For me, it's when it's the story of "former college friends who haven't seen each other in years suddenly solving the murder of one of their own by one of their own" and it's always the most obvious person. Another one I hate is when the killer is LITERALLY RIGHT IN FRONT YOU "investigating" the crime. On the other end, I also hate when the killer is revealed to be someone who was only mentioned like once in the book 100 pages before the end and you're like "who?" then have to go back and look for them…I guess I'm just not really a fan of murder mystery-type thrillers.
Another one I hate is when the main characters makes INSANELY stupid decisions and listens to someone just because "they're good looking". "Oh he was soooo hot, there's no way he's lying to me!" Also hate the whole "there's no way he could be bad, I just KNOW him!"
I also REALLY hate when the writer tries to make us sympathize with the killer/villain because the victim was "mean to them once". "Wahhhh she was mean to me in high school, so I'm gonna kill her or frame her for murder", I mean get over it…
And don't get me started on the villain revealing their entire motive/methods in a final poorly-explained 10 page monologue explaining every loose end that would otherwise make no sense.
by rachels1231