The Art of The Mystery

The Mystery novel is rarely cited as a pre-eminent Artform, but it exemplifies many of the traditionally central concepts of Aesthetic Theory. While the highlight of a Mystery is usually the revelation of whodunit, this element is only the last piece of the puzzle, when included, completes a picture of which it is only one part. This illustrates Dewey's thesis that the experience of Art is a cumulative process. Furthermore, that the reader actively tries to solve the mystery in the course of the reading, demonstrates Dewey's contention that the perception of Art is not passive, but is a reconstructive process. The reader's active involvement, trying to unify the various pieces of the puzzle, also exemplifies Kant's analysis of an Aesthetic experience as the operation of the Imagination in seeking Unity, even though the Understanding is unable to provide it via a determinate Concept, which is its normal cognitive function. Furthermore, that a Mystery can be read as if the author were deliberately challenging the detection powers of the reader, is the attribution to it of Kantian Purposiveness. On the other hand, that an element of surprise is gone from a re-reading of even a superior Mystery, refutes Kant's thesis that the aforementioned procedure of the Imagination is universal to any experience of a great Artwork. Finally, a Mystery is usually evaluated in terms of whether or not there are any holes in the plot. This is an assessment of its internal coherence, just as the determination of whether or not an Artwork is Beautiful is an assessment of how well its parts harmonize. So, while some theories locate Beauty in the perceiver, the Mystery demonstrates how it is an objective property of an Artwork.