I’ve noticed a “new” (I put new in quotes because I’m guessing this isn’t new at all, just new to me) trope showing up in mystery/thriller novels, where the big twist is that someone who was murdered wasn’t actually dead when they were believed by the murderer to be, and they wound up dying afterwards or being re-killed(?). Essentially the shocking part is meant to be that the characters did something major to cover up the murder they committed, but actually the person wasn’t originally dead, and either they wound up killing them for real, or the “murdered” person winds up dying anyway due to a lack of medical intervention.
I think I liked this trope the first time I read it, but I’m realizing now that it’s showed up in multiple books I’ve read in just the past couple years, including:
>!The Herd by Andrea Bartz !<
>!Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica !<
>!The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner!<
There have probably been others that just aren’t coming to mind right now. I think I’m kind of tired of it and don’t find it very shocking or moving. What’s your take on this trope/twist?
by notoriousLPG