Tracing

Skin is unlike any of the mystery stories we have read this term. In my opinion, it is more of a suspense book, or even a thriller. Despite it's uniqueness, I would still say that it does fall into the three main mystery sub-genres we have studied this term: amateur detective, private investigator, and the police. In my opinion, Skin somehow falls into all three categories.

At the start of the book, the Summerville police department is attempting to discover who this serial killer is. One of the main characters, Colt, is a police officer, and throughout the entire story he and the whole police department try to figure out who this killer is. About halfway through the book, an ex-FBI agent and current small town detective is brought in to help solve this incredibly complex and seemingly unsolvable case. This character might be considered part of the police department, but because he is a respected detective I decided to think of him as a private eye. In some ways, Skin could also be considered an amateur detective mystery novel. Throughout the whole book, the main characters try to put together the pieces. None of these characters, with the exception of Colt, are any form of a detective.

Despite the fact that this story could probably fall into any of the categories, I would have to say that it would most likely be put into the "private-eye" sub-genre of mystery fiction. The reason that I decided on this particular sub-genre was because it is the private eye detective guy that finally solves the case. Each of the characters contribute in some way to the case, but it is the detective that solves the majority of the case for us.