotional engage-
tional detective is in it for the money, but, at least ment, which is yet more immediately apparent and
in part, for the love of the intellectual challenge. obvious. The explanation of the appeal of myster-
Like Holmes, both are obsessed with the search ies in terms of vicarious excitement again clearly
for truth and with mastery of their subject matter, captures part of the truth. Some critics have, nev-
and both are outsiders to normal society in some ertheless, pointed out that mysteries instead pro-
sense. It is easiest and most pleasant to identify mote emotional detachment by discouraging pity
with characters who are somewhat like us but bet- for the murdered victim, who is almost never a
ter. Fictional detectives are very different from us well-developed character and, to the extent that
in some ways and like us in others, but we would all he is adequately described, is almost always thor-
like to have the mental acuteness of Holmes, Fell, oughly dislikeable. He may be characterized in
Poirot, or Wolfe, or the toughness and wit of Mar- this way in order to give all the other characters
lowe, Spenser, Plum, Robicheaux, or Morse. We a motive for doing away with him, but perhaps
celebrate our individuality, rationality, and moral also partly to make the reading experience more
Goldman The Appeal of the Mystery 269

relaxing and less threatening to the reader’s state I have been describing the obvious emotions
of mind. But the absence of felt tragedy certainly we experience when caught up in a mystery story.
does not entail the absence of exciting and of- There is also a more subtle kind of emotional en-
ten violent action, and the lack of strong feelings gagement deriving from and more closely tied to
of pity is certainly offset by the excitement that the form of these narratives. I refer here not to
comes from suspense and threats to the hero and the deeper narrative form of the final interpreta-
to other innocent potential victims. Even in the tion that reconstructs the crime and its preceding
more intellectual varieties of the genre, such dan- and ensuing events, but to the surface form of
gerous threats are ever present. Fear no less than the reading experience as it occurs. Once more
pity signals emotional engagement, and vicarious an analogy to musical form is apt. In tonal music

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fear without real threat can be an enjoyable kind there is a guarantee of ultimate resolution of ten-
of excitement. The most obvious emotional stim- sion from tonal dissonance in the final cadence of
ulus from these novels produces this excitement the piece, but its occurrence and, more important,
through the sense of danger, suspense, and sur- its anticipation are more satisfying and enjoyable
prise and from the depictions of fast and violent for being prolonged and delayed. In like manner,
action. we are emotionally engaged by the building ten-
Much has been written on emotional engage- sion in the prolongation of the final solution to
ment with fictional characters, and I can indicate the crimes in mystery novels. All devotees have
only briefly here my own view and place in this de- felt the compulsion to keep the pages turning late
bate. The seminal stimulus for this literature was at night, and it is this feeling to which I refer. It
Kendall Walton’s claim that it is make-believe that is a reaction to a different kind of suspense de-
we feel genuine emotions in this context, in that we rived from form and added to the suspense that
are to imagine having the emotions.23 One main derives from the content of the story. The reader’s
reason for this claim is that our feelings in reading interpretive projection or expectation of the fi-
fiction lack some of the features of ordinary emo- nal deeper form creates the suspense of awaiting
tions. The “quasi-fear” (Walton’s term) we feel confirmation or surprise, and this is heightened
when we identify with the detective in danger, for by the subplots, purely descriptive passages, and
example, lacks the belief that we are really threat- twists in the main plot as they occur in the sur-
ened as well as the disposition to physically flee. face form. Emotional engagement of this sort is
But I believe that a proper account of emotion thus closely connected to cognitive and percep-
concepts negates the need to deny that such fear tual activity (insofar as apprehension of form is
is real. quasi-perceptual). Such simultaneous and inter-
Following the contemporary literature in psy- active engagement is the mark of aesthetic value
chology, we should recognize that concepts of in my account.
emotions are cluster concepts, having clusters of Finally, there is, in my view, yet another kind
criterial properties none of which is necessary or of emotional engagement in the stimulation of
sufficient for the application of the concepts.24 our moral sensibility, which, according to many
Paradigm or prototypical emotions include within recent accounts of moral judgment, is emotional
the cluster of criterial properties judgments about in nature.25 Critics, we noted earlier, disparage
their objects, physiological symptoms and sensa- this literature as morally pat or even corrupt in
tions, as well as motivations or behavioral disposi- its unthinking defenses of the social status quo.
tions. But less prototypical instances can lack some But I disputed this claim, pointing to negative de-
of these elements. Phobic fears, though genuine, pictions of state officials or police and of upper-
lack beliefs in danger, and anger that the weather class clients. More to the point, I noted the very
is bad lacks the disposition to attack it. Thus, there many instances in which detective heroes them-
is no reason to deny that emotional engagement selves bend or break the law, to the extent of let-
with fictional detectives takes the form of gen- ting known murderers go free, as do the suppos-
uine (but not paradigmatic) emotions. We do not edly staunchest defenders of social conservatism,
have imaginary emotions in the context of reading Holmes and Poirot. Other detectives, such as
mystery fiction, but real emotions when we imag- Hammett’s Sam Spade, are more clearly morally
ine ourselves to be in the detective’s dangerous ambiguous, leading us to reflect on their motives
world. and the ethical status of their actions. Loyalty
270 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

