B1C17

We hate what we are

One of my pet peeves in mystery novels is when readers know more than the detective. There are two particularly common, and particularly bad, instances of this:

1. Books with a prologue that says "I am a sick twisted human and I'm spying on my victim right now, dreaming of all the evil things I'll do to her" followed by a first chapter that says "I am an innocent girl getting ready to go to school, unaware of any dangers."
2. Books that are so so so bad that the average reader easily figures out the answer while the author is still spinning up clues/alibis/characters.

To my horror, I have written my pet peeve into my own book. In this chapter, the readers know more about what Thomas went through last night than the detective, Road.

I think this is fine for a whole host of justifications reasons. I won't get into the plot-relevant reasons to avoid spoilers, but the non-so-plot-relevant reasons are as follows:

1. I really want to have one POV chapter for each of the suspects. I think these are all interesting characters, and being inside their head offers me an opportunity to worldbuild from a different vantage point and explore a different personality from the inside.
2. During these POV chapters, I want them to be doing something interesting. The whole chapter can't just be the character thinking about their life; that would be really boring. For example, Lisa first reacts to Paul's death in her chapter, and Robbie gets drunk in his. Both these events reveal facets of their personalities.
3. Voila, the readers now know interesting things the detective doesn't know. (Although, in some cases, the detective will find out soon.)

If I want #1 and #2 (and I do), I have to pay the cost of #3. I think the trade-off is worth it, but I still really dislike #3.