Welcome to the Rolling Mystery Blog Tour. My post is the third in today's rolling blog. Our topic is: what's more important plot or character?
That's a tough question to answer. A great mystery plot will keep me turning the pages until the end. But delightful, intriguing characters whom I can relate to make me feel as if I'm part of the story. Beginning the next book in a series is like a visit with old friends. When I reach the last page, I often don't want the book to end. Wherever those characters go, I want to go with them.
When I teach my mystery-writing workshop, I stress the need for characters in mystery series to grow otherwise readers might lose interest. Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plume and her gang kept me laughing for years. Then I hit the wall around number 15. Stephanie continued to vacillate between her two hotties, continued to have financial trouble, and although I love her hamster Rex, he has outlived any hamster on the planet. But who am I to talk? Evanovich is a bestselling author whose sales number in the millions. I hope she continues to write her mysteries. She’s created memorable characters, but to hold my interested I would like to see them develop over time.
While characters are entertaining, great plotting grabs me like a chess game, pulling me into the story, blocking out all distractions. I don't answer my phone, I don't answer my doorbell, I ignore my e-mail, and I pretend to listen when my husband tells me something. Instead I find myself pondering the story even when I’m not reading the book. John Irving’s latest, Last Night in Twisted River, is such a book, but then so are all of his novels. His characters are often successful writers whose lives are in an upheaval, then he places them in awkward, unbelievable situations. He weaves a story, taking readers from past, present, and back again with such finesse, you don’t notice.
So, my answer is both. When writers create memorable characters with intriguing plot, their books receive a prominent place on my shelf. Next to Irving, sets Carl Hiaasen, Anne Perry, Elizabeth George, and Martha Grimes.
