I asked this question in another forum, but never got a satisfactory answer. What draws us to read mysteries?

For me, mysteries, and particularly mystery series, are the literary equivalents of comfort food. Having a bad day, pick up a mystery. Need to forget that the bills-to-be-paid column is longer than the deposit history on your bank account will ever be? A mystery hits the spot. A mystery and a heaping bowl of extra cheesy mac and cheese, but we won't go there right…