The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

Which is more important: characters you can sink yourself into or loads of twists?

Ed wrote: "Which is more important: characters you can sink yourself into or loads of twists?"

characters or the twist are meaningless

Characters. I have to care about the characters, or I'll give up on the book before I get to the twists.

Atmosphere is the most important thing for me when I read a thriller or watch a movie (that's why I love film noir).
Books over-loaded with characters (like Agatha Christie and Graham Greene) and too much dialog are not for me.

A good example is Robert B, Parker.
I love the Jesse Stone TV movies with Tom Selleck, they contain a lot of atmosphere.
However, when I tried to read the first Jesse Stone book (which after all describes his journey from L. A. to Massachusetts) it had too many dialogs and hardly any action, let alone atmosphere.

However, books with a handful of characters and not too much dialog, but descriptions of the landscape, the woods, the lake etc fascinate me. Like Laird Koenig, Peter Watson, Peter Robinson, Patricia Highsmith.
Highsmith can create a certain atmosphere with few sentences which most authors can't do.

I'm demanding enough to want both good charcters, atmosphere AND a watertight plot. An author who masters it all is Agatha Christie.

I agree Tone.i demand it all too. Else whats the point in being an author?

Some authors rely on twists to cover for poor writing, poor plot, poor character development. For example, the last few years have given us an over-abundance of domestic thrillers: books that center on interpersonal relationships, women in peril. I find myself tiring of the twists.

I think the link below is a great read that explores the tropes.


https://cltaylorauthor.com/2020/09/23...

Characterization is key. If a twist works, it works because the reader is invested in the characters.

Frankly, while a good twist is entertaining, the resolution of some very good books is apparent almost from the beginning of the story and its inevitability is gripping in much the way one can't look away from an imminent car collision.

Characters are preferred over "lots of twists". I read mystery series and enjoy seeing the thread between characters grow. Plot twists are fine, but too many can make a novel seem disjointed. It is similar to special effects in a movie. it is nice to see the visual display, but it does not make up for a poor storyline. This is why most movie sequels fail.

Ed wrote: "Which is more important: characters you can sink yourself into or loads of twists?"

Definitely characters but a twist or two is welcome.