to client (or in Spade’s case, to a strongly dis- fictional events as described, and she will experi-
liked dead partner) seems often to trump other ence the latter forcefully in terms of building ten-
virtues or moral requirements, but this priority, sion and its resolution. Thus, she will be strongly
while prevalent in professional ethics generally, engaged in this quasi-perceptual way, connected
should itself be a source of moral reflection and to her cognitive, imaginative, and emotional
questioning.26 engagement.28
In general, it is the personal morality and anti- I earlier disagreed with those critics who dis-
authoritarianism of the loner and outsider detec- miss mystery fiction as lacking interesting prose
tive that is celebrated in these novels, not the style. The writing of the better authors in the genre
norms of a socially stratified society. Not that is a perfect match of style to content. This in-

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there are not also morally objectionable assump- cludes not only the terse, witty vernacular laced
tions underlying some typical character and ac- with wisecracks and similes of the Americans, but
tion portrayals—for example, the depiction of lead also the much toned-down prose styles of Christie
liberated female characters as nymphomaniacal and Simenon that simply and directly relate dia-
or homicidal psychopaths, as well as the celebra- logue and action. Both traditions, the simple ele-
tion of sadistic violence, in the hardboiled Amer- gance of the British and highly stylized rhythms
ican classics. And just as the initial murder will of the American, have their contemporary mas-
fail to evoke pity for the victim, so it will fail ters in such writers as P. D. James and James Lee
to evoke moral outrage, as opposed to interest Burke. Appreciation of these textural qualities in
in the narrative. But on the whole, it is the de- the language and of their fit with settings and ac-
tective’s somewhat idiosyncratic ethical code, as tion constitutes the reader’s more clearly percep-
well as our imaginative identification with charac- tual engagement with this literature. Here there is
ters both better and worse than we are, that will literal perception of the language and its texture,
prompt moral reflection and engagement of the the feel of the sounds and rhythms, as opposed
morally reactive emotions in the sensitive reader. to the quasi-perception of the overall form of the
Once more, much has been written on the aes- novel through visual images as well as conceptual
thetic implications of moral perspectives assumed maps. The prose style of the better writers in this
in fiction. One main question at least since Hume genre, as in others, has a distinctive feel that re-
has been whether objectionable moral stances are lates positively to content and promotes another
aesthetic defects. Following both Hume and the level of engagement with their works.
theory of aesthetic value assumed here, my view
is that they are aesthetic defects when they turn
readers off instead of stimulating moral reflection IV
as another level of engagement. Moral ambiguity,
in such classic characters as Hamlet or Ahab, or I have explained the appeal of mystery fiction in
in Sam Spade or Aurelio Zen, can therefore be a terms of its genuine literary or aesthetic value,
literary virtue, while straightforward advocacy of where that value consists in the full simultane-
the viewpoint of a patently evil character would ous and interactive involvement of all our mental
be a defect. capacities. It will be emphatically objected here
The final mode of engagement, prominent in as at the beginning that this explanation cannot
other art forms but less so in literature, is per- be accurate in failing to distinguish this escapist
ceptual. Although somewhat subtle, there are two literature from more serious kinds. In reply, al-
types of perceptual involvement with novels: ap- though I see all literature, indeed all art, even of
prehension of formal structure and feel for the the socially critical kind, as escapist in relation
writing style or texture of the language. I have to the real or nonimaginary world, I do not wish
pointed to a distinction between two levels of form to deny a distinction between mystery and other
in the mystery novel: the form of the final narra- literature deemed more serious. In fully occupy-
tive that reconstructs the causal sequence leading ing us in fictional or imaginary worlds, art allows
up to and through the crime to its consequences, us to escape our more mundane concerns, even
and that of the story as written and experienced where these fictional worlds invite comparison to
in reading.27 I noted that the reader must con- the real one and suggest reform. We escape the
stantly anticipate the former in interpreting the real world by fully participating in art’s imaginary
Goldman The Appeal of the Mystery 271

