This is a fine little book, but takes a very odd approach its subject matter.

The Art of Mystery was published as part of a series on the craft of writing. I knew from reviews that Casey was uninterested in commercial fiction, but her loose definition of mystery as "the search for questions" rather than a search for answers means that she focuses on character and theme to the almost total exclusion of narrative and structure.

I don't know about you, but if I pick up a book about "mystery" as an element of craft, I expect the writer to address conventional concerns about storytelling! This could have been a really compelling extended essay about narratology and epistemology, and how structure and plot support the kind of character revelations (or sometimes, unresolved ambiguities) that Casey finds compelling.

This is not that book, which would be fine if not for the baffling title. Oh well - it was a quick read anyway.