My guest this week is Ramla Zareen
Ahmad, who is an avid reader rather than a writer. Sometimes it’s beneficial to
hear a reader’s viewpoint, and such is the case this week. She’s going to give
us her impressions of love triangles in cozy mysteries.
Ramla Zareen is originally from
Pakistan, but now lives in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, with her husband and
young daughter. Not only is she an avid reader, but she now has two blogs – one
about mysteries and books, and one regarding lifestyles.
Welcome, Ramla Zareen! I’m glad you
could stop in and discuss love triangles in cozy mysteries with us.
ON 'LOVE-TRIANGLES' IN
COZY MYSTERIES
In Cozy Mysteries, the various characters and their relationships with one another are an important aspect in the stories ...which often makes a romantic sub-plot inevitable.
I
enjoy the romance element in Cozy Mysteries, but as a reader, my preference is
that it should be discreet with intimate details avoided.
Moreover,
I usually desire the protagonist to be happily involved with a steady partner
:-)
If
the protagonist is not a part of an established couple right from the first
book of the series, then I prefer the romantic aspect in the Cozy Mystery
series to make natural progression, from initial interaction, between the
protagonist and a single member of the opposite gender, to gradual friendship,
to romantic relationship, to marriage, etc.
And
it's perfectly fine if there are ups and downs, and some romantic tensions, in
all of these phases.
But
the overall trend should always be to move forward ...and for the relationship
to develop, grow and become stronger :-)
I
strongly hesitate to get involved in those series where I sense a prolonged
'love-triangle'.
I
think this is mainly because, to me, 'love-triangles' create uncertainty ...and
diminish the sense of comfort and pleasure that I usually get while reading
Cozy Mysteries ...basically by creating a doubt in my mind whether the
protagonist will be able to achieve a 'happily ever after' with the 'right person
for him/her', or not!
When
the protagonist spends a lot of time, that is, more than 6 to 8 books in the
series, in trying to resolve this issue ...it can sometimes make him/her seem
stupid and immature ...and it also makes me feel bad if it turns out that I had
been rooting for the one that the protagonist doesn't chose!
Negative
emotions are also invoked in me when a 'love-triangle' is introduced after a
couple is already established ...especially if I happen to be fond of the
original couple ...and this can also at times make the protagonist come across
as a fickle person.
All
this further reduces some of the joy and comfort of reading a Cozy.
Moreover,
often much attention has to be given for the protagonist to resolve the issue
of 'love-triangle' ...and this prevents the main focus to remain on the
mystery!
Whereas
I feel that though the romance should definitely be present, as it adds to the
reading pleasure, it should be in the background, as a secondary part of the
story.
Having
said all this ...I think that it's only fair to mention that while it's true
that I usually find 'love-triangles' annoying ...but I sometimes do manage to
ignore them ...if the other factors, such as writing, mysteries, characters,
humour, setting, ambience, etc ...are especially well done.
However,
I would like to emphasize, that in such cases, I read the books in spite of the
'love-triangles' ...not because of them!
So
my respectful and sincere request to Cozy authors is that instead of the
'love-triangles', please use the 'mystery plots' to create the suspense ...and
depend on the quality of writing to entice the readers to read the next book in
the series. If there is a strong need to incorporate ' love-triangles', then at
least please try not to prolong them too much!
Thanks! :-)
Now I would like to conclude by thanking Marja McGraw for providing me with an opportunity to share my feelings and thoughts on this topic:-)
Also
much thanks to everyone for their time and patience to read my post :-)
Thank you for your
thoughts, Ramla Zareen. I hope you’ll return for another “chat” one of these
days.
Those
interested are welcome to visit my blogs:
A
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THE
MAGAZINE AT BLOGSPOT
CLICK HERE to
visit Marja McGraw’s website
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