I didn’t know I loved mysteries until I began listening to audio books. And then, I came across Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe. Next I found Agatha Christie’s Hercule Perot and Miss Marple. I was SO HOOKED!
At the time, I wasn’t familiar with any Christian mysteries. And some of the mysteries being written these days are so packed with gore and foul language that I don’t even want to hear/read them, much less pay for them.
Fortunately, I soon became aware of the cozy mystery genre. I do love most of those. “But,” I said to myself, “what I’d really like to read is a good, solid Christian mystery.”
So I wrote some.
And, along the way, I came across Tamar Myers’ hilarious stories. Then I found Terri Blackstock’s Cape Refuge series and Vanetta Chapman’s Amish Village Mysteries. I was charmed, and I would love to tell you why.
1. Christian mysteries are fun.
“Everybody loves a mystery.” Is that a famous saying? If not, it should be.
In a mystery, there are always secrets. And I know for a fact that almost everyone wants to be privy to secrets. In a mystery novel, the secrets have to be unraveled one by one. And the reader has the challenge of trying to guess the secrets before the detective discovers them.
(This characteristic of Christian mysteries is not unique. Most mysteries are intriguing – that’s why I enjoy them so much!)
2. Christian mysteries are respectable.
It’s a relief to know I won’t be subjected to foul language or a boatload of blood and gore in these books. Characters can be lovable and entertaining without spouting filth. And I don’t need to hear the blood-soaked details of the murder. The simple existence of a homicide is bad enough without dwelling on the horror of it
3. Christian mysteries provide a satisfying sense of justice.
I believe it was Carolyn Hart (author of the Death on Demand mystery series) who said that mysteries are modern morality tales. A few hundred years ago, morality plays were a popular form of entertainment used to teach meaningful moral lessons.
In most mysteries, the bad guy is caught and brought to justice. Lawlessness fails. The good guys win. Once again, “God’s in His heaven, All’s right with the world!” (Robert Browning)
(Again, this characteristic of Christian mysteries is not unique. In my experience, most mysteries punish the villain and restore a sense of justice to the fictional universe.)
4. Christian mysteries recognize God’s order.
When a true Christian writes a book, life is honored at all stages and ages. Sex is recognized as a sacred part of marriage – it’s not a random, recreational activity. Fictional believers know the Bible, pray, and do their best to live out their faith.
I’m not suggesting that these books are preachy. You won’t find sermons on every other page. But the Christian characters in the story have a deep faith, and their faith impacts their lives.
Of course, the bad guys don’t recognize God or believe the Bible. But the overall order of the universe lines up with God’s vision of right and wrong.
5. Christian mysteries feed your heart and mind.
Christian mysteries are fun. They’re entertaining. And enigmatic. But they’re not fluff.
I’ve read a lot of books that were fun and enjoyable. And they may have introduced me to a new geographical location or a new career field. But they did nothing to encourage, enlighten or nourish my spirit.
In a murder mystery, the characters have serious problems. Their world may be caving in. A Christian mystery writer doesn’t have to preach in order to show how the characters lean into their God in order to deepen their faith and work through their difficulties. As the readers live through the process with the fictional characters, they have the opportunity to learn and grow too.
My Books
To illustrate #5, let me tell you why I wrote my books.
Lilli’s Song is set in Skyport, a fictional town in the Texas panhandle. In this town, UFO sightings are common. In fact, unknown to most of the town, an alien named Aziz is in regular contact with some of the citizens. I wrote Lilli’s Song to present the possibility that space aliens are actually demons. The contact between Aziz and the Earthlings is set up to resemble a channeling event because I believe so-called space aliens and channeled spirits represent the same source.
Hawaiian Wildflower is set in Lubbock, Texas, where a happily married woman (Nettie) suddenly finds out she’s not so happily married, after all. A young, gorgeous, pregnant, Hawaiian woman (Maylea) arrives in town to claim Nettie’s husband (Dillon). One reason I wrote Hawaiian Wildflower was that I was fed up with hearing the lie that love and hate are two sides of the same coin. Love – if it’s really love – doesn’t turn into hate overnight, as glibly as flipping a coin.
Darkness Under His Feet is set in the fictional town of Deepwater, Texas. The city editor for the local newspaper is accused of murdering her hateful former employer who has just moved to Deepwater to take over the position of managing editor of her paper. I wrote Darkness Under His Feet (and a sequel, Out of Darkness) because I wasted 20 years of my life, spiritually speaking, in the charismatic movement, and I wanted to demonstrate some of the problems with that belief system. You can download and read this book from my website for free.
Keeping Characters Straight
How good are you at remembering the names of people you meet? I’m lousy at it. And when I became an audio book addict, keeping up with characters was a problem for me. I sometimes found myself at the end of a book, learning who the dastardly villain was, and thinking, “Now who’s that? And why did he/she commit this crime?” It was a very unsatisfactory experience.
So, I began making lists of characters when I read a new book. My goal wasn’t to recall the appearance and family history of each character. I just needed a note to remind myself how they fit into the story. Then, as the story progressed, I had a better understanding of the plot with all its intrigues.
Perhaps your experience is similar to mine. If so, I can save you the trouble of creating your own lists for the books I review. My plan is to review a selection of Christian mystery novels and include a character list for each. I’ll include a downloadable list in case you want to print it out.
Links to My Books
I set up this website (bettyjohansen.com) as a platform for selling Lilli’s Song, so the top of every page on the website provides an opportunity to buy Lilli’s Song. Here are links to the pages where you can learn more about each book described above.
Lilli’s Song
Hawaiian Wildflower
Darkness Under His Feet (Again, you can download and read this one for free. Also, you will find information about ordering Out of Darkness, the sequel, if you like Darkness Under His Feet.)
If you should read one of my books and like it, it would be SUCH a generous gift if you would write a review on amazon.com saying why you liked it! (But there’s nowhere to review Darkness Under His Feet since I haven’t published it as an ebook or paperback yet.)
Links to My Blogs
Below is a list of the Christian mystery novels I have reviewed, so far. Each one includes a character list. Clicking on the name of the book will take you to my blog about that book. On the blog, you will be able to find a link to a site where you can purchase the book if you want it. I will add more books to the list as I review them.
Tamar Myers’ Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery SeriesToo Many Crooks Spoil the Broth
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Crime
No Use Dying Over Spilled Milk
Just Plain Pickled to Death
Terri Blackstock’s Cape Refuge SeriesCape Refuge
Southern Storm
River’s Edge
Breaker’s Reef
Vanetta Chapman’s Amish Village Mystery SeriesMurder Simply Brewed
Murder Tightly Knit
Murder Freshly Baked
Terri Blackstock’s “If I Run” series***
Here are links to my blog indexes, which will make it quick and easy for you to find another post to read.
Blog Index – Lists blogs 1-35
Blog Index 2 – Lists blogs 36 to the latest post
Photo credit: GraphicMama-team on pixabay