A Little Misunderstanding

A roundup of crime fiction at The Economist begins:

Crime novels are among the easiest and most difficult to craft. The easiest, because the structure is straightforward: the hero is set a task, usually investigating a murder. So begins a perilous odyssey, where villains are dispatched and inner ghosts confronted, before a satisfying resolution. The most difficult, because as the plot is essentially predetermined, the writer needs skill to keep the momentum going, conjuring up original, complex characters and vivid scene-setting.