I love mysteries.
I love mysteries mixed in any genre and believe most genres always have some bit of mystery, even if not by the general assumed definition of mystery.
Reading and catching something that rings of “hmmm” “maaaybeeee” “no, that’s not…” “ahhhh” is something I get excited about when reading. The clues…subtle and in my face…a writer drops in, I want to see if I made the right connection or if I was fooled.
It bugs me to no end when a perfect red herring ends up a dead end. Not a false clue, but a complete bomb. Did the author miss it, as in never realized what a perfect clue, distraction, they just wrote? Did the author forget about it?
Is it worse when it’s obvious the writer scrambled to fit it in and failed?
Or, the connection is so out there is makes no dang sense at all…except in the author’s mind.
I don’t know, but it bugs me.