These mystery detectives have it together, and that is why I like them.

I read mystery novels as an escape. I like mystery novels because I like the detectives. I never read the end of a mystery novel to find out what happens, and I never try to solve them. I just read them and let the detective do all the work. I attribute this to when I feel bumbly and uncertain in everyday life. It helps to have a place where perseverance and "the little gray cells" are able to reach a neat conclusion.

I started out reading mysteries when I was little because they were spooky. I liked it better if the mystery involved a ghost, or the supernatural. This was better than something that was attributed to a person. I desired a more mysterious life. As I got older, I became less interested in the actual story and more interested in the sleuthing style of the detective. Detectives became the real escape because they were able to stay calm wearing a sweater set, twirling a mustache, drinking a glass of wine, or listening to opera, while calmly putting all the clues together. Sometimes they brush with being flustered, wondering if they will solve the mystery, but they always put the clues together. This is what really calms me down now, not the spooktacular elements of a mystery novel, although I still like those, its really the mundane description of what a detective does to get through the day and solve the case that I enjoy.

A list, from over the years, of Detectives whose sleuthing style I have enjoyed.

1. Gwen and Jill, first detectives from Something's Queer in the Cafeteria
2. Nancy Drew, her sweater sets are always so neat
3. Sherlock Holmes, very logical, following the clues
4. Hercule Poirot, a psychological detective
5. V.I. Warshawki, this fictional character is a Chicago native

Bonnie Fortune