worlds, and therein lies at least part of its great 1. For my explanation, see Aesthetic Value (Boulder, CO:
value for us. The more complete our engagement Westview, 1995), pp. 82–91.
2. Michael Cohen, Murder Most Fair (Cranbury, NJ: As-
in these worlds, the more complete our escape, sociated University Presses, 2000), pp. 13, 174.
the better the art, given the value for us of the 3. Regarding mystery novels’ supposed lack of style, see
creation of these alternative nonreal worlds. Dis- especially Edmund Wilson, “Who Cares Who Killed Roger
missing mystery fiction as escapist therefore has Ackroyd?” in his Classics and Commercials (London: Allen,
1951, pp. 257–265). For criticism of their one-dimensionality,
little bite.
see Stephen Knight, Form and Ideology in Crime Fiction
But mystery fiction is indeed different from (Indiana University Press, 1980), pp. 67, 117; Marty Roth,
other kinds to which professional literary critics Foul and Fair Play (University of Georgia Press, 1995), p.
have traditionally paid more attention. The differ- 133; Geoffrey Hartman, “Literature High and Low,” in The

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ence does not lie simply in having larger-than-life Poetics of Murder, ed. Glenn Most and William Stowe (San
Diego: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1983), at p. 224.
near superheroes, although that too distinguishes 4. Dennis Porter, The Pursuit of Crime (Yale University
this genre from some other kinds. The main differ- Press, 1981), p. 169.
ence, which explains why critics pay more atten- 5. J. W. Krutch, “Only a Detective Story,” in The Art of
tion to other genres, lies in the interpretive task the Mystery Story, ed. Howard Haycrat (New York: Simon
and Schuster, 1946), pp. 175–185, at p. 180.
that has been at the center of our discussion. So-
6. Julian Symons, Bloody Murder (New York: Warner,
called serious literature keeps critics endlessly in 1992), pp. 205, 302.
business because of its multiple and sometimes in- 7. Since it is literary critics and not philosophers who
exhaustible interpretability. Most fairly complex have attended to mystery fiction, it is once more the former
novels admit of equally acceptable but incom- to whom I am mainly reacting in this article.
8. W. H. Wright, “The Great Detective Stories,” in The
patible interpretations that bring out or enhance Art of the Mystery Story, pp. 33–70.
different valuable aspects of the novels, and this 9. Marjorie Nicolson, “The Professor and the Detec-
possibility of different interpretations by differ- tive,” in The Art of the Mystery Story, pp. 110–127, at
ent readers invites creative cognitive engagement p. 114.
10. Michael Cohen, Murder Most Fair, p. 110; H. P. Rick-
with the works. By contrast, we have seen that
man, Philosophy in Literature (Dickinson University Press,
mysteries admit in the end of only one correct in- 1996), p. 161.
terpretation, although they will invariably suggest 11. J. K. Van Dover, You Know My Method (Bowling
others along the way. This is why we do not as Green State University Press, 1994), p. 24.
often reread individual novels, as opposed to au- 12. Nicholas Blake, “The Detective Story—Why?” in The
Art of the Mystery Story, pp. 398–405, at pp. 399–401.
thors, in this genre (at least I do not). We have 13. Noted by Ross Macdonald, “Introduction,” in Great
also seen that the lack of multiple correct inter- Stories of Suspense (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974),
