If you’ve spent any time at all on the singles scene, you’d be forgiven for thinking it would be easier to solve a murder mystery than actually finding ‘the one’.
And as unlikely as it seems, romance novels share many of the same tropes as a good Golden Age Whodunit. Rather than trying to hunt down a blood-thirsty killer, in a romance, our protagonist is desperately hoping to solve a different type of puzzle. And it’s one that the greats, like Sherlock and Poirot all struggled to figure out: the mystery of true love.
But with any luck, the leads of a good love story can dodge the red herrings and eventually meet their match, but not before they’ve eliminated all the other suspects:
THE RED HERRING
“It’s disquieting to reflect that one’s dreams never symbolize one’s real wishes, but always something much worse…”, Harriet Vane in Dorthy L Sayer’s Gaudy Night.
Every classic murder mystery is stuffed full of those fishiest of clues – the pesky red herring. And a good romance is no different. We’ve all wasted time chasing the wrong person before, convinced by all the signs that they are indeed our perfect match. For a great tale of wrong-footed romance, check out YA rom-com She Gets The Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick. It sees Alex and Molly team up to help each other win over their respective crushes. But, of course, their targets turn out to be false leads – because as the two embark on their plan to get their girls to fall for them, they begin to fall for each other. The novel was inspired by the author’s real-life love story, lending it a sweet resonance beyond the written word.
See also: Ghosts by Dolly Alderton, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
THE OBVIOUS SUSPECT
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,” Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of Four
Occam’s Razor states that the simplest solution to any problem is usually the correct one, and in the world of detective fiction, that would make a very dull novel. Still, as Sherlock Holmes said, sometimes you have to strip away the extraneous theories to find the simple truth that, despite seeming impossible at first, is now glaringly obvious. In the brilliant Emily Henry’s ‘People We Meet on Vacation’, best friends Poppy and Alex are complete opposites, and appear at first to be a terrible love match. But in reality, the answer to all Poppy’s problems has been right there in front of her all along. It might take Poppy a while to figure that out, but it’s so much fun watching her do it.
See also: Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield, Normal People by Sally Rooney
THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY
“I have to warn you. I promised my mother, a long time ago. She said I had to give folks a chance to walk away.”, Jack Reacher in Nothing to Lose
Sometimes, like in Murder on the Orient Express, a detective makes the difficult decision to let the villain walk away. Should the ‘bad guy’ be given the chance to reform their ways? Or perhaps their crime might not be as simple as it first seems? These question is no easier to answer in the world of romance. Take Christina Lauren’s beautiful ode to ‘the one that got away’, Love and Other Words, for example. The novel sees Macy spend a decade carefully gluing the pieces of her broken heart back together after walking away from the love of her life. But when Elliot, crashes back into her world, she has to decide if she is really ready to trust him again. Sometimes, it’s better to let go than to keep hanging on.
See also: One Day by David Nicolls, P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
THE ONE WITH THE ULTERIOR MOTIVE
“The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to seekers after it,” Hercule Poirot in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Every suspect in a murder mystery should have a secret. Even if they don’t turn out to be the killer, each character has something to hide from the detective and a reason to lie. It’s the detective’s job to find out what their real motives for deceiving them are. And for a singleton, every prospective date should be interrogated too. All too often, you’ll find that your too-good-to-be-true beau is not all that they seem…
In Delia Owen’s bestseller, Where The Crawdads Sing, Kya is seduced by handsome local jock (and playboy) Chase Andrews. Eventually succumbing to his charms, Kya believes they may have a future together, despite their radically different backgrounds. But when Kya discovers he is engaged to another woman, his motives become very clear: Chase was only ever after one thing.
See also: Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding, Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
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