Mormons are well-known for writing genre fiction, but the genres we’re most known for are fantasy, romance (especially historical romance), and horror. We’re also known for writing young adult literature across a range of genres. In terms of short fiction and poetry, in recent years, Irreantum has published a folklore issue, a horror issue, and a genre issue (which leaned heavily on science fiction, fantasy, and horror). The Mormon Lit Blitz held a specialty contest titled Saints, Spells, and Spaceships, and another contest (which I co-edited) focused on holiday fiction.
I love all of these genres, but as a mystery novelist, I saw a gap: where were the short mystery fiction and poetry?
As such, I am thrilled to guest edit an issue of Irreantum focused entirely on the mystery genre.
Mysteries are about disruption. There’s a snake in the garden. The social order has been challenged, commandments or conventions broken, problems created and left unresolved. And the point of the classic mystery, especially in the form of the detective story, is to find the truth about what has happened and bring order and justice.
This truth-seeking fits well within Latter-day Saint theology. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve gave a Church Education System address about truth. God, as an omniscient being, has full truth, of things past, present, and future. As humans, we don’t have the full truth, but we are meant to seek for truth and light. Elder Christofferson states: “I believe that most, if not all, of the truth we are able to discover comes through divine help, whether we recognize it or not.”
What, then, happens when we combine the mystery genre with Latter-day Saint characters and doctrine?
Each of the eleven pieces in this issue explore this question in different ways.
We have amateur sleuths trying to solve problems in their wards and missionaries puzzling out the motives of investigators. We see missing items and animals, and variations on the classic Mormon detective prayer (“Dear Heavenly Father, please help me find my missing keys/homework/wallet/cell phone, etc.”). Writers explore questions of how the divine influences our quest for truth, if it’s even possible to find and act on the truth, and if there are times when we should not seek for answers.
Some of the stories incorporate scripture, and two of the stories also contain speculative elements, crossing the mystery genre with alternate history and science fiction, as a way to explore the past, the present, and the future.
Two of the poems in the issue focus on real nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints who were the victims of violent, fatal crimes. Another poem takes a horror approach to mystery, while the final poem explores mysteries of memory, place, and meaning.
I hope you enjoy these eleven pieces as much as I have.
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Katherine Cowley’s debut novel, The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet, was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and was the winner of LDSPMA’s Praiseworthy Award for Best Mystery/Suspense novel. She is the author of two other mystery novels and numerous short stories. Her Mormon fiction appears in the Mormon Lit Blitz, Segullah, and Irreantum, and includes two mystery short stories published in previous issues of Irreantum: “The Case of the Missing Sacrament Bread” and “Burdens.” She has taught writing at Brigham Young University, Mesa Community College, and Western Michigan University. She lives in Michigan with her husband and three daughters.
