JAYNE'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

I thought I was alone in the world, carrying a deep dark secret. I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, this terrible, unforgivable thing I did. It started when I was a child, and has continued throughout my adult life (and that’s a pretty long time.)

Attending a conference when a well-known author asked if anyone else did this, I raised my hand. Actually raised it for all of the attendees to see! And so did a lot of other people! I wasn’t alone!

What is this terrible secret?

I’m an end reader.

Yes, that’s the official term for people like me who read the end of the book first.

While some people are true end readers and check out the final pages before even starting the book, I am a half-way end reader. I like to start the book, get to know the characters a bit, and then skip to the end to see WHODUNNIT.

It’s a character flaw…I can’t stand suspense. (I also searched for Santa gifts—not very well hidden in my parent’s closet—because I could not stand not knowing everything there is to be known.)

Reading a good mystery is the same as gifts hidden in a closet. The ending is there…it needs to be known! Then, and only then can I relax and devour the book page by delicious page.

Of course, I rationalize this to people horrified by the concept by saying that as a mystery writer, it is a way of studying what other writers have done to hide clues and misdirect the reader so that the ending is a surprise to them.

But not to me. I don’t like surprises.

If you, too, are an end reader—secret or flagrant—you are not alone!