I compared a cozy mystery ending to a horror novel ending and one left me seriously confused

Last week I finished two books back to back. Cozy mystery had the killer be a random side character who showed up in chapter 2 and never came back until the last page. Then I read a horror novel where the main character wakes up and it was all a dream except the monster is still there. The mystery ending felt like the author forgot to write a proper reveal so they just picked someone. The horror one at least made me think for a minute. Has anyone else read a book where the ending felt like the author just gave up mid paragraph?

2 comments

2 Comments

lilyfisher28d ago

Oh totally, that cozy mystery ending sounds like straight up laziness. The horror one at least tried something weird.

charles_kim28d ago

lilyfisher I'm with you on that. The cozy mystery ending felt like the author just gave up and wrote the most generic wrap up possible. At least the horror one tried something weird even if it didn't totally land. You can tell someone cared enough to take a risk with that one. Why do you think so many writers just phone it in at the finish line like that?