How do you feel about sex in mysteries?

[tamaraheiner]

Ah, sex is such a tricky subject, at times very polemic.

It can add so much to a story. It can really heighten a relationship.

I think it is often overused, though not nearly so much in books as in movies. I don't like the sex I read about to be cheap or empty. I want it to have some emotional charge behind it. I want it to mean something. But that's just me, and I think you'll please somebody no matter what you write.

[Eric C]

If my wife is willing, I've got no problem putting the mystery novel down for twenty minutes...

[patrickt]

I read mysteries for...the mystery. Everything else is irrelevant. I like for the sex to be a mystery. If they go into a bedroom, come out hours later tired but happy, I can have fantasies of what went on that are much more satisfying than the authors fantasies.

Of course, for those who have had so little sex and so little variety perhaps they need the help.

I like reading books from the era when sex scenes did not require discussing size, rigidity, or dampness.

[Krista D. Ball]

I like reading books from the era when sex scenes did not require discussing size, rigidity, or dampness.

 

[Polly Iyer]

I love all the answers here. Hard-core sex is another genre, and the common feeling is not so much in a mystery. I like keeping sex a mystery, but I also like those intimate moments if there's a relationship between the H/h. 

[Tony Richards]

Martin Scorcese once remarked that he avoids sex scenes in his movies because they slow the movie down. And that's certainly true in most mystery novels too ... they generally have nothing to do with the story.

[LilianaHart]

It doesn't bother me. I'm a fan of cozy mysteries (mysteries in general), and I always like it when they bring the romance aspect into it. Sex doesn't take anything away from the story for me as long as it's done well. Like in any genre.

[Paul Reid]

I think that the prospect of sex between two characters can help to build tension. And tension works well in mysteries. So, yes!

[Jeff Shelby]

For me, romance is far sexier in mysteries than actual sex.  As Paul notes above, the build up and tension can add a lot to the story and the characters. 

[acellis]

Hey, isn't there sex in real life? So, why not!

[Math]

depending on who you talk to - sex could be the mystery 

[jimbronyaur]

I treat sex the same in any genre - what's the purpose of it in the story?

For example, there's a sex scene in Pet Sematary in the book that isn't in the movie... on Christmas Eve.  It's short, casual, and what it does it show the family being at the home while hell waits outside.  It's not graphic and it works for the story.

I look at sex as part of anything in life but how does it play into the book.  Sometimes sex is needed, etc. but then there comes a discussion of how the sex should be described.  Short and sweet such as "she led him to the bedroom and didn't return for two hours" or would it help to go into detail.  It would depend on the author, the content of the book, etc.

I'd assume that male adventure/mystery books would contain more graphic sex as it would relate to the male fantasy of it all.

-jb

[Guardian]

I treat sex the same in any genre - what's the purpose of it in the story?

Same here. If it has a purpose, I have no problem with it. But if sex is only to keep up the attention, in this case the problem is with the book and not with the sex scene. Events, elements must have a purpose. Sex scenes included, be it in a mystery, fantasy or science fiction book.

i.e.: Against a Dark Background by Iain M. Banks (Sci-fi). It had a sex scene somewhere at the middle and it wasn't bothering at all as it had a purpose and not just to keep up the attention. The opposite is Harry Harrison's Deathworld, where the author is just giving a hint about sex and that's all. There, this was the perfect solution.

Sometimes sex is needed, sometimes it's better if you leave them as untold stories (Personally I prefer the sex as glamorous, but untold stories in noir stories where the author is giving the hint then trust the rest for the reader's imagination. But if it has a purpose, I have no problem with it.).

[patrickt]

Hey, isn't there sex in real life? So, why not!

Dysentery is present in real life, too, but a lengthy description of the protagonist's bowel movements wouldn't interest me. Yeast infections are a part of real life...for some. I don't really want to read about those, either.

I have also had enough experience with violence that I don't need the details. I was reading a book and the villian nailed women to a wooden cross while they were alive and conscious. He describe everthing in detail for pages. I tossed the book. Beats tossing my cookies. My opinion is the author had a masochistic streak that he had to indulge. I suppose there were readers who shared his interests. Not me.

A man called his wife and two children to the front door. He was sitting in the yard and he'd doused himself in gasoline. He shouted, "I want you to see what you've done." Then, he lit himself. How much description do you really want or need?

[patrickt]

If my wife is willing, I've got no problem putting the mystery novel down for twenty minutes...

Unfortunately, I reached the point that if my wife were willing--a rare enough event--I would ask he to wait until I finished the chapter.

[Polly Iyer]

To PatrickT. I think you can take anything too far. I wouldn't like to hear about a character's bowel movements either, but that's not very romantic, is it? I'm talking about a m/f relationship in the book. I do believe women write sex scenes more and better than men. 

[Scribejohn]

Sex in mysteries?

So how does that work? Our hero makes love to someone, then spends the rest of the book trying to work out who it was?

[Aenea]

I have no need or desire to read about other people having sex. I always figured that authors included sex scenes because they probably weren't getting any and it fulfilled some need of theirs. Of course, I guess that's probably why some people like to read it, too. Imply it, or say that it happened is all I need to hear. I really don't want to "watch" other people having sex.

[Beth Balmanno]

Sex in mysteries?

So how does that work? Our hero makes love to someone, then spends the rest of the book trying to work out who it was?

LOL -- now there's an interesting spin...

In character-driven mysteries, I don't have a problem with sex.  If it helps me get in their head better, helps to understand where they're coming from, why they make the decisions they make, etc. then go for it.  I'm a sucker for a PI or a detective with a soft, tender side. 

[Sean Patrick Fox]

I prefer it in bed.

I'm okay with sex in mysteries, mostly for two reasons. One, I'm not a prude. Two, mysteries often feature a protagonist with a prominent love interest (often with a new one in each book in a series, if it is a series), and sex is something that often happens between adult humans. The issue is not if it's in the book, but if it's well written. The skillful handling of a sex scene is a subject that has been discussed ad nauseam here on KB, and ultimately there's no one good answer.

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

I have no need or desire to read about other people having sex. I always figured that authors included sex scenes because they probably weren't getting any and it fulfilled some need of theirs. Of course, I guess that's probably why some people like to read it, too. Imply it, or say that it happened is all I need to hear. I really don't want to "watch" other people having sex.

Hmm. Does that work for other stuff too? Scenes of suspense, violence, horror, diatribes, eating extravagant meals, in-depth descriptions of extreme sports, wild shopping sprees?

I think (fiction) books are all about being absorbed into the story/experience. I think many people here...not all of course....felt that sex scenes work for the characters and for readers if done well. And pull them out of the story if unnecessary or done poorly.

And if anything in a book is boring or offensive...like descriptions of extravagant meals to a dieter....then they are easily skipped over.

[balaspa]

For me, sex scenes are fine as long as they fit the need and tone of the story.  Throwing one in gratuitously is not good, but if it seems to work and it fits...why not?

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

I was just giving my opinion on the topic.

I know. I was exploring the fact that you thought it had to do with people not getting sex themselves and fulfilling it in print. I was trying to draw other parallels....because that didnt seem like something that could be broadly assumed to me.

[Aenea]

I know. I was exploring the fact that you thought it had to do with people not getting sex themselves and fulfilling it in print. I was trying to draw other parallels....because that didnt seem like something that could be broadly assumed to me.

Well, that was just one of those "dumb things to say" that I'm famous for. :-)