Alameda Times-Star

Mistress of Mysteries

By Jolene Thym

Murder may be a grisly subject but for many it is a bloodless hobby that starts and ends between the covers of a book.

"I love to read and I like the suspense of a good mystery. It keeps me turning the pages. I also happen to like a good puzzle," said Janet Rudolph.

The Berkeley woman is mistress of mysteries -- she reads about three a week, reviews them for a newsletter and heads up the 500-member Mystery Readers of America club based in Berkeley.

"I think what I like about (reading mysteries) is seeing justice done. Everything is solved at the end of a mystery. In reality, that doesn't happen often," she said.

Whatever the intrigue, it seems to be catching. Major publishers report mystery titles are selling very well.

"It's no secret that they're doing better than other genres of fiction," said Ellen Mastromonaco of Doubleday in New York.

Mysterious Press of New York has 8,000 names on their mail order list alone. According to manager Michael Krugman, the store stocks 25,000 mystery book titles and publishes some 100 per year.

"I'd say 60 to 70 percent of our customers are regulars. Some of them come in and buy five to 10 paperbacks or maybe three hardbacks a week. Other people come in once a month and spend $1,000 on books," Krugman said.

Publisher's Weekly surveyed 1,554 people on the subject for the November 1986 issue.

The random survey showed that 60 percent of the men and 40 percent of the women had read at least one mystery. Those in the 18-24 age group were most likely to read mysteries, and the interest level dropped steadily with age.

Of the women readers, those most likely to cuddle up with a mystery were part-time workers, hut those who didn't work at all were least interested.

The average mystery reader, the survey concluded, is a 22-year-old man with a white-collar job. He lives in Texas and prefers adventure mysteries. But readers in the Bay Area appear to be consuming their share.

"In 3 1/2 years, any of our mystery books are checked out 20 to 30 to 40 times. If any fiction book is checked out even 10 times, it is considered a successful choice for the shelf," said Hayward librarian Denise Evans.

Books Inc. in San Francisco said mysteries sell 50 percent better than all other fiction books -- and four times better than science fiction selections.

Publisher's Weekly also outlined the most and least popular of mystery stories. They divided the genre into seven different categories. Detective, spy and political intrigue topped the list. Least favorite among the mystery books were police, solve-it-yourself and crime mysteries.

Here are Rudolph's comments on some of the more common types of mysteries:

Hard-boiled school: Writers in this category include Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald. "He's the tough guy loner, the private eye who gets beat up. It surprises me, but women like these just as much as men do."

Tea cozy: This is a British-style mystery genre, perfected by authors Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh. "There is usually one murder; it is set in a small place. There is an amateur sleuth and no blood and guts. These are my favorites."

Police procedurals: Stories about police cases. "You follow more than one character. I suppose it is similar to 'Hill Street Blues.'"

Detective fiction: Sara Paretsky is one of the most accomplished female detective writers. "They're kind of like 'Police Woman.'"

But no matter what type of mystery it is, a reader should not be able to solve it before he gets to the end of the book, and the writer must play fair.

"I figure if I can solve it before I get to the end, it is not a good mystery," Rudolph said.

"A good writer has to sprinkle the clues through the story, and she has to play fair. She can't have, say, a new computer that brings in new evidence at the end of the book."

Rudolph said she reads two to three books a week.

"I give myself 51 pages. If it doesn't grab me by then, I don't finish," she said.

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