Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
A spoiler for a whodunnit seems to me to completely ruin the book. I can't imagine why anyone would want such a thing. (I'm excluding the "Inverted Detective Story" - aka the "Columbo" story - where the reader knows whodunnit right from the outset.)
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I agree about the "Inverted Detective Story." With Columbo, the fun of the story is seeing how he figures out who did it and how. Especially when the guilty party is so confident that he/she will get away with it, while making so many tiny errors that reveal the truth.
I also enjoy the standard detective mysteries, such as the manga series "Case Closed." With many of the stories, a spoiler would have ruined the story especially since the solution to the mystery is often unexpected. As an example, in one story a murder is committed and the murderer clearly seen and recognized by witnesses (and the readers). The problem: The murderer is a triplet and all three were in the area.
When it comes to spoilers, I dislike them before my first read/view. A spoiler would ruin my enjoyment of finding out for myself.
An example of this is in an issue of the 1980s comic book series "New Teen Titans." Without revealing it, there was a moment in the story that was so shocking, so unexpected, that I didn't see it coming and I had to re-read the page a few times to make sure of what I saw. It completely changed the story, the series, and The Teen Titans (the group and its members) were never the same again. I would not have had the same enjoyment of the story had it been spoiled for me.