In a post on CrimeReads, Jincy Willett says the why of murder is more fascinating as whodunnit and how.
“The problem with the Whodunits is that they take as given that motive easily explains murder,” Willett says. “All it takes, really, to make ordinary characters killers is to push them beyond their limits. And that’s another given—that commonplace people have limits beyond which they are capable of deeply evil acts.”
Willett suggests we find these stories comforting, because we don’t really believe that most people are one bad day from murder. Rather, we’re more likely to tolerate our hurts and insults without resorting to violence. For that reason, when we see evil in the real world, we want to know more. “It’s not enough to learn that the accused was propelled by greed, jealousy, whatever,” she says. “We want to know how, even with that motive, even with a bouquet of motives, they could have brought themselves to do such a terrible thing. Why, not who, is the ultimate mystery.”
The key to a why-dunnit is character, not plot or cleverness, Willett says. “The most engaging mysteries feature characters who are layered,” she writes. “They may or may not be relatable, but they are each surprising, in just the same way we all are to one another, and to ourselves.” For the nuanced character, this requires a deeper analysis, in contrast to the standard serial killer, to whom writers are content to affix labels like monster or psychopath.
