Julia Buckley
What a great question! I have all sorts of mysteries from my past, from "what ever happened to so-and-so" to "who murdered that person in our neighborhood?" There have been several unsolved murders in various places that I've lived.
One mystery that stands out to me now goes back to a time when I was a child--probably eight or nine years old--and I was in my front parkway, right next to the street, petting my dog. A man pulled up, got out of his car, and started talking to me, telling me he was a dog lover, and asking what sort of dog was this. He probably only spoke to me for a few minutes, but it retrospect it felt like a long time. He might have just loved dogs, and my dog was pretty--a mix of beagle, shepherd and Norwegian elk hound--but I keep wondering if he had darker intentions in suddenly pulling over and talking to a little girl on her own.
Luckily, when I looked back at my house, I saw my mother's face in the window, watching us. And I'm sure he did, too. Eventually he went back to his car and drove away.
Now it seems to me that could be the start of a thriller.
One mystery that stands out to me now goes back to a time when I was a child--probably eight or nine years old--and I was in my front parkway, right next to the street, petting my dog. A man pulled up, got out of his car, and started talking to me, telling me he was a dog lover, and asking what sort of dog was this. He probably only spoke to me for a few minutes, but it retrospect it felt like a long time. He might have just loved dogs, and my dog was pretty--a mix of beagle, shepherd and Norwegian elk hound--but I keep wondering if he had darker intentions in suddenly pulling over and talking to a little girl on her own.
Luckily, when I looked back at my house, I saw my mother's face in the window, watching us. And I'm sure he did, too. Eventually he went back to his car and drove away.
Now it seems to me that could be the start of a thriller.
More Answered Questions
Cindy
asked
Julia Buckley:
Julia, my dear Mystery and Literature expert, is there a term for implausible deductions in the mystery genre? I'm thinking of elaborate sets of clues solved in obscure ways by the sleuth. Batman often does this to comic effect, but my current read, Paper Towns by John Green, has the main character lucking into clues that no mere mortal would find and finding connections with gravity-defying leaps of logic.
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