Mystery/Thriller/Suspense - Definition and Evaluation Criteria

Mystery/Thriller/Suspense genre may be broken up into two categories depending on the number and type of books submitted in a given year. They share many of the same elements and the aim is similar -- to entertain and excite the reader. The author does this by heightened expectation, surprise, uncertainy, unknown villains, and terror. He/she uses literary techniques like cliff-hangers, plot-twists, and clues that lead the reader to wrong conclusions. 

1. Authors who work in this genre highlight plot and action and use character as a tool to "make things happen." 
1. The story should keep the reader alert and eager to find out what happens next. 
2. Plot should resemble puzzles - leading the reader down blind allies, into sharp turns, and have multiple possible routes to conclusion. 
3. Mysteries come in several varieties - Traditional Mystery, Detective, Police Procedural, Hard Boiled, and Cozy.
4. Thrillers also come in several varieties - Legal Thriller, Medical Thriller, Political Thriller, Crime Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Spy Thrillers, and within MWSA authors, the Military Intrigue and Action Thrillers such as the work of Ken Farmer and Buck Stienke or Lee and Vista Boyland.
5. If story is a mystery, the protagonist usually solves the "puzzle" and brings the reader along as he/she does it. If the story is a thriller, the protagonist has a mission or situation to address -- he/she must escape or rescue or somehow eliminate threat to himself, his loved ones, his country -- or just his "side."
6. In the simplest mysteries or "cozies," the reader does not feel a sense of impending danger because the violence is in the past and is thus implied. Likewise, sex is downplayed or treated with humor. Agatha Christie's ten novels about Miss Marple is one example, the Murder, She Wrote series is another, and MWSA's Pat McGrath Avery's Hap Lynch series is another.
7. In Detective and Police Procedurals, the protagonists must solve a crime. They may experience violence or the threat of it during their search for the culprit. More detail in the background is required in these novels -- like in historical fiction, the audience for these stories expects accuracy when it comes to guns, ballistics, forensic science, planes and other vehicles, and other tools used in crimefighting.
8. If the book is intended to be suspenseful, the author adds literary techniques like allowing the audience to know more about what's happening than the protagonist, uncertainty about who is the good guy and who is the bad guy, and chase scenes where the bad guy seems to be gaining on the good guy.
9. Thrillers include elements of suspense, horror, and action. They are faster-paced than simple mysteries. 
2. When reviewers evaluate mystery/thriller/Suspense novels, they should evaluate them against these standard criteria:
1. CONTENT - these criteria evaluate plot, characterization, message or theme, believability, intent of book, storytelling, and construction.
1. What is the intent of the book? Does it do what the author sets out to do? Mysteries should engage the ready in solving a msytery. Does it? Thrillers should excite and titillate the audience. Does it? Suspense should elicite fear, anxiety, uncertainty within the context of a mystery or a thriller. Does it?
2. Does the book appeal to audiences who seek the type of reading exemplified by the subgenre. If the book is a police procedural, does it take the reader through the actual processes used by real police detectives? If it's a psychological thriller, does it appeal to readers interested in why various characters behave the way that they do within the context of a mystery or thriller plot?
3. Does the author focus on plot more than character? Is the plot complex and surprising? Does the action unfold quickly, brining audience along for the ride? 
4. Is there plenty of action, suspense, changing perspectives?
5. Does the location or background support the plot with items mentioned earlier in the book having meaning later? Does the action interact with background or location?
2. STYLE  – these criteria evaluate readability, book structure, language,  % dialogue to narration, % description to action, %passive to active voice.
1. Was this book well-constructed and readable? Does the sentence structure support function? Does the author use literary techniques like foreshadowing, symbolism, imagery, epiphany, or metapor? 
2. Is the book structure appropriate for the story being told? Does the author use scene sequencing to alter impact of new thought or plot elements? Does he or she have a repeating motif to enhance the meaning of the piece or enrich reader understanding of the important elements.
3. Does the author experiment with person, voice, sequencing and other techniques to develop character?
4. Does author focus on careful use of language, internal monologue, and dialogue to develop character?
3. VISUAL – these criteria evaluate cover design, cover art, book block layout, font size, font serif, use of illustration. 
1. Is the cover aesthetically pleasing and relate to the content of the book?
2. Does it catch potential reader's eyes with color, design, or copy?
3. Is the copy correct and easy to read? (Does it stand out from the background? Is the font large enough? Is there sufficient margin and is the text properly spaced?)
4. Is the artwork on the cover eye-catching and pertinent?
5. Is the book block properly designed? (Are the margins too small or too wide? Is the font serafed and at least 11 points?)
4. TECHNICAL – These criteria evaluate redundancies, spelling, grammar, word usage, sentence structure, adverb and verb tense usage.
1. Does the author use repetition deliberately for an effect or because of inadequate editing? Does he use the same non-article word more than once in a single paragraph? Do the situations in the plot repeat without purpose? For example, in Catch-22 there is the recurring leitmotif of Snowden's death. It works because it explains Yossarian's strange but funny behavior throughout the novel. That is much different than someone repeating the same story over again with no purpose to the story. 
2. Does the author misspell the same word the same way throughout the book or does he mispell it different ways throughout the course of the story? Does he have typos and mispellings to the point where it intrudes on the reading experience?
3. Does the author use a consistent style throughtout the book? Does he use grammar standards consistent with the style he has chosen? 
4. Does author consistently use the correct word for the intended meaning? (To, too, two? or their, there?)
5. Does the author use adverbs to modify weak verbs?  
6. Does the author use simple past tense as often as possible?