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Topic : The problem here is that your readers thought they were reading a conventional mystery novel, when what you (might have) intended to write was something in a completely different genre. You - selfpublishingguru.com

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The problem here is that your readers thought they were reading a conventional mystery novel, when what you (might have) intended to write was something in a completely different genre.

You need to identify what that genre is and do some re-writes so that it's clear from the beginning and at every point along the way that the point of the novel is to experience something other than the mystery's solution being revealed. That way, when it doesn't happen, readers will understand what it was you did want them to experience and not feel (as) deprived of the reveal.

It sounds to me like an existential novel. Nobody's angry that Godot never came, right? Or a tragic one - nobody's angry that the fishermen didn't escape the Perfect Storm, right? Or a psychological thriller - nobody's mad that Hannibal Lecter keeps not getting caught, right? Or a fable - don't fools always get what's coming to them?

All of those types of fiction are written in a different way than the whodunit is, and they all succeed at not leading the reader to expect it to end a certain way.

So, figure out what IS the point of reading your novel, if not a mystery to solve. Once you figure that out, you can study and practice that type of writing.

If you were to treat the entire novel as a statement of this theme (quoted from your original question) and its consequences:

"how things turn out in reality. Many murders remain unsolved, many conspiracies unexposed, many mysterious events are never fully understood."

...and go back to the beginning of it and do some re-writing, I'll bet you can figure out how to subtly alter the tone, flavor and imagery, the scent and feeling of your writing, so that even without changing the plot it becomes something which doesn't set readers up to expect a whodunit, but something else which will satisfy in a different way.


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