  Mystery
This week: Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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"All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream"
Edgar Alan Poe
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Welcome to this week's edition of the Mystery Newsletter. A mystery by nature is a question in search of an answer - a puzzle! And when we uncover the answer to the question, effectively solving the puzzle moments before the writer gives us the solution, follow clues tactile and cerebral, the momentary satisfaction is sublime! And we can frolic and have fun along the way |
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Over the past couple of months, we’ve tended our garden of words and employed our culinary skills to cook up a mystery (or savor a delightful repast or two). Now that the full harvest moon in the northern hemisphere signals the final harvest before the days start getting shorter, let’s add a bit of garnish and zip to our repast.
Capers add spice, adventure, audacity to a crime mystery, just as their culinary counterparts season a salad, pasta, fish, a martini (instead of the customary olive – audacious, you think). The American Heritage Dictionary defines a caper as a “frivolous escapade or prank.” In the hands of a wordsmith, it further becomes “an illegal plot or enterprise, especially one involving theft.” Ibid.
So, a caper mystery would have elements of capriciousness (yes, still harvesting those words) – i.e., humor, adventure, unusual twists, cleverness or audacity. And the crooks often don’t get away with it. Think of the Pink Panther perhaps, or Young Frankenstein, when Igor is questioned about the lack of normalcy in the brain he stole, responding that he read the label and lifted the normal one, the one in the jar marked “AbNormal (AbbyNormal).” Or, perhaps you have this pair of hapless bank robbers who take advantage of a scheduled brown-out to haul several hundred thousand dollars out of a bank vault to find the getaway car won’t start – a dangling siphon hose mocking them as the power comes on and the alarms go off and they have to… (anything can happen here).
A caper mystery is not slapstick, but incorporates the comedic, ingenuous, or audacious elements into a mystery with a recipe that often unravels the plot as the clues are observed and solved. The following ‘ingredients’ or building blocks are found in these delightful mysteries:
 In the preparations for the crime, cues or clues are given the reader in the set-up of the crime – which characters are outwardly silly, inept, ept? Notice that I said ‘outwardly’ – plant a clue or two with dialogue or action to bring the reader into the mix.
The crime itself – most often successful, but with some unexpected events or encounters.
The plot unravels either due to the actions of the characters, or despite their actions, and they are either caught or somehow lose the loot, or …. Now you get it, all the plans lead up to this big ‘job’ that just doesn’t end the way it was supposed to.
A caper mystery is very character-driven – dialogue and depth of character interaction adds the spice that flavors the story. Watch an everyday heist, perhaps a vintage “Mister Potato-Head” just has to be purloined for an esoteric (wealth-producing) reason, become a quest, then a curse, as the mystery evolves.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey, and perhaps weave a saucy caper of your own. While you’re here, though, check out some of the capers offered for our enjoyment by writers in our Community.
Keep Writing!
Kate
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I know you will enjoy reading (and sharing your comments with a review} the following capers in prose and, yes, one in verse, penned for your reading pleasure by fellow 'sleuths' in our Community
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Have one you'd like to share ~ check out this exciting challenge
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HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY WDC
Until we next meet, we harvest our words,
embrace the mystery and
Keep Writing!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading |
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Mystery: September 17, 2008 Issue [#2613]
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