[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by Kylon99

If you want a non-Mystery novel, there's the Pages of Pain by Troy Denning. This takes place in the rather strange unconventional fantasy universe of Planescape. The story itself is told by the Lady of Pain, one of the great enigmas of the Planescape universe who appears to be but isn't quite the same as a goddess. In it she tells the story of a hero and his quest to regain his lost honor, but she tells it as it is happening. At times though, she talks to the reader directly, and at times she figures out that the reader has interfered with her manipulations of the hero. (For good or for worse, as the pain she inflicts she claims will help the hero.)

Not a mystery, but I thought the interplay between the reader and the Lady of Pain was interesting. (If any character from that setting could be on the same level as the reader it is her.)

I'm not recommending it as a mystery, but just pointing out the interesting aspect of 'surprising' the reader by making it sound like you were involved.

Spoiler for About the story:

In essence the novel anticipates your feelings about the hero and reflects that in the book as an 'action' you took. Unless you like schaudenfraude, it's likely that you'll feel sucked in like that. Although now that I've told you... maybe it wouldn't work anymore... Hm. Maybe I'll put this in spoilers. 8)

A bit off-topic but this is ironic. Those books are generally frowned upon by planescape fans precisely because they are narrated by the Lady of Pain, which is a character that should have remained shrouded in mystery and imperscrutable. Showing her thoughts caused the "magic" surrouding her to break, and that's why fans refuse to consider those books canon.