Is Graphic violence becoming a modern day trend in thriller and mystery writing?

I read Writing Mysteries, A handbook by the mystery writers of America and I would like to have opinions on Jeremiah Healy's rules of violence in a private investigator stories. Though my books are not private investigator types nor are they hard boiled mysteries, I believe most of the advice in that book pertains to mysteries and thrillers as well.

What do you think that "...there must be some violence but no graphic scenes of child abuse, rape and animal cruelty." Even though these things exist in real life and mystey and thriller writting emulates reality.

As of late, I've read plenty of stories that violate this rule and quite frankly, thought they were more realistic and I disagree with Jessica Mann and Jeremiah Healy.

My novel INSTANT MESSENGER for instance is a fiction based on real life serial killers, and I believe I owe it to my audience, the true crime lovers, to give them a front row seat of what happens to victims of serial murder, violence and rape behind closed doors.

I quote one article bellow.

· Amelia Hill

· The Observer, Sunday 25 October 2009

· Article history

"Jessica Mann, an award-winning author who reviews crime fiction for the Literary Review, has said that an increasing proportion of the books she is sent to review feature male perpetrators and female victims in situations of "sadistic misogyny". "Each psychopath is more sadistic than the last and his victims' sufferings are described in detail that becomes ever more explicit, as young women are imprisoned, bound, gagged, strung up or tied down, raped, sliced, burned, blinded, beaten, eaten, starved, suffocated, stabbed, boiled or buried alive," she said."

What do you think? Is mystery becoming more realistic and the meek should either cope with it or, exercise their right to freedom and simply not read what is quickly becoming a trend—realism?

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Permalink Reply by Pepper Smith on July 14, 2010 at 10:44am

Oh, just wait on the spam. Someone who doesn't know better will do it. I've deleted a few people as friends due to persistant spamming. And eventually someone will send you a private message wanting you to buy their book. But it doesn't seem to happen all that often. Daniel's usually pretty quick to kick spammers out.

Blatant self-promotion is supposed to go in our personal blogs, but not everyone reads the note at the top of the forum that says so.

Vainglorious attitudes--hmm. I wonder if that's because the publishing business beats the arrogance out of you through years of rejection, before you actually get that first contract?