pretations in this case does not lessen the reader’s p. ix.
cognitive engagement. If anything, interpretive 14. See my Aesthetic Value. Brief summaries will suffice
here.
activity is more constant here and practically
15. Malcolm Budd, Values of Art (London: Penguin,
forced upon the reader, even though at the end, 1995).
the story will interpret itself and refute all rival 16. I am using ‘literary value’ to refer to the kind of
interpretations. aesthetic value that works of fiction have. They engage us
Some questions may remain in the end about as do other types of art, but by different means and with
different emphases.
morals and motives, but in the main, all loose in- 17. Agatha Christie, Murder at the Vicarage (New York:
terpretive ends will be tied up. As in much good Dell, 1958), p. 195.
art, we will be left with an ultimately coherent 18. Arthur Conan Doyle, “A Case of Identity,” in The
picture, but one in the appreciation of which all Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (New York: Franklin Watts,
2007), p. 50.
our mental capacities and efforts will have coop-
19. Some of these are mentioned by George Dove, The
erated. We return to this literature so often for Reader and the Detective Story (Bowling Green State Uni-
this challenging and pleasurable exercise.29 versity Press, 1997), pp. 21, 33, 84; some others not men-
tioned here are noted by David Lehman, The Perfect Murder
(University of Michigan Press, 2000), p. 212.
ALAN H. GOLDMAN
20. The emergence of numerous detective heroines, such
Department of Philosophy as V. I. Warshawski, Kinsey Millhone, Kay Scarpetta, and
College of William and Mary Stephanie Plum, undoubtedly facilitates such identification
Williamsburg, Virginia 23187 by women readers. But I have emphasized the genderless
mode of reasoning as the main source of identification with
internet: [email protected] detectives.
272 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

21. Nicolson, “The Professor and the Detective,” pp. 25. See, for example, Jesse Prinz, The Emotional Con-
125–127. struction of Morals (Oxford University Press, 2007); Shaun
22. John Irwin, The Mystery to a Solution (Johns Hopkins Nichols, Sentimental Rules (Oxford University Press, 2004);
University Press, 2000), p. 414; Heta Pyrhönen, Mayhem and Bennett Helm, Love, Friendship, and the Self (Oxford Uni-
Murder (University of Toronto Press, 1999), p. 15. versity Press, 2010).
23. Kendall Walton, Mimesis as Make-Believe (Harvard 26. See Alan Goldman, The Moral Foundations of Pro-
University Press, 1990), chap. 7, “Psychological Participa- fessional Ethics (Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1980).
tion,” pp. 240–292. 27. Critics standardly draw a similar distinction between
24. See, for example, Beverly Fehr and James Russell, the time sequence of the investigation and that of the crime.
“Concept of Emotion Viewed from a Prototype Perspec- 28. Again, quasi-perceptual in involving visual imagery
tive,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 113 instead of direct perception.
(1984): 464–486; J. M. G. Williams, Cognitive Psychology and 29. I thank Carolyn Korsmeyer and an anonymous ref-

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Emotional Disorders (Chichester, UK: John Wiley, 1997), eree for this journal for helpful comments on an earlier draft
pp. 5–6. of this article.